Updated October 22, 2026. Quick answer: The PEBA Police Officers Retirement System handbook says an active member can buy service credit for public service, K-12 teaching, military service (up to six years), leave, withdrawn PORS service and up to five years of non-qualified service. Most purchases cost at least 16% of career highest fiscal year earnable compensation per year, withdrawn service at least 35%, and payment must be made in full before retirement or termination, except that a member terminated within one year of retirement eligibility has five business days after termination to buy.
What this covers
The handbook has a section headed “Purchasing service credit”. This page quotes that section. For the wider choices, see South Carolina PORS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions. For the general question of whether buying credit pays, see whether buying service credit is worth it and the pension buyback calculator.
What can be bought
Each row is the handbook’s own wording.
| Type | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| Public service | “As an active member, you can establish PORS service credit for any period of paid public service as an employee of a federal, state or local governmental entity in the United States by making an actuarially neutral payment to PEBA.” |
| Educational service (K-12) | “As an active member, you can establish service credit for any period of paid classroom teaching consisting of kindergarten through grade 12 in a public, private or sectarian school by making an actuarially neutral payment to PEBA.” |
| Military service | “As an active member, you can establish up to six years of service credit for any period of military service for which you do not already have service credit in SCRS, PORS or GARS by making an actuarially neutral payment to PEBA.” The statute adds a condition on the discharge and sets the price floor. Section 9-11-50(C) says “An active member may establish up to six years of service credit for any period of military service, if the member was discharged or separated from military service under conditions other than dishonorable, by making an actuarially neutral payment to the system to be determined by the actuary for the board, based on the member’s current age and service credit, but not less than sixteen percent of the member’s current salary or career highest fiscal year salary, whichever is greater, for each year of credit purchased.” |
| Leave of absence | “Active members on an employer-approved leave of absence who return to covered employment within four years can purchase service credit for the employer-approved leave period for which they do not already have service credit, up to a maximum of two years per leave of absence.” |
| Previously withdrawn PORS service | “If you left employment and received a refund of your contributions plus interest from PORS, you can reestablish this service upon returning to active membership.” |
| Non-qualified service | “Active Class Two and Class Three members who have five or more years of earned service credit can establish up to five years of non-qualified service by making an actuarially neutral payment to PEBA.” The statute text does not name member classes and sets a different floor. Section 9-11-50(E) says “An active member who has five or more years of earned service credit may establish up to five years of nonqualified service by making an actuarially neutral payment to the system to be determined by the actuary for the board, based on the member’s current age and service credit but not less than thirty-five percent of the member’s current salary or career highest fiscal year salary, whichever is greater, for each year of credit purchased.” |
The cost floors
The handbook sets a floor on the actuary’s price for each type:
| Type | Cost floor the handbook prints |
|---|---|
| Public service, educational service (K-12), military service, non-qualified service | not less than 16% of your career highest fiscal year earnable compensation for each year purchased |
| Previously withdrawn PORS service | not less than 35% of your career highest fiscal year earnable compensation for each year purchased |
| Transfer from SCRS to PORS | 5% of your current earnable compensation for each year transferred. Section 9-11-40 makes the transfer “on payment of accumulated employer and employee contributions and interest in the South Carolina Retirement System plus five percent of current compensation for each year of service prorated for periods of less than a year”. |
“The cost, which is determined by PEBA’s independent actuary, will not be less than 16% of your career highest fiscal year earnable compensation for each year purchased.” The cost to purchase periods of less than one year “will be prorated.”
Paying for it
“You can establish service credit through a lump-sum payment, a pre- or post-tax installment service purchase or a tax-deferred rollover from an Individual Retirement Account, a 401(k) plan, a 401(a) eligible plan, a 403(b) plan or a 457 plan.” “The interest rate for an installment service purchase is calculated at the prime rate plus 2%.” “Installments initiated July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, will be calculated at 8.75%.” “The interest rate is fixed for the term of the installment.”
Deadlines and limits
“You can establish each type of service credit once within a fiscal year.” “Payment for service purchases must be made in full prior to your retirement date or termination from employment.” “If you are terminated from covered employment within one year of retirement eligibility, you have five business days after the date of termination to purchase any service credit that you are otherwise eligible to purchase.” “A member on leave without pay from a covered employer is not eligible to establish service credit of any type.”
Limits on what counts
“You cannot establish PORS service credit for a period of service, other than military service, for which you may also receive a retirement benefit from another defined benefit retirement plan or for a period of service for which you already have credit in PORS.” “A Class Three member who purchases a period of withdrawn service or State ORP participation for any period of covered employment rendered prior to July 1, 2012, will revert to Class Two membership.” “Some types of purchased service cannot be used in determining eligibility for retiree health insurance.”
What the handbook does not say
The handbook prints cost floors and an interest rate but no dollar price, because the price depends on your age, service and pay. It points to Member Access: “You can manage service credit purchases in Member Access, including calculating an unofficial cost estimate to buy service credit and submitting a service purchase request.”
Edition
This page reads the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA), Fiscal year 2027 Police Officers Retirement System Member Handbook, the file PEBA served on 2026-10-22. It covers PORS, the police system. The South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS) and other PEBA plans have their own handbooks, which this page does not read, and South Carolina law and your own PEBA account control over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Waiting until after retirement. The handbook says “Payment for service purchases must be made in full prior to your retirement date or termination from employment.”
- Buying the same type twice in a year. The handbook says “You can establish each type of service credit once within a fiscal year.”
- Buying while on unpaid leave. “A member on leave without pay from a covered employer is not eligible to establish service credit of any type.”
Related: South Carolina PORS retirement decisions, public pension retirement decisions, whether buying service credit is worth it, and pension buyback calculator.
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- South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA), Fiscal year 2027 Police Officers Retirement System Member Handbook: www.peba.sc.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Topic no. 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Topic no. 558, Additional tax on early distributions: www.irs.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 22, 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.