Arkansas State Police Retirement System Decisions and DROP

Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: An Arkansas State Police Retirement System (ASPRS) member pays no contributions, so the handbook describes no refund election. At retirement a Tier II member picks straight life (no survivor) or Option A60 (96%), A120 (90%), B50 (83%) or B75 (75%); Tier I straight life carries automatic survivor benefits. Retirement becomes irrevocable once the effective date passes, and the application is due 30 to 90 days ahead. A member with 28 years may enter the DROP for up to seven years and take the balance as a lump sum, rollover or annuity.

More on public pension COLAs for 2027: the Arkansas ASPRS COLA for 2027 and the standing 3% rule.

What this page covers and what it does not

This page works from the ASPRS Member Handbook for Tier One and Tier Two (the file name reads Updated 03.02.2026; no edition date is printed in its text), the Tier II DROP fact sheet (file name updated July 1, 2025) and the ASPRS Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for fiscal year 2025, all read on October 30, 2026. ASPRS covers state troopers: “State troopers, the Director of the Arkansas State Police, and in certain circumstances the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety, are members of ASPRS as a condition of employment”. Its administrator is “Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System (APERS) staff”, but APERS is a different system for other state employees, covered at Arkansas APERS retirement decisions. Neighbors are Arkansas ATRS retirement decisions and Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions.

Two tiers exist: “Act 1071 of 1997 created a Tier II benefit plan for all police officers hired on or after April 3, 1997”. Both are covered below. Disability retirement is not.

On size, the financial report’s membership note, as of June 30, 2025, lists “Active Plan Members (Excludes DROP Participants)” at 542, alongside 31 DROP participants, 758 retirees and beneficiaries and 123 deferred members, for a total of 1,454. The statistical section prints 573 active plan members for 2025. The gap is a computed 31, the DROP count, and that section says its count covers “The Arkansas State Police Retirement System includes active members in a two tier program, retired members, beneficiaries, participants in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), and deferred members”. The gap equals the DROP count, but the same section labels its 789 retirees and beneficiaries as including DROP participants, so the source does not say which line carries them; only the 542 is labelled as excluding DROP participants.

When a pension can start and how it is figured

Vesting is five years in both tiers: “To be vested, you must have five years of actual service”.

Tier I: “you may voluntarily retire with 28 years of actual service, regardless of age, or at age 52 with five years of actual service with an unreduced benefit”. For early retirement, “you may retire once your age is within 10 years of becoming eligible for normal retirement”, and “your benefit will be reduced by ½ of 1% for each month your retirement precedes the normal retirement age”. The formula: “Your annual benefit, prior to reduction for early retirement or adjustment for an annuity option, is calculated by multiplying your FAC x 1.66% x Years of Credited Service”, with final average compensation being “the average of the highest five fiscal years of compensation”. Tier I service gets extra weight: “Non-contributory Tier One service is credited at 1 ½ the regular rate for the purpose of computing your benefit amount”.

Tier II: “A member with 28 or more years of actual service may retire at any age upon application”. Below 28 years, “the required age is 65 reduced by 0.75 of a month for each month of actual service, but in no event younger than 55”. The annual benefit is “calculated by multiplying your FAC x Years of Credited Service x 2.65%”, with final average compensation being “the average of the highest four fiscal years of compensation”. Service credit is one for one.

Before age 62 a retiree also gets a temporary annuity: “Retirees who have not yet reached age 62 will receive a temporary annuity until the month of your 62nd birthday”. It is “calculated annually as the FAC x 0.322% x Years of Credited Service” for Tier I and “calculated annually as the FAC x Years of Credited Service x 0.513%” for Tier II, and “Beneficiary benefits will not include the temporary annuity”.

A computed example from assumed inputs, not ASPRS figures: with an assumed $80,000 final average compensation and 25 years, Tier II pays $80,000 times 2.65% times 25 years, a computed $53,000 a year or $4,417 a month, as straight life before any reduction. For the age rule, an assumed 120 months of service takes 65 years (780 months) less 0.75 of a month for each of 120 months (90 months), a computed 690 months or 57.5 years, above the age 55 floor.

