Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: Nevada law lets a PERS member buy service credit in several ways: prior service with the member’s present employer from before the employer joined the System, up to 5 years of additional service for a member with 5 years of creditable service, and up to 3 years of military service for a member with 5 years of creditable service who served on active duty from the start of Operation Desert Storm onward and was honorably discharged or released. In each case the member pays the full actuarial cost set by the System’s actuary. The rules sit in NRS 286.300.
What this covers
NRS 286.300 is headed “Purchase of credit for service”. It sets who may buy service, how much, what it costs and what happens to the payments if the member leaves. This page follows the section and quotes it.
For the wider set of Nevada PERS choices, see Nevada PERS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
Who it applies to
It applies to a member of the Public Employees Retirement System of Nevada. Subsection 5 narrows it: “A person who becomes a member of the System for the first time on or after January 1, 2000, may, on or after July 1, 2001, purchase creditable service pursuant to subsection 1, 2 or 3”, but only on the condition quoted in the table below.
The rules, one by one
Each right-hand cell is language from NRS 286.300.
| Situation | What the statute says |
|---|---|
| Service before your employer joined PERS | “purchase all previous creditable service” with the member’s present employing agency, if that service was performed before the agency joined the System |
| Cost of that purchase | “The member must pay the full actuarial cost as determined by the actuary.” |
| Up to 5 years more | “any member who has 5 years of creditable service may, except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, purchase up to 5 years of service.” |
| Cost of the 5-year purchase | “The member must pay the full actuarial cost of the service as determined by an actuary of the System.” |
| Who may buy military service | A member who meets every part of this: “any member who has 5 years of creditable service, served on active military duty during the period beginning on the date proclaimed by the President of the United States as the date on which Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom began and was honorably discharged or released from active duty” |
| Active military duty | “purchase a number of months of service equal to the number of full months the member served on active military duty, but in no case may the service purchased pursuant to this subsection exceed 3 years.” |
| Unused sick leave (licensed teachers) | “not to exceed the number of hours of unused sick leave or 1 year, whichever is less.” |
| Sick leave counts inside the 5 years | “Any service credit purchased pursuant to this subsection must be included as a part of, and is not in addition to, service purchased pursuant to subsection 2.” |
| Members who joined on or after January 1, 2000 | “only if, at the time of the purchase, the person is employed by a participating public employer in a position eligible for membership in the System.” |
| Paying from a rollover | “The money contained in an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity of a member” |
| Refund of the purchase payments | “is entitled to receive a refund of any contributions paid toward the purchase of the service only if the member is no longer in the employ of a participating public employer.” |
Paying for it
Every purchase on this page carries the same price rule: the member pays “the full actuarial cost”. The statute does not print a dollar figure or a rate; the cost is whatever the System’s actuary determines, so ask PERS for a quote before deciding. Whether the purchase pays off is a separate question; see whether buying service credit is worth it and the pension buyback calculator.
Using retirement-account money
Subsection 6 lets a member pay with money from an earlier plan. A member may use all or any portion of the balance of the member’s interest in “a qualified trust pursuant to section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code” or the money in an individual retirement account or annuity, if the entire amount is attributable to a qualified distribution from such a trust and qualifies as an eligible rollover distribution. The purchases this applies to are “to purchase creditable service pursuant to subsection 1, 2 or 3.” The tax side of a rollover is on the IRS pages, not in this section.
Edition
This page reads chapter 286 of the Nevada Revised Statutes as the Nevada Legislature served it on 2026-10-21. Regulations, PERS forms and the rules for a specific membership class sit outside this page; the statute text controls over this summary. The state tax treatment of the pension itself is on whether Nevada taxes pensions.
Common mistakes
- Assuming one purchase right covers everything. The statute lists separate rights, and the 5-year purchase and the sick-leave purchase share one cap: the sick-leave credit is “included as a part of, and is not in addition to, service purchased pursuant to subsection 2.”
- Assuming a purchased year costs the same for every member. The cost is “the full actuarial cost of the service as determined by an actuary of the System.”
- Expecting a refund after leaving a job. The statute gives one only if the member “is no longer in the employ of a participating public employer.”
Related: Nevada PERS retirement decisions, whether buying service credit is worth it, and pension buyback calculator.
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Answer againSources
- Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 286, Public Employees Retirement (Nevada Legislature): www.leg.state.nv.us
- Related official page (not quoted): Nevada Revised Statutes, index of chapters: www.leg.state.nv.us
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Retirement topics: Disability: www.irs.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 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.