Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: The Indiana 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund member handbook describes DROP as an optional benefit for members who are eligible for an unreduced retirement and keep working. The election is irrevocable, it can be made only once, and the handbook sets a window for the DROP period. Section 6.4.3 points members to the Member Forms page of the INPRS website for the DROP form.
What this section covers
The Indiana Public Retirement System publishes the 1977 Fund member handbook, and section 6.4.3 gives DROP its own heading. It opens: “DROP is an optional benefit that allows 1977 Fund members who are eligible for an unreduced retirement”, and the handbook finishes the sentence by describing a benefit that accumulates while the member keeps working and is paid “in a lump sum or three (3) annual installments.”
This page follows that section and the DROP paragraph in the survivor section. For the wider choices facing a member of this fund, see Indiana 1977 Fund retirement decisions.
Who it applies to
The handbook limits DROP to members who are ready for regular retirement: “To enroll you must be eligible for regular retirement and must submit:” The opening sentence ties it to “1977 Fund members who are eligible for an unreduced retirement”. Rules about when a member qualifies for that retirement sit in other parts of the handbook, so check your own tier and service on your member account.
The rules, one by one
Each row is a rule from sections 6.4.3 and 7.2.5, in the handbook’s own words. Some rows show only the start of a sentence, so read the full handbook text for the rest.
| Rule | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| What DROP is | “DROP is an optional benefit that allows 1977 Fund members who are eligible for an unreduced retirement”, and the section adds that “The DROP may only be entered once.” |
| Enrollment is irrevocable | “If you elect to enter the DROP your election is irrevocable and requires you to retire on your DROP retirement date.” |
| What you submit | “An election to participate in the DROP specifying the DROP entry date” and “your retirement date (which must be the last day of your DROP period).” |
| Where the form is | “is available on the Member Forms page on the INPRS website.” |
| Percentage used | “The percentage used for DROP Retirements is based on the DROP Entry Date.” |
| Length of the period | “Not less than 12 months after your DROP entry date.” and “Not more than 60 months after your DROP entry date.” The statute ties the maximum to the date the DROP election is executed. Section 10(1)(C) of IC 36-8-8.5 says “The member shall elect a DROP retirement date not less than twelve (12) months and not more than: (i) thirty-six (36) months after the member’s DROP entry date, for a member who executes an election described in clause (A) before July 1, 2024; or (ii) sixty (60) months after the member’s DROP entry date, for a member who executes an election described in clause (A) after June 30, 2024.” |
| Limit on elections | “Only one (1) DROP election is allowed during your lifetime.” |
| Age limit | “DROP cannot extend past the mandatory retirement age of 70.” |
| Earlier entrants | “If you entered DROP before July 1, 2024, and have not exited the DROP, you may extend your DROP retirement date up to 60 months after your entry date.” |
| Telling the employer | “You must notify your employer within 30 days” |
| Contributions | “You will continue to make required member contributions, and your employer will continue to make any required employer contributions.” |
| Disability during DROP | “If you retire on disability at least 12 months after entering the DROP, the retirement is calculated as if the disability date was the DROP retirement date.” The statute splits the disability rules by timing. Section 16.5(c) of IC 36-8-8.5 says “If the member retires because of a disability less than twelve (12) months after the date the member enters the DROP, the benefits for the member are calculated under the provisions of the applicable fund as if the member had never entered the DROP.” Section 16.5(d) says “If the member retires before July 1, 2017, because of a disability at least twelve (12) months after the date the member enters the DROP, the benefits for the member are calculated under section 12 of this chapter, and the member’s retirement date is the date the member retires because of a disability rather than the member’s DROP retirement date.” Section 16.5(e) says “If a member retires after June 30, 2017, because of a disability at least twelve (12) months after the date the member enters the DROP, the benefits for the member are as follows: (1) A retirement benefit paid by and calculated under the provisions of the applicable fund as if the member had never entered the DROP.” |
| Forgoing DROP | “upon retirement you may elect to forego DROP benefits and instead receive monthly retirement benefits calculated as if you never elected to participate in the DROP.” |
| Service credit | “You will not continue to accrue service credit for the years in the DROP.” The statute defines the frozen benefit by service on the entry date. Section 7 of IC 36-8-8.5 defines the frozen benefit as “a member’s monthly retirement benefit calculated under the provisions of the applicable fund and based on: (1) the salary of a first class officer or firefighter that is in effect on the member’s DROP entry date; and (2) the member’s years of service accrued on the member’s DROP entry date.” Section 12(d) says “In calculating a member’s retirement benefit under this chapter, the applicable fund must use the lesser of: (1) the member’s actual years of service; or (2) thirty-two (32) years of service.” |