The retirement election: straight life and the options

The options decide what a survivor gets, and the handbook prints different Tier I and Tier II rules. Percentages are shares of the straight life annuity.

Tier I straight life is not a no-survivor choice: under the heading “Straight Life (Automatic Survivor)”, “Your spouse will receive 75% of your benefit amount if he or she has care of your dependent children who were born before you retired”. Tier II is different: “If you choose the straight life annuity, you will receive a monthly annuity for your lifetime only. No benefits will be paid to a survivor or beneficiary”.

The A options guarantee a term: “You receive 96% of the straight life annuity for your lifetime”, and “your designated beneficiary, will receive the same annuity, excluding the temporary annuity, for the balance of the 60 months”. Option A120 pays 90% on the same terms for 120 months. The B options pay a survivor for life: “You receive 83% (adjusted up or down by ½ of 1% for each year difference in age between you and your beneficiary, but no higher than 95%) of your straight life annuity, payable for your lifetime”. For B75 the Tier I text prints 78% and the Tier II text prints 75%, each with a three-quarters of 1% adjustment per year of age difference and a 90% cap. A B-option beneficiary is limited: “your beneficiary must be either your spouse to whom you were married for at least six months prior to retirement, or a dependent child 40 years of age or older who is claimed as a dependent on the retiree’s federal tax return for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the first payment due date”.

A computed example from an assumed $4,000 monthly Tier II straight life amount, not an ASPRS figure, before any age adjustment: Option A60 at 96% pays a computed $3,840 a month; A120 at 90% pays $3,600; B50 at 83% pays $3,320 and leaves a survivor 50% of that, $1,660; B75 at 75% pays $3,000 and leaves a survivor 75% of that, $2,250 (computed). The real percentage moves with the age gap, so ASPRS’s own estimate decides. The general trade-off is at single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension and survivor benefit with a government pension.

What is irrevocable and the deadlines

The handbook gives one cancellation window: “You may cancel your retirement by notifying us in writing before your effective date”. Then “If you do not cancel your retirement within these guidelines, your retirement is irrevocable”. On timing, “By law, your application must be received by ASPRS at least 30 days but no more than 90 days before you wish your retirement to be effective”, and “you must terminate employment by the last day of the month prior to the effective date of your retirement”. After retirement the handbook lists the cases in which the option can change. After a marriage: “If you elect straight life, Option A60, or Option A120 and marry after retirement or within the six months immediately preceding retirement, you may cancel the original election and choose Option B50 or Option B75”. “This change must be made within 12 months following the date of marriage but not earlier than six months after that date”. If a B-option retiree’s marital status changes by death, divorce or other dissolution, “you may change to straight life, Option A60, or Option A120, effective the month following the system’s receipt of your election to change”.

A disputed staff decision has its own clock: “You must submit a written request no later than 30 days from the date you receive the initial determination”.

The deferred retirement option plan (DROP) and lump sums

Outside the DROP, the documents read describe no lump sum retirement option; ASPRS pays an annuity. The DROP is the route to a lump sum.

Tier I: “a Tier One member with 28 years of credited service and who is eligible to receive a service retirement pension, full or reduced, may elect to participate in the DROP”. Tier II: “a Tier Two member with 28 years of actual service and who is eligible to receive a service retirement pension may elect to participate in the DROP”. In both tiers, “you receive 100% of the monthly retirement benefit that would have been payable” had the member retired, and Tier II says “effective July 1, 2025”. Interest on the account differs. Tier I: “at a rate set by the Board of Trustees that shall not be greater than the actuarially assumed investment rate of return for that time”. Tier II: “shall not be greater than 5% nor less than 1% per annum as determined by the Board”. “Interest will be credited to the account on an annual basis”.

