(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) "Judicial employee" means:

(A) A full-time assistant to a district administrative judge and any full-time secretarial or clerical judicial administrative district employee employed pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 15-5-6;

(B) A full-time employee of The Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia provided for in Code Section 15-6-34;

(C) A full-time employee employed for the purpose of assisting sentence review panels provided for in Code Section 17-10-6; and

(D) A full-time court administrator for a judicial circuit employed pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 15-6-28.

(2) "Prior service as a judicial employee" means service as a judicial employee rendered prior to July 1, 1990, or prior to July 1, 1992, as applied to a judicial employee specified in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(b) Effective on July 1, 1990, or on July 1, 1992, as applied to a judicial employee specified in subparagraph (a)(1)(D) of this Code section, or on first becoming a judicial employee at any time after either such date, as applicable, each judicial employee shall become a member of the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia as a condition of employment.

(c) Any person becoming a member of the retirement system pursuant to the provisions of this Code section shall be subject to the provisions of Code Section 47-2-334, except that any member of the retirement system who, without any break in service, accepts employment as a judicial employee shall continue in the same membership status possessed by the member immediately prior to accepting such employment without any interruption in membership service and without the loss of any creditable service.

(d) The salary paid from state funds to each judicial employee shall be the basis for employee and employer contributions to the retirement system for the purposes of this Code section. All employer contributions, including employee contributions made by the employer on behalf of members, shall be paid from funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the operation of the judicial branch of the state government. Employee contributions of members under this Code section shall be deducted and remitted to the board of trustees by the appropriate employing authority.

(e) Any person who was a member of the retirement system immediately prior to becoming a judicial employee and who has not withdrawn employee contributions from the retirement system shall receive full creditable service for membership service in the retirement system which was completed prior to becoming a judicial employee and shall have the same membership status in the retirement system which the person possessed immediately prior to becoming a judicial employee.

(f)(1) A person becoming a member of the retirement system pursuant to the provisions of this Code section may obtain creditable service for prior service as a judicial employee if the following payments are made to the board of trustees:

(A) The person claiming the creditable service shall pay the employee contributions that would have been paid to the retirement system if the person had been a member during the period for which creditable service is claimed plus regular interest on such employee contributions compounded annually from the time the prior service was rendered to the date of payment; and

(B) The Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia, the president of The Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia, or the district administrative judge employing the person claiming the creditable service shall pay the employer contributions that would have been paid to the retirement system if the person claiming the creditable service had been a member during the period of time for which creditable service is claimed plus regular interest on such employer contributions compounded annually from the time the prior service was rendered to the date of payment. For prior service as a judicial employee specified in subparagraph (a)(1)(D) of this Code section, the employer contributions plus interest required by this subparagraph shall be paid by the commissioner of administrative services from funds appropriated or available for the operation of the superior courts.

(2) The employee and employer contributions provided for in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be determined on the basis of compensation actually received as a judicial employee during the period of prior service for which creditable service is claimed. The employer contributions plus interest thereon provided for in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection may be paid from any funds of the judicial branch of the state government appropriated or otherwise available to The Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia or district administrative judges or appropriated or available for the operation of the superior courts.

(3) Any member qualified to obtain creditable service pursuant to the authority of subparagraph (a)(1)(D) of this Code section shall apply to the board of trustees for such creditable service by not later than July 1, 1993.