OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
John :j. tidd, Jr.
hssiatant Iiireotor and hotuarg
Teacher Retirement System of Texan
Auf~Cin, Texas
D4ar Sir:
Vie have reoeived
WhiQh we quote in part as
0 written contraat
triot that oalled
September 5, 1939.
r under the con-
gaily proper If the Roard
son referred to abpve would
or prior servioe, provided
to serve as a teacher in the
196143, 1942-49, and 1943-44 school years?
“If your answer to the above questiC$ is
in the affitc,atlve, what is the last data on
whioh a perron may aeaum a bona fide wxi%ten
ocntraet and bar oonsidered as having beooma a
teechsr within the period allowed in tijaOtiO!l?I,
Subseotion 5 of the TMoher RetireaienQ Law?”
Honorable John 2. audd, Jr., Fege 2
Seo:lon 3, Subsection 5 o? the Teacher Retirement
Law (Artlole 2922-1, Vernon’s motets% Civil Statutes, reads
es iollowa:
“( 5) Anyone who has taught In the State o?
Texas in aocordanoe with the tents o? this Aot,
but who Is not in servloe during the year in
whloh the kat beoomea e??eotlve, shall, l? ho
beoomes a teacher within two (2) years o? the
date on which this Agt becomes e??ectlve, anl l?
he oontlnues as such ?or a period of iive (5)
oonseouflvt years, be entitled to receive oredit
and resulting benefits ?or prlor-servloe es pro-
vide% for in this Aot.qf
In our Opinion Xo. O-646 it was held that three
dates were o? lmportanoe In oonstrulng the Teeohrr Retlre-
ment Law; that la, June 9, 1937, the date upon whloh the
Aot as an enactment o? the Legislature became eifeotive;
July 1, 1937, the date o? establfshment of the Teaoher Ee-
tirement System; and September 1, 1937, the date o? the be-
glnnlng of the first sahool year and upon whloh oertaln
provisions o? the Aet beoame operetive. It was also held In
Opinion 80. O-646 that the date referred to in Seotlon 3,
Subsection 5, by the language, “the date on whloh this Agt
beoomes eifeotlve,” was June 9, 1937. Thus, two years fro5
that date would be June 9, i339.
The hat make8 provisions un%~erwhloh a member may
claim oredlt ?or prior service. Subseotion 1 of Seotion 3
reads as r0ima:
“( 1) al persons who are teaahere on the
date as of which the Xetlrsment Spatam ie estab-
lished ehall beoane members as o? that date es
a oondltlon o? their employment unless within a
period or ninety (90) days aiter September 1,
1937, any suoh teacher shell file with the 3tate
Board o? Trustees on a form preecrfbe% by suoh
Board, a notice o? his eleotlon not to be cover-
ed in the membership o? the System end a duly
executed waiver o? all prsaent and prospective
beneiits which would otherwise inure to him on
soaount o? hls participation in the Retlrment
System. *
:‘ubeection 1 o? se&Ion 4 provides as follower
Honoreblo John S. i7udd, Jr. ,Rege 3
“(1) Rn%er suoh rulee end regulations as
the Ztate Tioard o? Trustees ahall adopt eeoh
Person who was a teacher, as defined in this
;iot, at any time during the year lsiraedietelg
preoedlng the eetablishment of the System, an%
who beoorsss a member during the first year of
the Systenz, and who beoomes a member during
the first year of operation of the Retirement
System, or who 1s a member at the beginning of
the sohool year 19374938, shall file a dstail-
ed stotaent of all Taxes servloe, as a teacher,
rendered by him prior to the dete of establish-
ment of the Retirement Sylrteaa for which he
olalma oredit.W
The Leglslnture realize% that Baas persons who
would otherwise be eligible for participation in the Teaaher
Retlr&vent System would not be in rervloe during the first
yser of operation of the System, and would thereby not be
entitled to reoelve oredit for prior servioe. It, therefore,
pessed Seetlon 3(5) whloh, In effeot, provides that one who
has taught in acoordenoe with the terms a? the Aot but who
was not in servloe during the gear In which the Aet beoeme
effeotlve would be entitled to reeelve prior servloe oredlt
l? he beoame e teaaher withln two years of the e??eatlve
date of the Aot, an% oontinues aa suoh for five oonseautlve
years.
Endor the facts eubmltted to us, the lndlvl%ual
in queetion wa8 not in serrloe during the year preoeding
the establlsbment of the system or the flrat or seoond year
after such establlstient. He seoured a aontraot on July kl,
1939, more than two years after the effeotive date of the
Act. Ydetherefore believe that he does not 00814within the
terms of Section 315) so ~1s to be ellglble to reoelve oredlt
for prior service.
It Is our opinion, therefore, that your question
should be answered in the negative, an% it 1s so answered.
This render8 unneaessary an enawer to your eeoond question.