Kentucky State Police Retirement (SPRS): Options and Refunds

Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: A Kentucky State Police Retirement System member who leaves service can retire if eligible, leave the contributions in the account until eligible, or take a refund. A refund returns contributions plus interest, forfeits health insurance and the $5,000 death benefit, and carries 20% federal withholding if paid directly. At retirement one payment option is chosen, and after the first payment it can change only in limited cases. The Summary Plan Description gives one shared option list for KPPA’s three systems and no SPRS-only election, but the statute adds SPRS elections and a partial lump sum option (KRS 16.576, 61.635(12)).

What this page covers and what it does not

This page covers the State Police Retirement System (SPRS), one of three systems the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) runs, described as “established July 1, 1958 for uniformed Kentucky State Police officers”. No SPRS-only handbook was among the documents read, so the page rests on three: the Summary Plan Description for KERS, CERS and SPRS (revised December 2022), the Retiree Handbook (REV 09/2021), and the SPRS actuarial valuation as of June 30, 2025.

The Summary Plan Description is shared by the three systems and names SPRS in only a few places. Its chapters on refunds, payment options, survivors and taxes are written for all three at once, and this page treats them as applying to SPRS. Where the valuation states an SPRS rule, that rule is used. The valuation prints “Active Members 863” as of June 30, 2025. The Kentucky Revised Statutes, KRS 16.505 to 16.652 and chapter 61, read at apps.legislature.ky.gov in October 2026, are quoted below where a statute answers a point the documents leave open. The KRS 61.635 and 16.578 text read is the version effective July 15, 2026; amendments after that were not checked. The state employee system is at Kentucky KERS retirement decisions.

Which tier you are in decides most of what follows

Tier is set by participation date: “Participation date is the official date when a member began paying contributions and earning service credit with a state-administered retirement system.” The 2025 valuation summarizes the SPRS tiers this way.

The statute adds conditions to the table. For Tier 1, KRS 16.576(1)(a) says: “Any member who begins participating before September 1, 2008, who has at least five (5) years of service credit may retire at his normal retirement date, or subsequent thereto, upon written notification to the system, setting forth at what date the retirement is to become effective, if the effective date shall be after his last day of service and subsequent to the filing of the notice at the retirement office.” KRS 16.505 sets the Tier 1 normal retirement date at the first day of the month following the member’s 55th birthday, so the table’s “at least 1 month of service credit” is the valuation’s wording and the retirement-date test in the statute needs five years.

For a Tier 1 member aged 55 with at least one month and no more than 59 months of service credit, KRS 16.576(6) is a separate election: “In lieu of any other benefits due under KRS 16.505 to 16.652, a member who begins participating before September 1, 2008, who has attained age fifty-five (55) and who has attained at least one (1) month of service credit but no more than fifty-nine (59) months of service credit may elect to receive an annual retirement allowance, payable monthly or less frequently as determined by the board, which shall be determined by multiplying his accumulated contributions by two (2) and converting this amount to an annual retirement allowance based on an annuity rate adopted by the board which would pay the actuarial equivalent of twice his accumulated contributions over the lifetime of the retired member.”

For Tier 2 and Tier 3 the normal retirement date is the first day of the month following the 60th birthday. The Tier 1 percentage is set by KRS 16.576(3)(a) at 2.5% of final compensation for each year of service credit, and that paragraph adds: “The annual retirement allowance for a member covered by this section shall not exceed the maximum benefit as set forth in the Internal Revenue Code.” Tier 2 percentages depend on years of service at retirement (KRS 16.576(3)(b)): 1.3% for ten or fewer years, 1.5% for more than ten but no more than twenty, 2.25% for more than twenty but less than twenty-five, and 2.5% for twenty-five or more.

For Tier 3, KRS 16.583(6) says: “A member participating in the hybrid cash balance plan provided by this section may retire: (a) At his or her normal retirement date, provided he or she has earned five (5) or more years of service credited under KRS 16.543(1), 61.543(1), or 78.615(1), or another state-administered retirement system; or (b) At any age, provided he or she has earned twenty-five (25) or more years of service credited under KRS 16.543(1), 61.543(1), or 78.615(1), or another state-administered retirement system.”

