---
title: O.C.G.A. § 47-17-70. Credit for service as peace officer; credit for service in the armed forces of the United States.
collection: code
id: 47-17-70
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 47-17-70 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/47-17-70
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/47-17-70.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/47-17-70/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t47-(v35)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=9ec6d528_0#page=181
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/47-17.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/47-17-63.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS / PEACE OFFICERS’ ANNUITY AND BENEFIT FUND / SERVICE CREDITABLE TOWARD RETIREMENT
---

# O.C.G.A. § 47-17-70. Credit for service as peace officer; credit for service in the armed forces of the United States.

(a) Any nonretired member of the fund may claim a maximum of five years for service rendered as a peace officer prior to such member’s joining the fund by tendering to the fund the full actuarial cost of such time as calculated by the actuary for the fund. All purchased time shall count toward vesting.

(b) A member who is determined by the board to be in good standing and who enlists in or is drafted into any branch of the armed forces of the United States shall not be required to remit any funds to the board during such period of service and shall receive credit for such service, provided that such member left their work as a peace officer to enter the armed forces of the United States and returned to work as a peace officer within six months after they ceased such service and engaged in no other type of work within such six-month period. Such member shall receive one year of creditable service for each year of service in the armed forces of the United States, provided that there shall be a limit of five years of credit for such service. If a member remains in the armed forces of the United States longer than five years, their membership shall be terminated at the end of such five-year period but shall be reinstated if they return to work as a peace officer within six months after they cease such service and if they have not engaged in any other type of work within such six-month period.

## History

Ga. L. 1951, p. 472, § 5; Ga. L. 1956, p. 280, § 13; Ga. L. 1958, p. 341, § 9; Ga. L. 1962, p. 39, § 8; Ga. L. 1963, p. 386, § 4; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 47; Ga. L. 1984, p. 996, § 2; Ga. L. 1994, p. 776, § 4; Ga. L. 2024, p. 623, § 1/SB 328, effective July 1, 2024.

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, rewrote subsection (a), which read: “No peace officer who first makes application for membership in the fund on or after May 1, 1968, shall be given credit for any prior service, and such peace officer shall receive credit only from the date he or she becomes a member of the fund; provided, however, a member may claim a maximum of five years for service as a peace officer prior to such member’s joining the fund if such member complies with subsection (c) of Code Section 47-17-44 and remains an active member of the fund for a period of time at least equal to the number of years claimed for prior service; provided, further, that any member defined in subparagraph (J) of paragraph (5) of Code Section 47-17-1 may claim service as a peace officer prior to such member’s joining the fund without regard to such five-year limitation if such member complies with subsection (c) of Code Section 47-17-44.”; and in subsection (b), substituted “their” for “his” twice, “type of work” for “type work” twice, “they ceased” for “he ceased”, “they return” for “he returns”, “they cease” for “he ceases”, and “they have” for “he has”.