Can IRA assets be used to purchase past service credit in governmental pension plans? If so, could it be done by trustee-to-trustee transfers? How would it be reported? Cites would be helpful.

Felecia, this sounds like a question for the pension plan, and not really an IRA question.

From the IRA perspective, the issues are:
Can the assets be moved to the governmental pension plan. Answer, generally yes, if the assets are Traditional IRA assets, except for RMD amounts and other non-rollover eligible amounts.

How would the movement of assets be treated? Answer, as a direct rollover from the IRA. The 1099-R issued for the IRA would reflect code ‘H’ in box 7.

The plan will determine:

-If the plan accepts rollovers from IRAs
-The origin or source of assets that can be used to purchase past service credit