EL% NEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN. TEXAS %= 

September 11, 1969 

Honorable Gordon H. Lloyd 

Executive Secretary 

Employees Retirement System of Texas 

Capitol Station 

Austin, Texas 78711 

Opinion No. M- 470 

Re: Construction of 

Art. 6228a, Section 

Dear Mr. Lloyd: 3B1, V.C.S. 

You have requested our opinion as to the meanin of 

paragraph 1, of Subsection B, Section 3, Article 622 8 a, 

V.C.S., as said paragra h was amended by Section 1, of 

Chapter 814, (H.B. 1065 P , page 2433, Acts of the 61st 

Leg., effective September 1, 1969. As amended, this 

paragraph reads as follows: 

"B. The membership of said Retirement System as 

an elective State official of the State of 

Texas shall be composed as follows: 

1. The membership of said Retirement 

System shall be composed of s 

elective state official or appointee 

in an elective 0 ce 0 e state, 

includin g a 11 el.efEked OF iphpointed 

mem ers of the State Legislature, 

b 

officers of either house of the State 

Legislature who are either appointed 

or elected by the members of either 

or both houses of the State Legislature e and also including District 

mrneys receiving salaries paid by 

the state from the State General 

Revenue Fund, but shall not include 

any elective official in the Judicial, 

Education, District, or County, of the 

State of Texas other than those expressed eligible as provided herein." 

(Emphasis added.) 

-2344- 
Hon. Gordon H. Lloyd, page 2 (M- 470) 

You desire an opinion on whether "employees" of the 

Senate and the House of Representatives may be placed in a 

class with those Retirement System members who are elected 

by the people, or who are appointed to fill a vacancy in an 

elective office. 

It is our opinion that the word "officers" when used 

in a statute, Is deemed a word connoting duration, tenure 

and exercise by the individual of a part of the sovereignty of the State of Texas. 

S.W.2d 738, (Tex.Civ.A p. 

Dunbar v. Brazoria County, 224 

1949 , 

Johnson, 141 S.W.2d 69 8 

error refused); Knox'v. 

(Tex.Civ.App., 1940, err-used). 

The statutory phrase "officers of either house" ~1s 

not defined in the Act, and thus must be interpreted as 

having its usual and legal meaning. Such phrase does not 

refer to the employees of either the House of Representatives or of the Senate, but to those officials who exercise 

the attributes of an "officer" and who exercise sovereign 

power, and who take the Constitutional oath of office prior 

to entering upon their duties. We do not believe it was 

the legislative intent to refer to employees, since the 

Legislature is on notice that such employees are already 

a part of a class of State employees or appointed officers 

who are now covered by State Employee Retirement benefits. 

Art. 6228a, Sec. 3B2, V.C.S. 

It is also to be noted that Article 6228a, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, as amended, provides for two classes of 

members in the State Employee Retirement System: (1) 

Elected officials and 2) Appointed officials and state 

employees. In H.B. f! 

of the 61st Leg., 

10 5 (Chapter 814, page 2433, Acts 

effective September 1, 1969), this 

class of "elected state officials" is defined as follows: 

including District Attorneys receiving 

- 2345 - 
Hon. Gordon H. Lloyd, page 3 (M- 470) 

salaries paid by the state from the State 

General Revenue Fund...." (Emphasis added.) 

Under the doctrine of ejusdem generis, the components of this elected class can only include "officers", 

for those listed as the ones "included" in this elective 

class are all officers, towit: 

lature; (2) District Attorneys, 

(1) Members of the Legisand (3) Officers of either 

house, etc. required to take the Constitutional oath of 

office prior to entering upon the discharge of their duties. 13 Tex.Jur.;?d 319, Contracts, Section 139. The 

rule is also stated in 64 Tex.Jur.2d 282, Words and 

Phrases, as follows: 

"The doctrine of ejusdem generis is that where 

general words follow an enumeration of particular classes of persons or things, the general 

words are not to be construed most liberally 

or to their widest extent. On the contrary, 

they are to be construed as applying only to 

persons or things of the same general nature 

or class as those specifically enumera,ted." 

In view of the meaning of the word "officers" and 

the statutory description of this class to include only 

elective officers and officers of either house, you are 

advised that no person who is merely an employee of either 

of the two houses of the State Legislature can be considered by you under H.R. 1065 to be a member of a class 

of elec~ted officials; nor can you so consider them to be 

in a class wi,th "elected officials" for the purpose of 

computing contributions and retirement benefits for such 

persons in a manner different from that computed for other 

State employees. This classification of officers of either house must be done prospectively. Attorney General 

Opinion M-413 (1969). 

SUMMARY 

The phrase "officers of either house of the 

State Legislature who are either appointed 

or elected by the members of either or both 

houses of the State Legislature" in H.B. 

NO. 1065 (Chapter 81.4, page 2433, Acts of 

2346 
Hon. Gordon H. Lloyd, page 4. (M- 470) 

61st Leg., R.S., 1969) does not include or 

apply to employees of the State Legislature, 

but does apply to those officers of either 

house who are required to take the Constitutional oath of office prior to entering 

upon the discharge of their duties and are 

appointed or elected for a specified term, 

and exercise sovereign powers of the state. 

Prepared by Roger Tyler 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

George Kelton, Vice-Chairman 

Harold Kennedy 

John Grace 

Alfred Walker 

Houghton Brownlee, Jr. 

Neil Williams 

MEADE F. GRIFFIN 

Staff Legal Assistant 

HAWTHORNE PHILLIPS 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assistant