2023 New York Laws › RSS - Retirement and Social Security › Article 14-B - Special Retirement Plans for Sheriffs, Undersheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Engaged in Law Enforcement Activities › 555 - Ordinary Disability Retirement.

§ 555. Ordinary disability retirement.  a. Application for an ordinary
disability retirement allowance for a member may be made by:
1. Such member, or
2. The head of the department in which such member is employed, or
3. Some person acting on behalf of and authorized by such member.
aa.  At  the  time  of  the  filing of an application pursuant to this
section, the member must:
1. Have at least ten years of total service credit, and
2. Actually be in service upon which his or her membership  is  based,
or,   have   been  discontinued  from  service,  either  voluntarily  or
involuntarily, for not more than ninety days, providing the  member  was
disabled prior to such discontinuance.
An  application  for disability retirement shall not be disapproved on
the basis of a deputy  sheriff  having  failed  to  engage  directly  in
criminal law enforcement activities that aggregate fifty per centum of a
deputy  sheriff's  service  during  a period preceding the filing of the
application provided the  failure  to  do  so  was  the  result  of  the
disability  alleged  in  the application and further provided the deputy
sheriff  was  certified  as  so  engaged  in  criminal  law  enforcement
activities  by  the  county  sheriff for the calendar year preceding the
onset of the disability.
After the filing of such an application, such member shall be given  one
or  more  medical  examinations.  If the comptroller determines that the
member is physically or mentally incapacitated for  the  performance  of
duty and ought to be retired for ordinary disability, he or she shall be
so  retired. Such retirement shall be effective as of a date approved by
the comptroller.
b. Upon retirement  for  ordinary  disability  one  of  the  following
retirement allowances shall be payable:
1.  If  a  member  has attained age sixty when such retirement becomes
effective, his or her retirement allowance shall be equal to that  which
he or she would receive in the case of superannuation retirement.
2.  If  the  member  has  not  attained age sixty when such retirement
becomes effective, his or her retirement allowance shall consist of:
(a) An annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his  or  her
accumulated contributions at the time of his or her retirement, plus
(b)   A   pension   which   is   the   actuarial   equivalent  of  the
reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay to which  he  or  she  may  then  be
entitled, if any, plus
(c)  A  pension computed in accordance with whichever of the following
provides the greater benefit:
(1) A pension which,  together  with  the  member's  annuity  and  the
pension-providing-for-increased-take-home-pay,   if   any,  shall  equal
ninety per centum of one-seventieth of his or her final  average  salary
multiplied  by  the  number of years of his or her total service credit,
which formula shall be used only if the retirement allowance so computed
exceeds  one-quarter  of  his  or  her  final  average  salary.  If  the
retirement  allowance so computed shall amount to one-quarter or less of
the member's final average salary, his or her pension shall be  computed
upon  the basis of the total service which he or she would have rendered
if he or she continued in service until he or she attained age sixty  so
as the resulting retirement allowance computed by resort to this formula
shall not exceed one-quarter of the member's final average salary.
(2)  A  pension  which  together  with  the  member's  annuity and the
pension-providing-for-increased-take-home-pay,  if  any,   shall   equal
one-sixtieth of his or her final average salary multiplied by the number
of years of his or her total service credit, which formula shall be used
only if the retirement allowance so computed exceeds one-third of his or

her  final average salary. If the retirement allowance so computed shall
amount to one-third or less of the member's final average salary, his or
her pension shall be computed upon the basis of the total service  which
he or she would have rendered if he or she continued in service until he
or  she  attained age sixty so far as the resulting retirement allowance
computed by resort to this formula shall not  exceed  one-third  of  the
member's final average salary.
For  the purpose only of determining the amount of a pension pursuant to
any of the above formulae, the annuity shall be computed as it would be:
(aa) If not reduced by the actuarial  equivalent  of  any  outstanding
loan, and
(bb)  If  not  increased by the actuarial equivalent of any additional
contributions, and
(cc) If not reduced by reason of the member's election to decrease his
or her annuity contributions to the retirement system in order to  apply
the  amount of such reduction in payment of his or her contributions for
old-age and survivors insurance coverage.
c. If the member, at the time of the filing of  an  application  under
the  provisions  of  subdivision  a  of  this section, is eligible for a
service retirement benefit, then and  in  that  event,  he  or  she  may
simultaneously  file an application for service retirement in accordance
with the provisions of section three hundred seventy  of  this  chapter,
provided  that  the  member  indicates  on  the  application for service
retirement that such application  is  filed  without  prejudice  to  the
application for ordinary disability retirement.
d.  An application for an ordinary disability retirement allowance may
be filed, as otherwise provided herein, simultaneously with or after the
filing  of  an  application  for  an  accidental  disability  retirement
allowance, providing a member meets the requirements of this section. If
the  comptroller shall deny the application for an accidental disability
retirement allowance, he or she shall then determine the application for
an ordinary disability retirement allowance. If  the  comptroller  shall
grant the application for an accidental disability retirement allowance,
the  application for an ordinary disability retirement allowance will be
deemed to have been withdrawn.