For Tier 3 the Summary Plan Description says “There are no early or reduced retirement benefits”. It also says Senate Bill 104 of 2017 “allows Tier 2 members to opt into Tier 3”. The Summary Plan Description says “The decision to opt-in to Tier 3 is an irrevocable choice”, made through the member’s Self Service account, and that service purchases made as a Tier 2 member that are not available under Tier 3 will be refunded and service reduced accordingly. KRS 61.5955 sets no deadline in its text (a search of the archived sections for “deadline” found nothing), so a Tier 2 member should still ask KPPA about timing. The statute does say, at KRS 61.5955(5): “An election made pursuant to this section shall be irrevocable;”

KRS 61.5955(6)(a) conditions the election: “A member of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, the County Employees Retirement System, or the State Police Retirement System shall not be eligible to make an election prescribed by this section until the Kentucky Retirement Systems receives a favorable private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service regarding this section.” Whether that ruling has been received was not checked here. Under paragraph (3)(d), interest credits apply only to periods on or after the effective election date: “Interest credits as provided by KRS 16.583, 61.597, 78.5512, or 78.5516, as applicable, shall only be applied for periods occurring on or after the member’s effective election date;”

How the pension is figured, and why it matters for the choice

Under Tier 3, “interest is part of the accumulated account balance used to determine the benefit amount at retirement”, so leaving money in or taking it out changes the pension itself. The balance is divided by an actuarial factor set by age at retirement and type of service.

A computed example from two hazardous examples printed in the Summary Plan Description: a balance of $225,929.05 divided by the printed factor of 197.256200 is a computed $1,145.36 a month (the printed figure is $1,145.36, for a 45 year old with 25 years of service), and $161,546.08 divided by 162.899727 is a computed $991.69 (printed $991.69, for a 60 year old with 20 years). The document does not say which fund these belong to and says current factors are on the KPPA website, so a real SPRS figure needs a KPPA estimate.

The payment options at retirement

The Summary Plan Description lists these options for a retiring member of any of the three systems: Basic or Annuity; Life with 10, 15 or 20 Years Certain; Survivorship 100%, 66 2/3% and 50%; Pop-Up; Social Security Adjustment with or without survivor rights; and an Actuarial/Lump Sum Refund. A hazardous-only Ten Years Certain option is also listed. It is available only to Tier 1 and Tier 2 SPRS members (or CERS or KERS members in hazardous positions), and it is not offered to Tier 3 members or to members with both hazardous and nonhazardous service in the same system. The documents read do not mention a partial lump sum option or an SPRS-only election, but the statute provides both.

KRS 16.576(2) says: “The member shall have the right to elect to have his retirement allowance payable under subsection (3), (4), or (6) of this section or any one (1) of the plans set forth in KRS 61.635.” Subsection (4) is the SPRS ten years certain election, available to members who began before January 1, 2014 (KRS 16.576(7)), and it adds: “The provisions of KRS 61.702 notwithstanding, the member who retired on June 17, 1978, or thereafter, and his spouse and eligible dependents shall continue to receive the insurance benefits to which they are entitled pursuant to KRS 61.702 after the expiration of ten (10) years.”

For Tier 3, KRS 16.583(7)(b) lets the member take the allowance under one of the KRS 61.635 options: “Receive the actuarial equivalent of his or her retirement allowance calculated under paragraph (a) of this subsection payable under one (1) of the options set forth in KRS 61.635, except for the option provided by KRS 61.635(11);” The partial lump sum option is in KRS 61.635(12)(a): “A member may elect to receive a one-time lump-sum payment equal to twelve (12), twenty-four (24), thirty-six (36), forty-eight (48), or sixty (60) monthly retirement allowances payable under the applicable retirement formula for the system and receive a reduced monthly retirement allowance payable for his or her lifetime.” Subsection (12) names no tier, so it is not limited to Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Basic “provides the highest monthly lifetime benefit” and does not provide an ongoing monthly benefit to the beneficiary after the member’s death. The one exception is that if the member dies before receiving an amount equal to the accumulated account balance at retirement, the beneficiary receives a lump sum of any remaining accumulated account balance. Life with Years Certain is open to members “age 75 or younger at retirement” for 10 years, “age 67 or younger” for 15 and “age 61 or younger” for 20, and the beneficiary is paid only if the member dies inside the guaranteed period. A Survivorship option pays the beneficiary “the same monthly benefit until death” at 100%, “a monthly benefit equal to 66 2/3% of the member’s monthly benefit until death” at 66 2/3%, and “a monthly benefit equal to 50% of the member’s monthly benefit until death” at 50%.

