Oklahoma Firefighters Pension: Survivors, DROP and Refunds

Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: The Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System (OFPRS) documents read describe no choice among payment options at retirement. A paid firefighter’s pension is 2.5% of final average salary for each year of service, up to 30 years, and the statute pays a beneficiary an amount not to exceed 100% of the pension after the member’s death. The Deferred Option Plan (DROP) can pay out as a lump sum, an annuity or another approved method, and leaving before retirement means a refund of contributions without interest or, for a member who has completed the vesting service (10 years under 11 O.S. 49-117.1(B); the Handbook’s rules and the valuation say 11 years for a member first employed on or after November 1, 2013, which the statute text does not), a vested benefit. The 2025 Handbook is a compilation of rules and statutes, not a plain-language guide.

What this page covers and what it does not

This page works from two OFPRS documents: the 2025 Handbook (as of November 1, 2025) and the Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2025 (prepared by Definiti, October 13, 2025). It covers paid firefighters; volunteer and disability benefits are not covered. The Handbook’s cover calls it a compilation of administrative rules and statutes for the System, so it is not a plain-language member guide, and it warns that “it is possible, through human error, that inadvertent changes were made to the language itself”. The valuation’s highlights table (columns for July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025) shows 12,192 in the Active row for July 1, 2025. The documents treat members first employed before and on or after November 1, 2013 differently, and the sections below say which is which.

When a pension can start and how it is figured

The valuation’s plan summary gives the normal retirement date by hire date. “For members hired before November 1, 2013, the first day following the day the member completes twenty years of service, regardless of age”. “For members hired on or after November 1, 2013, the first day following the day the member completes twenty-two years of service and is 50 years old”. The Handbook defines the pension as the accrued retirement benefit: “two and one-half percent (2 1/2%) of the firefighter’s final average salary multiplied by the member’s years of credited service not to exceed thirty (30) years”. Final average salary is the average paid gross salary “over the highest salaried thirty (30) consecutive months of the last sixty (60) months of credited service”.

A computed example from an assumed $80,000 final average salary, not an OFPRS figure: 2.5% of $80,000 is $2,000 for each year of service. At 20 years that is $40,000 a year, a computed $3,333.33 a month, or 50% of the assumed salary. At the 30-year cap it is $60,000 a year, or 75%.

Survivor benefits: what the rules provide instead of an election

In the documents read, a retiring paid firefighter does not choose between a single-life and a joint-and-survivor pension, and no survivor reduction factor is printed. The survivor benefit is set by statute. When a firefighter who “was drawing a pension, other than a disability pension”, or who “was eligible, upon written request, to retire and draw a pension, other than a disability pension”, dies, “the beneficiary of such person shall be paid an amount not to exceed one hundred percent (100%) of said pension”. The wording is a ceiling, and the pages read do not say when a beneficiary receives less. The valuation lists under normal forms of payment only this: “A Joint and 100% Survivor Annuity if the firefighter is married thirty months prior to death”. Neither document describes a form of payment a member picks, so that line is best read as describing the statutory benefit; the board should confirm. For systems that do have an election, see single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension.

A beneficiary is defined, not freely designated: “a member’s surviving spouse or any surviving children, including biological and adopted children, at the time of the member’s death”. A spouse needs the marriage test: “The surviving spouse must have been married to the firefighter for the thirty (30) continuous months preceding the firefighter’s death”, though a spouse of a member who died in the performance of duty “shall not be subject to the marriage limitation for survivor benefits”. A child is a beneficiary “until reaching eighteen (18) years of age or twenty-two (22) years of age if the child is enrolled full time and regularly attending a public or private school or any institution of higher education”.

After a spouse’s death, “the pension shall cease, and should there then be but one living child same shall receive an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of said pension”. The Handbook adds a contributions floor for a firefighter with no surviving beneficiary who has been awarded or is eligible for a benefit: the firefighter “dies or, if later, the last surviving beneficiary dies, prior to receiving payments equal to or greater than the total contributions made by the employee”, and then “a payment shall be made to the member’s estate or, if applicable, the last surviving beneficiary’s estate equal to the total contributions made by the employee minus the payments made”. The valuation describes the lump sum: “a $5,000 lump sum death benefit will be paid to the member’s beneficiary, or estate if no beneficiary”. Beneficiaries may also give up money: any eligible person “may make an election to waive all or a portion of monthly benefits”. The pages read do not describe spousal consent.

