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 congaily 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 provide% for in this Aot.qf 

In our Opinion Xo. O-646 it was held that three 

dates were o? lmportanoe In oonstrulng the Teeohrr Retlrement 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 Eetirement System; and September 1, 1937, the date o? the beglnnlng 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%~er whloh 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 established 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 covered 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 dstailed stotaent of all Taxes servloe, as a teacher, 

rendered by him prior to the dete of establishment 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. Yde therefore believe that he does not 00814 within 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.