Pop-Up pays the survivor the same amount, and if the beneficiary dies first the member’s payment increases “to the amount under the Basic option”. The Social Security Adjustment lets a member “take a larger monthly payment until reaching age 62”. The hazardous Ten Years Certain option pays more each month, but “After 10 years, this benefit ceases altogether”.

The Summary Plan Description also notes that “for most payment options, an individual must be receiving a monthly retirement payment to enroll in health insurance”, and that with a non-spouse beneficiary “certain payment options may not be available to the member”.

The statute does not turn on a non-spouse beneficiary. KRS 61.635(16)(a) says: “The options described in subsections (2), (3), (4), (8)(b), (10), (12)(b), and (13) of this section shall be extended to the member only if the designated beneficiary is a person or a special needs trust.” KRS 61.635(1) adds: “The amount of any optional retirement allowance shall be actuarially equivalent to the amount of retirement allowance otherwise payable to the member.”

What the options pay: the Summary Plan Description’s printed example

The Summary Plan Description prints every option for one example member, John Doe, whose Basic payment of $1,452.33 matches the nonhazardous CERS benefit it figures earlier. It is not an SPRS figure, but it shows what each choice gives up.

A computed example from those printed figures, not SPRS figures: option payment divided by the Basic payment, times 100. Survivorship 100% is a computed 87.6% of Basic, Survivorship 66 2/3% 91.4%, Survivorship 50% 93.4% and Life with 10 years certain 98.2%. That gap is the trade-off covered at single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension.

What cannot be changed after retirement, and the deadlines

From the first day of the month of the first payment, the Summary Plan Description says a retired member “may not change their payment option or account beneficiary designation except in limited circumstances”. The two exceptions are a member on Basic, Annuity, Life with Years Certain or Social Security Adjustment without survivor rights, who “may change their beneficiary at any time”, and a retiree who marries or remarries, who may name the new spouse and elect a survivorship option “Within 120 days of marriage or remarriage”. The Retiree Handbook adds that a member making the first kind of change “cannot change the payment option he or she selected at retirement”, and that the new survivorship option “must be actuarially equivalent to the monthly retirement payment option the retired member was receiving prior to the change”. It describes no change of option for anyone else.

The Summary Plan Description recommends filing Form 6000 “approximately 45 to 60 days before their intended retirement date”. Only one option goes on Form 6010, which needs “spouse or witness signature”, and if that form “is not returned within six months, the Form 6000 will be voided”. The beneficiary on Form 6000 “supersedes all previous designations”. “A final divorce decree voids the designation of a spouse as beneficiary.”

The actuarial lump sum refund at retirement

The one lump sum in the options chapter replaces the pension: “This option provides a one-time lump sum payment to the member that is the actuarial equivalent of the amount the member would have received had the benefits been paid over 60 months.” “By selecting this option, the member forfeits all other benefits, including health insurance benefits and the $5,000 death benefit.” “An individual electing this payment option cannot repay the actuarial refund if employed with a participating employer at a later date.” “If the member is Tier 1 or Tier 2, the refund amount will be the total of contributions and interest if that amount is higher than the actuarial lump sum.” “Tier 3 members are not eligible for the Actuarial Refund, only the total of contributions and associated interest.”

In the printed example the Basic payment is $1,452.33 and the refund is approximately $72,564.07. Sixty undiscounted Basic payments would be a computed $87,139.80, so the printed lump sum is a computed 83.3% of that, from $72,564.07 divided by (60 times $1,452.33), times 100.

If you leave before retiring: retire, keep the account, or take a refund

The Summary Plan Description states the choice in one sentence: “Upon termination of employment, a member has three options in regard to their retirement account: (1) retire if eligible, (2) leave the contributions in their account until eligible to retire, or (3) take a refund of their account balance.” See pension refund versus leaving it for the general trade-off.

