Updated October 22, 2026. Quick answer: The 2026 LOPFI Member Handbook has two ways back to LOPFI-covered work. Under Provision 1, which is not available to DROP participants or members who took early retirement, a retiree who returns to paid covered work after at least 30 days of retirement has the monthly benefit stopped, and the handbook gives a recalculation once the re-employment adds at least 12 months of service credit. Under Provision 2 (Act 988 of 2019) a retiree who waited 90 calendar days keeps the benefit but waives any future accrual.
What this covers
The handbook has a section headed “RETIREES RETURNING TO LOPFI-COVERED EMPLOYMENT”. This page quotes it. For the wider choices, see Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
Provision 1: the benefit stops and service is earned again
Each row is the handbook’s own wording for paid service retirees.
| Topic | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| When it applies | “If a Member returns to LOPFI-covered paid service employment, after having been retired for at least 30 days, the Member’s monthly benefit stops and the Member will start earning credited service again.” |
| After 36 months or more | “If the Member’s re-employment lasts for thirty-six (36) months or more, the monthly benefit is then recalculated using the revised FAP and additional accrued service credit.” |
| After 12 to under 36 months | “If the Member terminates employment after accruing at least twelve (12) months of service credit but less than thirty-six (36) months, the monthly benefit will be recalculated using the additional service credit and the original FAP.” |
| Limits | “Retired Members may return to LOPFI-covered paid service employment only one (1) time.” “Members may not receive a refund during this period of re-employment.” “This provision is not available to DROP participants or Members that elected an Early Retirement.” |
Provision 2: the benefit keeps being paid
The handbook lists these conditions for a return that does not stop the benefit.
| Condition | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| What it allows | “An additional return to service provision was created by Act 988 of 2019.” “This provision allows a LOPFI retiree, including a Member who participated in DROP or elected Early Retirement, to return to LOPFI-covered employment, but not have his/her retirement benefit stopped.” |
| Wait and no prearrangement | “The Member retired i. e. actually terminated employment and remained retired for at least ninety (90) calendar days before returning to LOPFI-covered employment regardless of the date of retirement.” “No prearranged employment is allowed.” |
| Which employer | “The police officer/firefighter cannot return to employment with any of his/her previous LOPFI-covered employers unless it is in an entry level position, or a position appointed by a mayor, city manager, or city administrator.” |
| What the member gives up | “The police officer/firefighter must waive any future benefit accrual under LOPFI.” |
| Contributions | “No member contribution will be required; however, the employer shall remit the full employer contribution, without the aid of Premium Tax funding, based on the gross monthly earnings of the police officer/firefighter.” |
| Disability | “This return to service provision is not available to a retiree receiving a disability benefit from LOPFI.” “In the event the police officer/firefighter employee becomes disabled during the period of re-employment, he/she will not be eligible to apply for LOPFI disability benefits.” |
Retired volunteers
“If a retired volunteer Member elects to return to LOPFI-covered volunteer employment, the Member must wait ninety (90) calendar days from the original date of retirement to return to service.” “The Member will continue to receive their monthly benefit, but will not accrue any additional service credit.”
The tax warning on prearranged work
The handbook says that if LOPFI “learns that a bona fide termination of employment did not occur, LOPFI can report this to the IRS.” “The retiree may face adverse tax consequences.” Arkansas’s tax rules on pension income are on how Arkansas taxes retirement income.
What the handbook does not say
It does not say how much a recalculated benefit rises, and it does not give a worked example. Ask LOPFI to run your own figures before you accept a job, because the choice between Provision 1 and Provision 2 can change the benefit.
Edition
This page reads the Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System (LOPFI), Your guide to LOPFI benefits: 2026 Member Handbook (PDF created August 21, 2026), the file LOPFI served on 2026-10-22. It is a summary of plan provisions, so Arkansas law, the LOPFI board rules and your own LOPFI Member Portal account control over it, and LOPFI is the place to confirm your own eligibility.
Common mistakes
- Treating a quick return as a clean break. Under Provision 2 the handbook says “No prearranged employment is allowed.”
- Using Provision 1 after DROP or early retirement. The handbook says “This provision is not available to DROP participants or Members that elected an Early Retirement.”
- Going back to the old department in the same job. The handbook limits it to “an entry level position, or a position appointed by a mayor, city manager, or city administrator.”
Related: Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions, and public pension retirement decisions.
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Answer againSources
- Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System (LOPFI), Your guide to LOPFI benefits: 2026 Member Handbook (PDF created August 21, 2026): www.lopfi-prb.com
- 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.