Sec. 854.008.  PARTIAL LUMP-SUM DISTRIBUTION ON RETIREMENT.  (a)  A member who is eligible for service retirement and who terminates employment with all participating municipalities may apply for a partial lump-sum distribution under this section.  The board of trustees may adopt rules to allow the beneficiary of a deceased member who at the time of death was eligible for service retirement but had not retired to make the same election that the member could have made under this section at the time of retirement.
(b)  The amount of a lump-sum distribution under this section may not exceed three-fourths of the total contributions and accumulated interest in the member's individual account at the time of the member's retirement.
(c)  Subject to the limitation in Subsection (b), the member may elect to have the lump-sum distribution be equal to the monthly annuity payments, excluding any distributive benefit payments, that the member would have received if the member had selected the standard service retirement annuity described in Section 854.103 over a period of:
(1)  12 months after the effective date of the member's retirement;
(2)  24 months after the effective date of the member's retirement;  or
(3)  36 months after the effective date of the member's retirement.
(d)  The lump-sum distribution will be made as a single payment, payable at the same time as the first monthly annuity payment that is paid to the member.
(e)  The amount of the lump-sum distribution will be deducted from the sum used in computing the member's current service annuity under Section 854.002(c).  If a payment is made under Section 854.502, the amount of the lump-sum distribution will be considered to be included in the payments made by reason of the annuity.
(f)  If a benefit payable under this section is subject to a domestic relations order that the retirement system determines is qualified under Section 804.003, the alternate payee under that order may elect to receive a partial lump-sum distribution under Subsection (g).
(g)  The partial lump-sum distribution under Subsection (f) shall be paid as a single payment, payable at the same time as the first monthly annuity payment paid to the alternate payee, and shall be deducted from the sum used in computing the alternate payee's annuity.  The amount of the lump-sum distribution shall be equal to the monthly payments, excluding any distributive benefit payments that the alternate payee would otherwise have received, during the:
(1)  12 months after the effective date of the member's retirement;
(2)  24 months after the effective date of the member's retirement;  or
(3)  36 months after the effective date of the member's retirement.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.  Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 83, Sec. 8, eff. Dec. 31, 1999;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 121, Sec. 12, eff. Jan. 1, 2002.
Amended by: 
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1208 (S.B. 350), Sec. 13, eff. June 17, 2011.