On vesting, the valuation’s deferred vested benefit rows give the eligibility as “At least 1 month of service credit” for Tier 1 and “5 years of service” for Tiers 2 and 3. For Tier 3 the Summary Plan Description puts the line at 60 months: “Tier 3 members with at least 60 months of service credit are vested and will receive employer pay credits and any associated upside sharing interest.” The valuation adds that a Tier 3 member may “leave their account balance with the System and retire once they are eligible”, and “The hypothetical account balance will earn 4% annual interest after termination”.

KRS 16.583(4)(c) says: “If the member did not contribute to the hybrid cash balance plan during the fiscal year, the interest credit added to the member’s account for that fiscal year shall be determined by multiplying the member’s accumulated account balance on June 30 of the preceding fiscal year by four percent (4%).” For a year in which the member does contribute, paragraph (4)(b) sets the credit at four percent (4%) plus seventy-five percent (75%) of the system’s geometric average net investment return in excess of a four percent (4%) rate of return, and subsection (2)(b)1 adds an employer pay credit of seven and one-half percent (7.5%) of creditable compensation for each month the member is contributing.

Paragraph (4)(e) says: “No employer pay credits or interest credits shall be provided to a member who has taken a refund of contributions as provided by KRS 61.625 or who has retired and annuitized his or her accumulated account balance as prescribed by this section.”

What a refund returns and what it gives up

The valuation states the Tier 1 rule as “Members who do not receive a retirement benefit are entitled to a full refund of contributions with interest”. The refund also ends future rights: “By taking a refund, members forfeit eligibility for future benefits including health insurance and the $5,000 death benefit.”

For Tier 3, KRS 16.583(5)(a) says: “Upon termination of employment, a member who has less than five (5) years of service credited under KRS 16.543(1), 61.543(1), and 78.615(1), who elects to take a refund of his or her accumulated account balance as provided by KRS 61.625, shall forfeit the accumulated employer credit, and shall only receive a refund of his or her accumulated contributions.” Paragraph (5)(b) gives a member with five (5) or more years of service credit a full refund of the accumulated account balance. Both paragraphs count service credited under KRS 16.543(1), 61.543(1) and 78.615(1).

Paying the refund: withholding, rollover and paperwork

The Summary Plan Description says refunds “can be paid directly to the member or the funds can be rolled into another qualified retirement plan or Individual Retirement Account (IRA)”. On tax: “If a member elects to receive a direct payment, KPPA is required to withhold 20% for federal income taxes.” “The amount withheld is not a penalty tax and will apply towards federal tax liability for the year in which the refund was issued.”

A computed example from an assumed $50,000 refund, not an SPRS figure: 20% withholding on a direct payment is a computed $10,000, leaving a computed $40,000 before any further tax or penalty. See 20% withholding on a pension lump sum for how withholding differs from tax owed.

The application is “Form 4525, Application for Refund of Member Contributions and Direct Rollover/Direct Payment Selection”. A refund “cannot be processed until at least 45 days following the termination date”, and it is “paid by check and mailed to the member at their address on file with KPPA”. A member who returns to the same employer, or another in the same system, “within 45 days of terminating the employment, the member will become ineligible to receive the refund and will be required to pay back the refund if payment has been issued”. The statute gives the refund right but not the 45 day figures. KRS 61.625(1)(a) says: “Prior to the member’s effective retirement date, a member if living, or if not living, his or her designated beneficiary, shall have the right to request a refund of his or her accumulated account balance if the member’s employment has been terminated and the member is not participating in the same system.” A search of the 109 archived sections for forty-five and for 45 days found nothing, so those figures come from the KPPA documents.

A refund can be partly reversed: if a member later returns, “the member may be eligible to purchase their refunded service”. The Summary Plan Description says the cost of regaining refunded service is the contributions withdrawn plus interest calculated from the time of withdrawal, and the member must accrue at least six additional months of service credit in a state-administered system to validate the purchase; the pension buyback calculator can set up a break-even once KPPA provides one.

KRS 61.552(3)(a) says: “Any employee participating in one (1) of the state-administered retirement systems who has been refunded his or her accumulated account balance under the provisions of KRS 61.625, thereby losing service credit in the system, may regain the credit by paying to the system the amount or amounts refunded by the system with interest at a rate determined by the board.” Paragraph (3)(b) bars using the recontributed service in the allowance until the member has accrued at least six (6) months of service credit in a state-administered retirement system, excluding the service purchased.