What is fixed, and the timing that matters

Since the documents read describe no payment-option election, they describe no irrevocable choice of one. A pension starts on request: a firefighter at the normal retirement date “shall be entitled, upon written request, to retire”, but “the pension shall cease during any period of time the member may thereafter serve for compensation in any municipal fire department in the state”. The board does not act until “the applicant terminates employment with the fire department of a participating municipality”, and paperwork should be filed “no later than the Friday preceding the State Board’s regular meeting so as to allow for sufficient time to process the application”. The one hard freeze is in the Back DROP, below.

DROP: the lump sum, the annuity and the rollover

OFPRS has a Deferred Option Plan (DROP), called Plan B in the rules. The statute lets an active firefighter who “has not less than twenty (20) years of creditable service” elect it. “The duration of participation in the Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred Option Plan for active firefighters shall not exceed five (5) years”. At the end, “the member shall terminate employment with all participating municipalities as a firefighter, and shall start receiving the member’s accrued monthly retirement benefit from the System”.

On the money, once a member begins DROP, “the contribution of the member shall cease”, and employer contributions are “credited equally to the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System and to the member’s Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred Option Plan account”. The monthly pension “shall be paid into the member’s Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred Option Plan account”. The account earns “interest at a rate of two percentage points below the rate of return of the investment portfolio of the System, but no less than the actuarial assumed interest rate as certified by the actuary”. For a member first employed on or after November 1, 2013, once active participation has ended, the account earns “the actual rate of return of the investment portfolio of the System, less one (1) percentage point to offset administrative costs of the System as determined by the System”. The pages read give no actual rate of return, so no DROP interest figure is stated here. A member who participates in this plan “shall be eligible to receive cost-of-living increases”.

A computed example from an assumed $80,000 final average salary and 20 years of service, not an OFPRS figure: the monthly pension of a computed $3,333.33 paid into DROP for 60 months adds up to $200,000 in deposits, before interest, cost-of-living increases and the employer credit.

On payout, the Handbook’s rule lists “Receive a lump sum payment of the member’s total account balance, an annuity, a partial lump sum payment or withdrawal, or installment payments of the member’s accumulated Plan B balance as described below”. It adds: “Direct rollovers are permitted pursuant to the provisions of 11. O.S. Section 49-106.3”. Money not rolled over falls under the IRS rules below; see 20% withholding on a pension lump sum. If the member dies with a balance, it goes to the designated recipients, then the spouse, then the estate, as “a lump-sum payment equal to the account balance of the member”.

Back DROP: electing as of an earlier date

The statute defines the back drop date as “the member’s normal retirement date or the date five (5) years before the member elects to participate in the Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred Option Plan, whichever date is later”. At the termination date, “the monthly pension benefit shall be determined based on earlier attained credited service and on the final average salary as of the back drop date”. The account is credited with the benefits that would have been paid since then, the member’s contributions and “one-half (1/2) of the employer contributions”, with interest. The cost is stated plainly: “On the member’s back drop date, the member’s retirement benefit will be frozen, and at no time will the member be able to increase his or her benefit due to additional years of service, salary or other promotional increases”. A member in the Back DROP “has the same distribution options as described in (l)(1)(A), (B) and (C) of this Section”.

Leaving before retirement: refund or vested benefit

A refund is the first path: “A member who terminates service before normal retirement date, other than by death or disability shall, upon application filed with the State Board, be refunded from the Fund”. The refund “shall exclude interest earned or paid with respect to any contribution or payment described in subparagraphs 1 through 4 of this subsection, and any amount contributed by the municipality or state, and interest earned with respect to such contributed amount”. For members hired before November 1, 2013, the valuation states: “Members terminating with less than ten years of credited service receive a refund of their contribution accumulation without interest”. Member contributions are “an amount equal to nine percent (9%) of the actual paid gross salary of each member of the fire department”.

