EL% NEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

AUSTIN. TEXAS %=

September 11, 1969

Honorable Gordon H. Lloyd Executive Secretary EmployeesRetirement System of Texas Capitol Station Austin, Texas 78711 OpinionNo. M- 470
Re: Constructionof Art. 6228a, Section Dear Mr. Lloyd: 3B1, V.C.S.
You have requested our opinion as to themeanin of paragraph 1, of SubsectionB, Section 3, Article 622 a, 8 V.C.S., as saidparagra h was amended by Section 1, of Chapter 814, (H.B. 1065 ,page 2433,Acts of the 61st P Leg., effective September 1, 1969. As amended, this paragraph reads as follows:
"B. The membership of saidRetirement System as an elective State official of the State of Texas shallbe composed as follows:
1. The membership of saidRetirement System shall be composed of s elective state official or appointee in an elective 0 ce 0 e state,

11 el.efEked

OF iphpointed includin a

g mem ers of the State Legislature, b officers of either house of the State Legislaturewho are either appointed or electedby themembers of either or both houses of the State Legislaturee and also includingDistrict mrneys receiving salariespaid 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." (Emphasisadded.)

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

You desire an opinion on whether "employees"of the Senate and the House of Representativesmay be placed in a class with thoseRetirement Systemmembers 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 connotingduration, tenure and exercise by the individualof a part of the sovereignty of the State of Texas. S.W.2d 738, (Tex.Civ.Ap. Dunbar v. Brazoria County, 224 1949, Johnson, 141 S.W.2d 698 error refused); Knox'v. (Tex.Civ.App.,1940, err-used). The statutoryphrase "officersof either house"~1s not defined in theAct, and thusmust be interpretedas having its usual and legalmeaning. Such phrase does not refer to the employees of either the House of Representatives or of the Senate,but to those officialswho exercise the attributes of an "officer"and who exercise sovereign power, and who take the Constitutionaloath 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 coveredby State Employee Retirementbenefits. 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 (Chapter814, page 2433,Acts effective September 1, 1969), this class of "elected state officials" is defined as follows:

includingDistrict Attorneys receiving

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

salariespaid by the state from the State GeneralRevenue Fund...." (Emphasisadded.) 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)DistrictAttorneys, (1)Members of the Legisand (3) Officers of either house, etc. required to take the Constitutionaloath 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 construedmost liberally or to their widest extent. On the contrary, they are to be construedas applying only to persons or things of the same general nature or class as those specificallyenumera,ted."
In view of themeaning of the word "officers"and the statutorydescription of this class to includeonly elective officers and officers of either house, you are advised thatno person who is merely an employee of either of the two houses of the State Legislature can be consideredby you under H.R. 1065 to be amember of a class of elec~ted

officials; nor can you so consider them to be in a class wi,th"electedofficials" for the purpose of computing contributionsand retirementbenefits for such persons in a manner different from that computed for other State employees. This classificationof officers of either housemust be done prospectively. Attorney General Opinion M-413 (1969).
SUMMARY

The phrase "officersof either house of the State Legislaturewho are either appointed or elected by themembers of either or both houses of the State Legislature" in H.B. NO. 1065 (Chapter81.4, page 2433,Acts of

2346Hon. 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 sovereignpowers of the state.

Prepared by Roger Tyler AssistantAttorney General
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
Kerns Taylor, Chairman George Kelton, Vice-Chairman Harold Kennedy John Grace Alfred Walker HoughtonBrownlee, Jr. Neil Williams
MEADE F. GRIFFIN Staff Legal Assistant
HAWTHORNE PHILLIPS ExecutiveAssistant
NOLA WHITE First Assistant