The stay is capped: “A member may participate in the DROP for up to seven years”. The Tier II fact sheet adds “After seven years in the DROP, you must terminate employment and retire”, and warns that “Because your benefit is calculated as of when you enter the DROP, any increases in compensation after you enter the DROP will not affect your benefit”. The COLA still runs: “Under current law, once you have been active in the DROP for 12 months, your annual benefit will increase by 3% every July 1st”.

At exit, “you may elect to receive the accrued DROP account balance as a lump sum payment, a rollover to another retirement plan, a monthly annuity, or a combination of these payment methods”. If the member dies first, “If you die prior to exiting the DROP, the DROP balance will be paid to your designated beneficiary”. The handbook’s tax note: “The funds from the DROP account are taxable when paid directly to the member. If funds are rolled over into another pre-tax retirement account, tax can be deferred until the funds are withdrawn”.

A computed example from an assumed $3,000 monthly benefit, not an ASPRS figure: seven years of full credits is $3,000 times 12 months times 7 years, a computed $252,000 before interest and COLA. If a taxable payout of an assumed $100,000 were paid directly to the member and treated as an eligible rollover distribution, 20% withholding would be a computed $20,000. See 20% withholding on a pension lump sum.

Leaving before retirement: why there is no refund election

The handbook opens with the funding basis: “Members of ASPRS are non-contributory”, and “The Department of Public Safety contributes 26% of the employee’s salary to the system”. With no member contributions, the pages read contain no refund-versus-leave section. In the handbook a refund appears only in passing, as “a refund of contributions” among rights protected from legal process and, in the unlawful-killing section, where “the system must refund the member contributions to the member’s estate if a backup beneficiary does not exist”. The financial report’s expense tables do carry a refunds line, so the handbook’s silence is about the rule, not proof that none is ever paid.

On leaving, “If you leave employment with Arkansas State Police for any reason (including death or retirement), you will stop accruing credit as an active member”. What matters is vesting: “Five years of actual service is required to be eligible for future benefits”. A vested Tier II former member may retire early within ten years of full benefit age, and the financial report counts 123 deferred members at June 30, 2025. For the refund decision at systems that do have one, see pension refund versus leaving it.

Death before retirement

Tier I: “If a member with five or more years of actual service dies in employer service before retirement, your survivors can receive death benefits”. “With children, your spouse receives 75% of your annuity or $1,800 annually, whichever is greater”. “Without children, your spouse receives 50% of your annuity or $1,200 annually, whichever is greater”. Tier II: “Your surviving spouse, who was married to you for at least six months immediately preceding your death, is entitled to receive an annuity”. “Your spouse’s annuity is the greater of 10% of your covered compensation or the amount provided for a beneficiary under Option B75”, paid while the spouse has care of dependent children. After that the spouse’s benefit depends on service: “If you had 20 years of actual service or were eligible for a normal (unreduced) age and service benefit, your surviving spouse will begin receiving a lifetime benefit immediately upon your death”; with 15 years of service and the member not yet 65, the annuity begins at age 50 and continues until remarriage or death; and “If you had 5 years, but less than 15 years of actual service, your spouse is eligible for a benefit at age 62”, paid until remarriage or death.

Buying service credit and reciprocity

Both tiers can buy military time: “A member may purchase up to five years (60 months) of active-duty service rendered in the United States armed forces”. The conditions: “Have already earned five years of service credit with ASPRS or a reciprocal system”, “Have received an honorable discharge”, and “Not have purchased the same service with another Arkansas retirement plan”. Cost: “Interest will begin six months after eligibility”, so a purchase made within six months of reaching five years of ASPRS service carries no interest. See the pension buyback calculator for the break-even.

For members with time in another Arkansas plan, “Your service does not move from one system to another”, and “When you retire, you will apply to receive benefits from each retirement system”.

Cost-of-living adjustments

The handbook says “Every July 1, ASPRS retirees who have been retired for at least 12 months receive a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)”, and “The COLA percentage is established by law and is not set by the Board or Executive Director”.