The second path is a vested benefit. The statute says “If a member has completed ten (10) years of credited service at the date of termination, the member may elect a vested benefit in lieu of receiving the refund described in subsection A of this section”. The member is then entitled to “a monthly retirement annuity commencing on the date the member reaches fifty (50) years of age or the date the member would have had twenty (20) years of credited service had the member’s employment continued uninterrupted, whichever is later”, with an annual amount “equal to two and one-half percent (2 1/2%) of the annualized final average salary multiplied by the number of years of credited service”. The vested route gives something up: “The death benefits provided for in Section 49-113.2 of this title shall not apply to any member retiring under the provisions of this section”.

For members first employed on or after November 1, 2013, the valuation says a member who “terminates after eleven years of credited service is eligible for a vested severance benefit”, payable “at age 50 or when the member would have completed twenty-two years of service, whichever is later”. The general decision is at pension refund versus leaving it.

Restoring or buying service credit

A member who withdrew contributions and rejoins “may pay to the System the sum of the accumulated contributions he has withdrawn plus ten percent (10%) annual interest from the date of withdrawal to the date of repayment”. See the pension buyback calculator. Military service credit under section 49-138 “shall be used in determining the member’s retirement benefit but shall not be used in determining years of service for retirement, vesting purposes or eligibility for participation in the Oklahoma Firefighters Deferred Option Plan”.

Cost-of-living increases

The Handbook shows legislated increases, and the valuation describes one standing adjustment for a closed group. For those receiving benefits as of June 30, 2019 and still receiving them on July 1, 2020, it lists “Two percent (2%) if the person has been retired for at least two (2) years but less than five (5) years as of July 1, 2020” and “Four percent (4%) if the person has been retired for five (5) years or more as of July 1, 2020”. The valuation states one standing adjustment: firefighters with twenty years of service as of May 26, 1983 receive post-retirement adjustments equal to one-half the increase or decrease for top step firefighters, and pensions are not adjusted below the level at which the firefighter retired. For its cost-of-living assumption, the valuation says all other members do not receive a cost of living increase.

What the IRS adds on tax

A refund or lump sum from a public pension is a distribution, so the IRS rules apply on top of OFPRS’s own. On withholding, the IRS says that a taxable eligible rollover distribution paid to you “is subject to mandatory income tax withholding (generally at a rate of 20%), even if you intend to roll it over later”, and that if you roll it over yourself “you’ll have to add funds from other sources equal to the amount withheld”. The Handbook says direct rollovers are permitted for DROP payouts, which avoids the mandatory withholding on the rolled-over part. The rollover clock, if the money is paid to you: “you have 60 days from the date you receive it to roll it over to another eligible retirement plan”.

On early distributions the IRS says “the law imposes a 10% additional tax on certain early distributions from certain retirement plans”. Its list of exceptions includes “Distributions made to you after you separated from service with your employer after attainment of age 55” and “Distributions made to a qualified public safety employee from a governmental plan”. Whether an exception fits a particular refund depends on your own plan and facts, so confirm it with a tax preparer before you take one.

What a refund looks like after withholding

A computed example from an assumed $10,000 taxable refund paid to the member, not an OFPRS figure: 20% of $10,000 is $2,000 withheld for federal tax, leaving $8,000 in cash before any further tax or penalty. State treatment is at Oklahoma retirement taxes and does Oklahoma tax pensions; another Oklahoma system is at Oklahoma OPERS retirement decisions.

Where the sources disagree

The normal retirement date. The Handbook’s statute definition says the date is “the first day following the date the member completes twenty (20) years of credited service”, with no hire-date split, while the valuation says “For members hired on or after November 1, 2013, the first day following the day the member completes twenty-two years of service and is 50 years old” for later hires. The Handbook’s own rules also use 22 years for members first employed on or after November 1, 2013. Section 49-100.1 of Title 11 as printed by the Legislature (last amended by Laws 2025, chapter 142, effective May 12, 2025) says in paragraph 7 “Such date shall be the first day following the date the member completes twenty (20) years of credited service.” and section 49-117.1(B) says “If a member has completed ten (10) years of credited service at the date of termination, the member may elect a vested benefit in lieu of receiving the refund described in subsection A of this section.” A search of the archived Article 49 sections finds no 22-year and age 50 test and no eleven-year vesting rule (the words twenty-two appear only in the child-beneficiary age limit), so the statute text and the Handbook’s rules disagree for a member first employed on or after November 1, 2013, and this page does not resolve which governs. A later hire should confirm the 22-year and age 50 test with the board.

