AUSTIN’

. TEXAS 'R'S911

June 28, 1968

Ronorable Renry Wade OpinionNo.M-250 DistrictAttorney Of~Dallas county Re: Whether under Articles Dallas County GovernmentCenter 1269m and 6252-4a,V.C.S., Dallas, Texas 75202 a city fireman, on returning frommilitary leave prior to the effective ,dateof Article 6252-4a, is entitled to credit for pay purposes for the time Dear Mr. Wade: spent in military service.

In your request for an opinion you state the following: "

. . .

"On Novembpr 1,~1965, the Fireman in questionwas employed and commencedworking for the City as a fireman. He worked continuously from the date of his employmentuntil March 16, 1967, on which lastmentioned.date. he was granted a Military Leave of Absence to enter the Military Service of the United States, : as provided in Sec. 22a of saidArt. 1269m. After obtaining Leave of Absence, he served 122 days in the Military Service, Andy after being discharged therefrom,he duly made application for reinstatementand went back to work as a fireman for the City on August 1,. 1967,where he has worked continuously to this date. "under the rules, policies 

### ‘aa ordinances of the City,,firemen and policemen whose.employment extends beyond the probationaryperiod of six months are automatically entitled to an increase in salary at the end of the first year of service, and to an additional increaseupon the completion of each year of service thereafter. "The salary of the Fireman in question

-.1213 -Hon. Henry Wade, page 2 (~-250)

was increased in accordancewith this policy on November 1, 1966. After completinghis Military Service in 1967 and rejoining the Departmenton August 1, 1967,he anticipated that he would receive his second anniversary increase on or aboutNovember 12, 1967,he being of the opinion that the 122 days spent in Military Service shouldbe considered and allowed as credit in determininghis next anniversarydate. *TheCivil Service Boardwas of a contrary opinion, and his second anniversary increasewas not granted until on or about February 12, 1968.
"Sec. 22a of saidArt. 1269m entitled Military Leave of Absence provides in part as follows: "'Uponbeing returned to said position, suchmember shall receive full seniority credit for the time spent in the Military Service.' "Sec. 3 of Art. 6252-4aprovides as follows:
"'Sec. 3. Any person who is restored to a position in accordanceherewith shallbe considered as having been on furlough or leave of absenceduring such absence in Feaera1 or Statemilitary service, and shallbe entitled to participation in retirementor other benefits towhich employees of the State of Texas or any political subdivision, state institution,county or municipality thereof, are, or may be, entitled and shall not be discharged from such positionwithout causewithin one year after such restoration. "TheCity contends that since the Fireman in question returned to his job on August 1, 1967, and the effective date of Art. 6252-4a was not until August 28, 3.967, that the provisions of such Statute are not available to him.
"It is our contention that saidArt. 6252-4a is designed to broaden the coverage to other State and Municipal employeeswhich firemen and policemen previouslyhad under the provisions of -1214-Hon. Henry Wade, page 3 (M-250)

Art. 1269m. In addition, said Art. 6252-4aprovided a procedural remedy to enforce his rights through the office of the DistrictAttorney and the Courts.
"It is our furtherposition that the Fireman in questionwas entitled, for pay purposes, to credit for the timewhich he spent in Military Service even though Art. 6252-4a had never been enacted. Thus, if we bs right in our opinion, the question is resolved to whether the term 'full senioritycredit' is broad enough to include credit for time spent in Military Service as it relates to longevitypay increases. The only other reasonwe can conceive.at the moment for such provisionwould be for retirementpurposes, 

### ana we believe that the Legislature in. using the term 'fullseniority credit' had something in mind otherthan retirement. We also believe that as a matter of Statutory construction we may look to the provisions of Sec. 3 of Art. 6252-4awhich speaks of 'participationin retirement or other benefits' in determining the Legislative intent."
We agreewith your liberal interpretationof these statutes

### ma your conclusions. This office, in Attorney General's Opinion No. C-679 (1966),in interpreting this type of statute, "

. . . noted that the courts of this State have consistently construed statu,tes liberally in favor of patriotic service and are loath to penalize State employeeswho perform such services I

. . . citing numerous past opinions of this office. It is the opinion of this department that a city fireman, on returning frommilitary leaveprior to the effective date of Article 6252-4a,Vernon's Civil Statutes, is entitled to credit for pay purposes for the time spent in military service. Such a procedural and remedial statute is not only construed liberallybut may be applied retroactively. 53 Tex.Jur.2d 53, Statutes, Sec. 29. S U,MMARY

Under Articles 1269m and 6252-4a,Vernon's Civil Statutes, a city fireman, on returning frommilitary leaveprior to the effective date of saidArticle 6252-4a, is entitled to credit for pay purposes for the time spent in military service.

-1215-Bon. Henry Wade, page 4 (M-250)

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General of Texas Preparedby Jack Sparks AssistantAttorney General APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE" Hawthorne Phillips, Chairman Kerns Taylor, Co-Chairman Alan Minter James Quick Mark White Arthur Skibell
A. J. CARUBBI, JR. ExecutiveAssistant

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