Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 145
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 145.03 (2026)

Public employees retirement system - exemption from compulsory membership

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
July 1, 1992
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 351 - 119th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

(A) A public employees retirement system is hereby created for the public employees of the state and of the several local authorities mentioned in section 145.01 of the Revised Code. Except as provided in division (B) of this section, membership in the system is compulsory upon being employed and shall continue as long as public employment continues.

(B) A student who is not a member at the time of his employment with the school, college, or university in which he is enrolled and regularly attending classes may elect to be exempted from compulsory membership and a student who is a member may elect to have his employment with the school, college, or university in which he is enrolled and regularly attending classes exempted from contribution to the retirement system. An election to be exempted from membership or contribution shall be made by signing a written application for exemption within the first month after being employed and filing the application with the public employees retirement board. All applications, when approved by the public employees retirement board and filed with the employer, shall be irrevocable while the employee is continuously employed by the school, college, or university and regularly attending classes.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1975–2023 · leading case: State ex rel. Domhoff v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Ret. Sys. Bd. (Slip Opinion), 2014 Ohio 3688 (Ohio 2014).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State ex rel. Domhoff v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Ret. Sys. Bd. (Slip Opinion), 2014 Ohio 3688 (Ohio 2014). · cites it 11× “One of the few exceptions to public-employee membership in OPERS is described in R.C. 145.03. That statute provides that a student employee is exempt from OPERS membership if he or she requests exemption by submitting a form to OPERS, OPERS approves the exemption, and the…”
State Ex Rel. Schachter v. Ohio Pub. Employees Ret. Bd., 2009 Ohio 1704 (Ohio 2009). · cites it 2× “R.C. 145.03(A) {¶ 50} Schachter further asserts that res judicata cannot be used to bar her membership in PERS because its application conflicts with R.”
State ex rel. Altman-Bates v. Pub. Emps. Ret. Bd. (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 3100 (Ohio 2016). · cites it 2× “R.C. 145.03(A); 145.01(B); State ex rel. Lucas Cty.”
McAuliffe v. Bd. of Pub. Employees Ret. Sys., 638 N.E.2d 617 (Ohio Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 6× “03(A), he “became” a public employee in 1975 by virtue of his employment with Pickerington and that his membership “shall continue” after that, regardless of any amendment to R.C. 145.03 in 1975. He maintains that though contractual employees were excluded from membership from…”
State ex rel. Ryan v. State Teachers Ret. Sys., 643 N.E.2d 1122 (Ohio 1994). · cites it 2× “22, which provides: *365 “(A)(1) * * * [A] member of the state teachers retirement system with at least eighteen months of contributing service in the system, the public employees retirement system, or the school employees retirement system who exempted himself from membership…”
State ex rel. Gill v. Sch. Emps. Ret. Sys. of Ohio, 2009 Ohio 1358 (Ohio 2009). · cites it 2× “{¶ 25} For the following reasons, SERS did not abuse its discretion in determining that once PERS approved and began disbursing an independent PERS benefit to Gill without regard to his SERS service, SERS lacked authority to modify the retirement award by acting on Gill’s…”
State ex rel. Van Dyke v. Pub. Employees Ret. Bd., 99 Ohio St. 3d 430 (Ohio 2003). “See, also, R.C. 145.03(A) (“membership in the system is compulsory upon being employed and shall continue as long as public employment continues”).”
Ohio Pub. Employees Ret. Sys. v. Coursen, 806 N.E.2d 197 (Ohio Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 2× “R.C. 145.03 creates the “public employees retirement system * * * for the public employees of the state[.”
Berge v. Columbus Cmty. Cable Access, 736 N.E.2d 517 (Ohio Ct. App. 1999). “CCCA’s simple receipt of a significant amount of money for its operation from the city does not turn the city into the employer of CCCA’s employees, nor does it mean that the city was acting directly or indirectly in the interest of CCCA. Further, plaintiff did not present any…”
Sherman v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Ret. Sys. (Slip Opinion), 2020 Ohio 4960 (Ohio 2020). “R.C. 145.03. See https://www.opers.org/members/employer-search/ (accessed Aug.”
State ex rel. Mallory v. Pub. Employees Ret. Bd., 82 Ohio St. 3d 235 (Ohio 1998). “R.C. 145.03; Lancaster v. Pub. Emp. Retirement Sys.”
State ex rel. Mallory v. Pub. Emp. Ret. Bd., 1998 Ohio 380 (Ohio 1998). “R.C. 145.03; Lancaster v. Pub. Emp. Retirement Sys.”
Show all 24 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 145.03(A) — 9 cases
State Ex Rel. Schachter v. Ohio Pub. Employees Ret. Bd., 2009 Ohio 1704 (Ohio 2009). “R.C. 145.03(A) {¶ 50} Schachter further asserts that res judicata cannot be used to bar her membership in PERS because its application conflicts with R.”
State ex rel. Altman-Bates v. Pub. Emps. Ret. Bd. (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 3100 (Ohio 2016). “R.C. 145.03(A); 145.01(B); State ex rel. Lucas Cty.”
State ex rel. Gill v. Sch. Emps. Ret. Sys. of Ohio, 2009 Ohio 1358 (Ohio 2009). “{¶ 25} For the following reasons, SERS did not abuse its discretion in determining that once PERS approved and began disbursing an independent PERS benefit to Gill without regard to his SERS service, SERS lacked authority to modify the retirement award by acting on Gill’s…”
State ex rel. Van Dyke v. Pub. Employees Ret. Bd., 99 Ohio St. 3d 430 (Ohio 2003). “See, also, R.C. 145.03(A) (“membership in the system is compulsory upon being employed and shall continue as long as public employment continues”).”
McAuliffe v. Bd. of Pub. Employees Ret. Sys., 638 N.E.2d 617 (Ohio Ct. App. 1994). “03(A), he “became” a public employee in 1975 by virtue of his employment with Pickerington and that his membership “shall continue” after that, regardless of any amendment to R.C. 145.03 in 1975. He maintains that though contractual employees were excluded from membership from…”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 145.03(B) — 1 case
State ex rel. Domhoff v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Ret. Sys. Bd. (Slip Opinion), 2014 Ohio 3688 (Ohio 2014). “One of the few exceptions to public-employee membership in OPERS is described in R.C. 145.03. That statute provides that a student employee is exempt from OPERS membership if he or she requests exemption by submitting a form to OPERS, OPERS approves the exemption, and the…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.