(a) Any superior court judge holding office on March 11, 1970, shall have the option, which must be exercised, if at all, by not later than July 1, 1970, of electing to have his surviving spouse receive for the remainder of her life a benefit which, except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, shall be equal to the salary such judge would have received had he lived and been appointed senior judge, subject to the following conditions:

(1) Any judge so electing shall pay an amount equal to 2 percent of his state salary for each year of prior service as a judge of superior court up to the time of such election and shall thereafter contribute, in addition to the 5 percent contribution required by this chapter, 2 percent of the salary paid to him by the state. Such amount shall be deducted from such salary by the commissioner of administrative services and deposited into the retirement fund; and

(2) Any judge so electing shall not be eligible for appointment as senior judge until he is at least 60 years of age, except that he may be appointed senior judge before reaching such age as a result of disability as provided in subsection (c) of Code Section 47-8-40.

(b) Any person who becomes a superior court judge after June 30, 1968, and who is eligible for appointment as senior judge shall have the option provided in subsection (a) of this Code section, which must be exercised, if at all, within 60 days after becoming a superior court judge. All requirements and other provisions of this Code section shall apply to any superior court judge exercising this option.

(c) Upon the death of any superior court judge who has made the election provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section and who was at the time of his death (1) serving as a senior judge, (2) eligible for appointment as a senior judge, or (3) otherwise eligible for appointment as a senior judge except for not having attained age 60, his surviving spouse shall receive for the remainder of her life a monthly benefit equal to the salary as a senior judge which he was drawing or which he was eligible to draw at the time of his death or which he would have been eligible to draw had he lived and been appointed a senior judge, provided that if his surviving spouse is younger than such judge and has not been married to him for at least 20 years, the benefit paid to the surviving spouse shall be converted to the actuarial equivalent on the age attained by the surviving spouse at the time of the judge's death based on actuarial tables adopted by the trustees of the fund as recommended by an actuary selected by such trustees.

(d) No provision of this chapter shall be construed so as to require any superior court judge exercising the option provided by this Code section to be holding office as a superior court judge in order to be eligible for appointment as a senior judge; and, if otherwise qualified in accordance with this chapter, any such judge shall be entitled to be appointed as a senior judge, subject to the requirements of this Code section, whether or not he is holding office at the time of his appointment.

(e) Any superior court judge who has elected to exercise the option provided for in this Code section shall have until July 1, 1970, to rescind such action and to withdraw from the program of benefits provided for in this Code section. If any superior court judge elects to rescind such action, he shall so notify the trustees of the fund, in writing, prior to July 1, 1970. If such action is rescinded, there shall be refunded to any such judge all contributions which he has made toward the program of benefits, less any administrative costs and expenses incurred by the fund and less any costs and expenses for any accrued benefits enjoyed by any such superior court judge during his participation in the program prior to his withdrawal.