(1) An active PERS member on July 1, 2005 is eligible to become a member of the SRS, and an employee hired by a sheriff after July 1, 2005 must become a member of the SRS, pursuant to Title 19, chapter 7, part 3, MCA, if the member or employee meets the definition of "detention officer" in 19-7-101 (2) , MCA, which includes:

(a) being employed in a detention center, a juvenile detention center, a temporary detention center, or a detention facility;

(b) having authority and responsibility for maintaining custody of an inmate for any period of time and performing tasks related to the operation of a detention center; and

(c) completing, within the time allowed by ARM 23.14.526, a detention officers' basic course as provided by the Montana law enforcement academy or equivalent training in a training school meeting the minimum standards of the board of crime control, as required by ARM 23.14.526, pursuant to 44-4-301 , MCA.

(2) An employee hired by a sheriff after July 1, 2005 who meets all the criteria to be a "detention officer", except completion of training, must be an SRS member from the first day of employment or, if later, the first day all criteria except completion of training are met.

(3) An SRS member who does not complete timely the training specified in (1) (c) will be considered to be a member of PERS after the time allowed by ARM 23.14.526 until training is completed. All contributions and the member's membership service and service credit will be adjusted as necessary. Otherwise, an employee who becomes a member of the SRS remains a member of the SRS until the member is no longer employed by the sheriff in a detention center.