What survivors receive

Before retirement, a beneficiary may receive a monthly benefit if the member was eligible for normal or early retirement, was actively working with at least 60 months of service credit and died before the normal retirement date (the SPRS valuation words the test as under age 55, but KRS 16.578(1)(b) uses the normal retirement date, which is age 55 only for Tier 1), or had “at least 144 months of service credit” after leaving. That last test matters for the refund decision, because an account left in place with enough service keeps a survivor benefit open. Otherwise, “a lump sum payment of the member’s accumulated account balance will be paid”.

KRS 16.578(1) requires that the member had on file a written beneficiary designation with the retirement office. Its conditions include that “The member was in active employment or on authorized leave of absence with five (5) or more years of service credit and died prior to his or her normal retirement date;” and that “The member was not in active employment or on authorized leave of absence with twelve (12) or more years of service credit and died prior to his or her normal retirement date.”

If the beneficiary of an eligible member is a single person or a special needs trust, KRS 16.578(2) lets the beneficiary choose among several monthly options or instead take, under paragraph (2)(f), “The higher of a refund of the member’s accumulated account balance and interest as described in KRS 61.625(1) or a one (1) time lump-sum payment which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the amount payable under paragraph (a) of this subsection for a period of sixty (60) months.”

After retirement the option chosen decides. “If the retired member selected a Survivorship Option at the time of retirement, the beneficiary will begin receiving monthly benefits the month following the member’s death.” A separate death benefit of $5,000 applies to a retiree with “at least 48 months or more of combined service with CERS, KERS, or SPRS”, and a refund forfeits it. See also survivor benefit with a government pension.

Cost-of-living adjustments

The Summary Plan Description says “the Kentucky General Assembly (and not the CERS or KRS Boards, the KPPA, or the Governor) actually holds the authority to grant COLAs”. A letter in the 2025 valuation package states that as of the June 30, 2025 valuation “there are no pension funds with a funding level greater than 100%, and therefore, no increase in monthly retirement allowance can be paid” under the funded-status test in KRS 61.691(2)(b)1 and KRS 78.5518(2)(b)1. The Retiree Handbook adds that a COLA may be paid only if the system’s funding level is above 100% and the payment will not reduce it below 100%, or if the legislature prefunds the COLA.

KRS 61.691(2)(a) says: “Effective July 1, 2009, and on July 1 of each year thereafter, a recipient of a retirement allowance under KRS 16.505 to 16.652 and 61.510 to 61.705 shall have his or her retirement allowance increased by one and one-half percent (1.5%), if: 1. The funding level of the system is greater than one hundred percent (100%) and subsequent legislation authorizes the use of any surplus actuarial assets to provide an increase in retirement allowances described by this subsection for the system which has the surplus actuarial assets; or 2. The General Assembly appropriates sufficient funds or directs payment of funds to fully prefund the increase described by this subsection in the year the increase is provided.” Paragraph (2)(f) says: “The General Assembly reserves the right to suspend or reduce the benefits conferred in this subsection if, in its judgment, the welfare of the Commonwealth so demands.”

Tax on the monthly pension

“Monthly benefits from CERS, KERS and SPRS are subject to federal income tax.” On Kentucky tax: “All benefits attributable to service earned on or before December 31, 1997, are exempt from Kentucky income tax.” “The portion of the member’s benefits earned January 1, 1998 and after is subject to Kentucky income tax.” Details are at Kentucky retirement taxes and does Kentucky tax pensions.

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 SPRS’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 roll it over yourself “you’ll have to add funds from other sources equal to the amount withheld”. The Summary Plan Description describes the same 20% default withholding on a direct payment, with a direct rollover as the alternative. 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”, which applies only if the employee separated from service during or after the year of reaching 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

The one conflict found concerns sick leave in Tier 3. The Summary Plan Description, revised December 2022, says “Sick leave is not used to calculate benefits for members in the Hybrid Cash Balance Plan.” The 2025 valuation says that members in the Tier 3 plan with five or more years of service “will receive an additional employer pay credit each fiscal year” from July 1, 2023, and that Tier 3 members retiring from SPRS will receive a further pay credit based on unused sick leave at termination. The valuation is the newer source, and KPPA should confirm how the credit applies to a given Tier 3 account.