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 ASPRS’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 do roll it over and want to defer tax on the entire taxable portion, you’ll have to add funds from other sources equal to the amount withheld”. The handbook says a DROP payout is taxable when paid directly and that a rollover defers the tax, which fits the IRS description. 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 (within in the meaning of section 414(d)) provided that the qualified public safety employee has separated from service during or after the year in which they attained age 50 or 25 years of service under the plan, whichever is earlier”. 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.

Where the sources disagree

First, the active count: the membership note prints 542 and labels it as excluding DROP participants, while the statistical section prints 573 without saying whether DROP participants are in it (its 789 retiree line is labelled as including them), so any figure should name its basis.

Second, Tier I DROP entry. The Tier I retirement section says “you may voluntarily retire with 28 years of actual service, regardless of age, or at age 52 with five years of actual service with an unreduced benefit”, while the Tier I DROP section says “a Tier One member with 28 years of credited service and who is eligible to receive a service retirement pension, full or reduced, may elect to participate in the DROP”. Tier I service is credited at 1 ½ the regular rate, so credited and actual years are not the same number, and the handbook does not reconcile the phrases. A Tier I member should ask ASPRS which count applies.

Third, the DROP’s length, share and rate. The financial report’s note on the DROP says it “allows a member to defer the receipt of retirement benefits for a maximum of 10 years” and that “a percentage of a member’s chosen benefit is deposited into an account that accrues interest at a rate of 3.25% annually”, where the handbook and the Tier II fact sheet say seven years and 100% of the monthly benefit. The report is a financial statement note and the handbook and fact sheet are member guidance, so a member should ask ASPRS which governs and what rate is credited.

What this page could not settle

• The documents read describe no refund election for a member who leaves; they do not state what, if anything, a member who leaves with fewer than five years of service receives.
• The pages read do not describe a lump sum retirement option outside the DROP, or a partial lump sum.
• The pages read do not state whether a spouse must consent to a straight life or other election.
• The pages read do not state which direction the Option B age adjustment moves for an older or younger beneficiary.
• The handbook does not state the DROP interest rate the Board has set, the financial report prints 3.25% without saying which tier it covers, and the pages read do not state what percentage Tier II DROP participants were credited before July 1, 2025.
• The Tier I DROP fact sheet, the retirement benefit fact sheets and the death benefit fact sheets were not used; the handbook covers both tiers.
• Disability retirement, withholding on monthly annuity payments and the Social Security interaction were not examined.
• The handbook carries no printed edition date and says prior versions cannot be relied on, so confirm the current edition with ASPRS.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a Tier I and a Tier II retiree have the same straight life choice; Tier I straight life carries automatic survivor benefits, and Tier II straight life pays nothing to a survivor.
• Treating Option B75 as one percentage; the handbook prints 78% for Tier I and 75% for Tier II, each adjusted for the age gap.
• Waiting past the effective date to second-guess an election; the handbook says retirement is irrevocable once the cancellation window passes.
• Counting on a refund of contributions; the plan is non-contributory and the handbook describes none.
• Quoting ASPRS membership as 542 or 573 without saying which basis it is; only the 542 is labelled as excluding DROP participants.

Related on this site: Arkansas APERS retirement decisions, Arkansas ATRS retirement decisions, Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions, single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension, survivor benefit with a government pension, pension refund versus leaving it, pension buyback calculator, 20% withholding on a pension lump sum and public pension retirement decisions by system.

Sources

• Arkansas State Police Retirement System, ASPRS Member Handbook, Tier One and Tier Two (file name Updated 03.02.2026; no edition date printed in the text): https://arsprs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/ASPRS-Handbook_Updated_03.02.2026.pdf
• Arkansas State Police Retirement System, Tier II Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) fact sheet (file name updated July 1, 2025): https://arsprs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/State_police_tierII_drop_updated_07-01-2025.pdf
• Arkansas State Police Retirement System, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2025 (fiscal year ended June 30, 2025): https://arsprs.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/ASPRS-25-web.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 30, 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.