Updated October 22, 2026. Quick answer: The 2026 LOPFI Member Handbook lets a vested, active member buy up to five years of earlier active duty military service (the handbook requires an honorable discharge), up to fifteen years of public safety or law enforcement service at an agency LOPFI does not cover, and cadet service at an Arkansas municipality with its own fire or police pension fund. LOPFI’s actuary prices the purchase, and payment in full is due at least 30 days before the retirement date.
What this covers
The handbook has sections headed “Former Military Personnel Service Credit Purchase”, “Service Credit Purchase” and “Cadet Service Credit Purchase”. This page quotes all three. For the wider choices, see Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
What the handbook says, by type of service
Each row is the handbook’s own wording.
| Type of service | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| Military service before LOPFI coverage | “Active LOPFI Members who have met their vesting requirement may purchase up to five (5) years of credited service for active duty military service that was rendered before the Member’s employment was covered by LOPFI.” “The Member is required to have received an honorable discharge and pay the actuarial cost of the service credit purchase.” |
| Public safety or law enforcement service elsewhere | “Active LOPFI Members who have met their vesting requirement may purchase up to fifteen (15) years of credited service as a public safety or law enforcement officer in any agency not covered by LOPFI or any reciprocal system.” |
| Cadet service | “Active LOPFI Members who have met their vesting requirement can purchase cadet service that was rendered at an Arkansas municipality that also has a local fire or police pension fund.” |
Price, deadline and exclusions
These rules appear in the same sections.
| Topic | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| Who sets the price | “LOPFI’s actuary will calculate the cost of the purchase” (the military and cadet entries say the actuary calculates the cost; the public safety entry says it does so “After proper documentation is collected”). |
| Payment deadline | “Payment in full must occur at least thirty (30) days prior to the Member’s effective date of retirement with LOPFI.” |
| Service that cannot be bought | “Service credit that is or will be eligible for a benefit payment from another plan is not eligible for purchase under LOPFI.” “Also, any time that was served as a volunteer cannot be purchased.” |
| Purchased service and DROP | “Purchased service cannot be used for DROP eligibility.” |
What purchased service does and does not count for
On early retirement the handbook says that with 20 or more years of credited service, “this can be combined service i. e. paid, volunteer, reciprocal, and/or purchased service”. The separate 25 year route is stricter: “In addition, an active Member with 25 years of actual paid LOPFI service credit can retire at any age;” and on DROP, “For purposes of DROP, total service credit shall not include purchased service credit.”
Military service that is credited, not bought
A member called to service is treated differently from one who buys earlier service. The handbook says “the armed service time actually served by the Member shall be credited to the Member as LOPFI service credit in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).”
What the handbook does not say
It does not print a price or a formula for one. The cost comes from LOPFI’s actuary after documentation is collected, so ask LOPFI for a figure before you decide. For the general question of whether a purchase pays back, see whether buying service credit is worth it and the pension buyback calculator. Arkansas’s tax rules on pension income are on how Arkansas taxes retirement income.
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
- Waiting too long to pay. The handbook says “payment in full must occur at least thirty (30) days prior to the Member’s effective date of retirement with LOPFI.”
- Planning to use bought service to enter DROP. The handbook says “Purchased service cannot be used for DROP eligibility.”
- Trying to buy volunteer time. The handbook says “any time that was served as a volunteer cannot be purchased.”
Related: Arkansas LOPFI retirement decisions, public pension retirement decisions, and whether buying service credit is worth it.
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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.