The statute settles the point for SPRS. KRS 16.583(2)(b)2 lists among the parts of a Tier 3 account balance: “For members of the State Police Retirement System covered by this section, an employer pay credit for the value of accumulated sick leave as determined and limited by KRS 16.584;” Under KRS 16.584(1)(a), a Tier 3 member with five or more years of service credit receives each fiscal year a credit equal to the hours of accumulated sick leave in excess of 480 hours times the member’s hourly base pay, and under (1)(b) a member who retires receives a credit for the hours of accumulated sick leave at termination times that pay.

The benefit is conditional: KRS 16.584(3) says: “The provisions of KRS 16.583(2)(b)2. and this section are subject to funding for the benefit in the executive branch budget. In the event funding for this additional employer credit is not provided in the executive branch budget, no employer credits for accumulated sick leave shall be provided during the period the budget is effective.”

What this page could not settle

• The documents read give no SPRS-specific reduction factors for any payment option; the dollar table is the Summary Plan Description’s example.
• The documents read do not mention a partial lump sum option. KRS 61.635(12), quoted above, provides one, and the estimate disclosures and pamphlet it requires from KPPA were not checked.
• The documents read do not state that a spouse must consent to a payment option or a refund. Form 6010 does ask for a spouse or witness signature.
• The documents read do not give SPRS actuarial factors beyond two printed hazardous examples, or the cost of buying back refunded service beyond the statute’s refund-plus-interest rule (KRS 61.552(3)(a)). The Tier 2 switch into Tier 3 is irrevocable under KRS 61.5955(5).
• Disability, retiree health insurance prices and employer contribution rates were not covered. The valuation gives Tier 1 and Tier 2 early retirement at age 50 with at least 15 years of service, reduced 6.5% per year for the first five years and 4.5% per year for the next five years before normal retirement eligibility; Tier 3 has no early retirement.
• KRS 16.577 prints none of the valuation’s early retirement reduction percentages (the word “percent” does not appear in the section), and leaves the reduction to the board’s actuary. KRS 16.577(1) says: “Upon retirement at early retirement date, a member may receive an annual retirement allowance payable monthly during his lifetime which shall be determined in the same manner as for retirement at his normal retirement date, with years of service and final compensation being determined as of the date of his actual retirement, but the amount of the retirement allowance so determined shall be reduced at an amount determined by the board’s actuary to reflect the earlier commencement of benefits.”
• KRS 16.505 defines the early retirement date for Tier 1 as “For a member who begins participating before September 1, 2008, the retirement date declared by a member who is not less than fifty (50) years of age and has fifteen (15) years of service;” Under KRS 16.577(2) the reduction does not apply to a Tier 1 member with 20 or more years of service credit, at least 15 of which are current service, and under KRS 16.577(3) to a Tier 2 member with 25 or more years. A search of KRS 16.576 and 16.577 for the words “any age” found nothing, so the table’s “any age” rows for Tier 1 and Tier 2 were not located in the sections read.

Common mistakes

• Treating the Summary Plan Description’s dollar table as an SPRS figure. It is a CERS nonhazardous example.
• Assuming a beneficiary change reopens the payment option. The handbook allows a beneficiary change on the simpler options without changing the option itself.
• Taking a refund without pricing what it forfeits: health insurance eligibility and the $5,000 death benefit.
• Choosing the Actuarial/Lump Sum Refund as if it could be repaid later. The document says it cannot be repaid.

Related on this site: Kentucky retirement taxes, does Kentucky tax pensions, Kentucky KERS retirement decisions, single-life versus joint-and-survivor pension, pension refund versus leaving it, 20% withholding on a pension lump sum and public pension retirement decisions by system.

Sources

• Kentucky Public Pensions Authority, Summary Plan Description for KERS, CERS and SPRS (Revised December 2022): https://www.kyret.ky.gov/Publications/Books/Summary%20Plan%20Description.pdf
• Kentucky Public Pensions Authority, Retiree Handbook (REV 09/2021): https://kyret.ky.gov/Publications/Books/Retiree%20Handbook.pdf
• Kentucky Public Pensions Authority, State Police Retirement System (SPRS) Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2025 (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company, December 3, 2025): https://www.kyret.ky.gov/Publications/Actuarial%20Valuations/2025%20SPRS%20Actuarial%20Valuation.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 16, 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.