The survivor wording. The valuation lists “A Joint and 100% Survivor Annuity if the firefighter is married thirty months prior to death” as a normal form of payment, while the Handbook text read states a beneficiary payment of up to 100% and no election. The documents do not say whether these are the same benefit.

What this page could not settle

• The pages read do not describe an election among single-life, joint-and-survivor or other payment options, and no survivor reduction factor is printed.
• The pages read do not state when a beneficiary receives less than 100% of the pension, since the statute sets only an upper limit.
• The pages read do not reproduce section 49-113.2, which the Handbook cites for death benefits, so the $5,000 lump sum is stated only as the valuation describes it.
• The Handbook’s rules limit the DROP payout provisions to members whose first employment came before November 1, 2013, and its section for later hires reads [RESERVED]. The statute makes no such split for payout: section 49-106.1(F) provides “A member in the plan shall receive, at the option of the member, a lump-sum payment from the account equal to the payments to the account or an annuity based upon the account of the member or may elect any other method of payment if approved by the Board of Trustees.” For a member first employed on or after November 1, 2013 who first joins DROP on or after that date, the same subsection adds that the entire remaining balance must be distributed no later than April 1 of the calendar year following the later of the year the member reaches the required beginning age under Internal Revenue Code section 401(a)(9) or the member’s actual retirement date. Which source governs a later hire’s payout is not settled here.
• No DROP interest rate or actual investment return is given in the pages read.
• The pages read do not state the board’s meeting dates. On retiree increases, Title 11 sections 49-143 to 49-143.7 end with section 49-143.7, effective July 1, 2020, which provides “Except as provided in subsection B of this section and except for persons receiving benefits pursuant to Section 49-101 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma Statutes, effective July 1, 2020, any person receiving benefits from the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System as of June 30, 2019, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2020, shall receive an increase in benefits as follows:” (zero percent, two percent or four percent by years retired); a search of those sections for a later July 1 date finds none, so the statute text shows no increase after July 1, 2020, and whether the board has granted one since is not shown here.
• Disability retirement, volunteer benefits, Section 415 limits and reemployment rules were not examined in depth, and the Handbook warns its text may differ from the official statutes.

Common mistakes

• Looking for a single-life versus joint-and-survivor election that the documents read do not describe, and missing the statutory survivor rules and the 30-month marriage test.
• Electing the Back DROP without weighing that the retirement benefit is frozen as of the back drop date.
• Taking a refund without weighing that it excludes interest and the municipality’s contributions, and that a vested benefit may be available after 10 years of service (11 years for members first employed on or after November 1, 2013 under the Handbook’s rules; the statute text sets ten).
• Taking a taxable payout instead of a direct rollover and receiving 20% less in cash up front.

Related on this site: Oklahoma retirement taxes, does Oklahoma tax pensions, Oklahoma OPERS retirement decisions, single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension, pension refund versus leaving it, 20% withholding on a pension lump sum and public pension retirement decisions by system.

Sources

• Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Handbook 2025: A Compilation of Administrative Rules and Statutes Relevant to the Administration of the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System (as of November 1, 2025): https://ofprs.ok.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-Handbook.pdf
• Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2025, prepared by Definiti (October 13, 2025): https://ofprs.ok.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-Pension-Valuation-Report.pdf
• IRS, Topic no. 413, Rollovers from retirement plans (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413
• IRS, Topic no. 558, Additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans other than IRAs (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc558

Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 16, 2026. General information from each system’s own published materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your own member statement and the system’s current rules decide your benefit, and a pension counsellor at the system or a fee-only adviser is the right place to confirm anything consequential.