§ 441. Eligibility for retirement. a. No member of a retirement system
who is subject to the provisions of this article shall be eligible to
retire until he has rendered a minimum of five years of credited service
after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-three; provided, however,
that this limitation shall not apply to the case of a member otherwise
eligible to retire for disability. A member who attains the mandatory
retirement age of the plan of which he is a member without having the
requisite period of service required as a condition of eligibility for
retirement, shall be separated from service upon attainment of such
mandatory retirement age; provided, however, that this requirement shall
not preclude a member from being continued in service beyond such
mandatory retirement age pursuant to other appropriate provisions of
law.

b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, a
retired member, receiving a retirement allowance for other than physical
disability: (i) who returns to active public service and joins or
rejoins a public retirement system on or after July first, nineteen
hundred seventy-three; and (ii) who thereafter separates from service
prior to the completion of two years of credited service, shall, upon
such separation, be entitled to receive a retirement allowance which
shall consist of an annuity which is the actuarial equivalent of his
accumulated contributions, and the pension, including
pension-providing-for-increased-take-home-pay, which he was receiving
prior to his last restoration to membership.

c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, a
member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions of this
article shall be eligible to retire without having rendered a minimum of
five years of credited service after July first, nineteen hundred
seventy-three, if such member has rendered a minimum of five years of
continuous service, in the employ of the participating employer from
which he retires, immediately prior to retirement. For the purpose of
this subdivision, the term "service" shall mean credited service
rendered after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-three, and prior
service rendered immediately before entry into a retirement system.

d. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, a
member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions of this
article shall be eligible to retire without having rendered a minimum of
five years of credited service after July first, nineteen hundred
seventy-three if such member has rendered a minimum of three years of
continuous service after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-three and
had rendered at least twenty years of credited service prior to January
first, nineteen hundred fifty-five.