(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a person who has elected ORP participation must become a member of TRS if the person later becomes an employee of any Texas public educational institution other than in a ORP-eligible position with an institution of higher education. The following persons are generally required to become TRS members under this subsection:
  (1) ORP participants who become employed in a public school in a position eligible for TRS membership; and
  (2) ORP participants with less than one year's participation in ORP who become employed in a TRS-eligible position in an institution of higher education that is not ORP-eligible.
(b) A person who has elected ORP participation but who is later required to become a member of TRS under subsection (a) of this section is ineligible for further active ORP participation even if that person again becomes employed in an ORP-eligible position with a Texas public institution of higher education.
(c) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply when:
  (1) an ORP participant is simultaneously employed both in an ORP-eligible position with a Texas public institution of higher education and in a position in a Texas public educational institution otherwise eligible only for TRS membership;
  (2) a person, after a valid ORP election, becomes employed in an institution of higher education in a position that is not ORP-eligible if the person:
    (A) participated in ORP for one year in an ORP-eligible position with a Texas public institution of higher education; and
    (B) had no intervening employment that required TRS membership; or
  (3) a person, after a valid ORP election, becomes employed in a state agency that is not a TRS-covered employer and later becomes employed in an institution of higher education.
(d) A person, including a person described in subsection (c) of this section, will not be eligible for TRS membership or credit for any employment that occurred while the person was an ORP participant, even if the person later returns to TRS membership as required by subsection (a) of this section. A person described in subsection (c)(1) of this section is not eligible for state ORP retirement contributions for simultaneous employment in institutions covered by TRS that are not institutions of higher education.
(e) A person who elects ORP participation chooses ORP in lieu of TRS membership and benefits. Upon election of ORP, a member of TRS loses all benefit rights in TRS other than a right to the return of annual contributions, even if the member has five or more years of creditable service under TRS. However, a member who returns to TRS membership under the provisions of law is entitled to any TRS benefits which may accrue thereafter in addition to any ORP benefits to which he may have become entitled. ORP participants returning to TRS membership may establish service credit, under applicable rules governing reinstatement of accounts, for all years of service in public educational institutions except for those years when the person participated in ORP.
(f) A person who fails to elect ORP participation during the statutory election eligibility period may not subsequently elect participation.

Source Note: The provisions of this §25.172 adopted to be effective September 26, 1976, 4 TexReg 3306; amended to be effective October 20, 1986, 11 TexReg 4215; amended to be effective October 4, 1989, 14 TexReg 4920; amended to be effective April 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 1838; amended to be effective June 8, 2023, 48 TexReg 2859