| Not retiring on the DROP date | “If you do not retire on your DROP date, your benefits will be determined under the provisions of the 1977 Fund as if you never entered the DROP, and you will not be able to make a future DROP election.” Section 12(e) of IC 36-8-8.5 adds an exception: “Except as provided under section 16.5(d) of this chapter, the retirement benefits for a member who exits the DROP for any reason other than retirement on the member’s DROP retirement date are calculated under the provisions of the applicable fund as if the member had never entered the DROP.” |
| The frozen benefit | “Upon entry into the DROP, a” frozen benefit is calculated: “This is equal to your monthly retirement benefit based on accrued service and first-class salary as of the date you entered the DROP.” |
| Lump sum or installments | “You may elect to receive this amount in three (3) annual installments instead of a single lump sum.” “If electing three (3) annual installments, no interest will be paid.” |
| No COLA on the frozen benefit | “There is no COLA added to the DROP Frozen Benefit if the first-class officer salary increases during the member’s DROP period.” |
| Death early in DROP | “If you die while in the DROP on July 1, 2020, or later and within less than 12 months after entering the DROP, the death benefits are calculated as if you never entered the DROP.” |
| Death after 12 months | “If you die at least 12 months after entering the DROP, the death benefits consist of:” the frozen benefit for survivors, plus a further amount the handbook describes in section 7.2.5. Section 15(a)(2) of IC 36-8-8.5 words the two parts this way: “If the member dies at least twelve (12) months after the date the member enters the DROP, the benefits for the member’s survivors consist of both of the following: (A) A benefit for the member’s survivors paid by and calculated under the provisions of the applicable fund as if the member had never entered the DROP. (B) An additional, separate amount that is not calculated as a part of a benefit for the member’s survivors from the applicable fund” Section 15(b) says “The additional, separate amount of the benefit for a member’s survivors that is described in subsection (a)(2)(B) is equal to: (1) the amount of the DROP frozen benefit; multiplied by (2) the number of months that the member was in the DROP.” |
The figures the handbook prints
The DROP period depends on when the member entered. For an entry date after the cutoff the handbook says “If your DROP entry date is AFTER June 30, 2024, you must select a DROP retirement date that meets the following criteria:” Members who entered earlier have their own rule: “36 months after entry date if you elected to enter before July 1, 2024, and choose not to extend, or” The handbook also says a member must exit on the earliest of the listed dates, so the DROP retirement date does not simply stretch to the longest period.
What to do and where to look
The handbook names the form and where to find it: “The Apply for the 1977 Fund Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) is available on the Member Forms page on the INPRS website.” It also asks for “Any other forms required by INPRS.”
Compare the plan with the general picture in how DROP plans work in general, the survivor choices in single life versus joint and survivor pensions and survivor benefits from a government pension, and the wider set of public pension retirement decisions.
Edition
This page reads Indiana Public Retirement System, 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund Member Handbook (Effective 07/01/2025), the current file the Indiana Public Retirement System served on October 21, 2026. Check the edition and your own tier or plan on your own member account; the handbook’s text controls over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Treating the DROP election as something that can be undone. The handbook says “your election is irrevocable and requires you to retire on your DROP retirement date.”
- Expecting a second turn in DROP. The handbook says “Only one (1) DROP election is allowed during your lifetime.” It adds that if a member does not retire on the DROP date, “you will not be able to make a future DROP election.”
- Expecting the frozen benefit to grow with pay or to earn interest on installments. The handbook says “There is no COLA added to the DROP Frozen Benefit” and “If electing three (3) annual installments, no interest will be paid.”
Related: Indiana 1977 Fund retirement decisions, how DROP plans work in general, single life versus joint and survivor pensions, survivor benefits from a government pension, and public pension retirement decisions.
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Answer againSources
- Indiana Public Retirement System, 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund Member Handbook (Effective 07/01/2025): www.in.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): INPRS 1977 Fund member forms and information: www.in.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.