Chap. 394.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Sections 6-a and 7 of the Virginia
Retirement Act, in relation to persons who served in the armed forces ot the
United States in World War II, and to persons who were in the Virginia
State Employment Service at the time this function was taken over by the
United States, and to make appropriations. [H B 344]

Approved March 29, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections six-a and seven of the Virginia Retirement Act be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 6-a. Persons in armed forces; membership; prior service
credit; creditable service——Any person who was in the armed forces of
the United States on July first, nineteen hundred and forty-two, shall have
one hundred and fifty days from the time he re-enters the service of the
State or of the Virginia public free school system in which to make ap-
plication for membership so as to entitle him to receive prior service
credit, provided he re-enters the service of the State or of the Virginia
public free school system within seven years from July first, nineteen
hundred and forty-two. Any person who becomes a member of the Vir-
ginia Retirement System as provided in this section shall also be entitled
to have included as creditable service his period of active service in the
armed forces of the United States, provided his discharge therefrom was
not dishonorable.

Section 7. Certain statements to be filed; creditable service.— (a)
Under such rules and regulations as are adopted by the Board, each
employee upon becoming a member, or someone on his behalf, shall file
with the Board, in such form as the Board may prescribe, a statement of
the facts pertaining to his status as a member, which shall include a de-
tailed description of all service rendered as an employee, as that term is
defined in this act, and any other employment in which he has been en-
gaged by the Commonwealth, or by any department, institution or agency
thereof, prior to his becoming a member, if any prior service is claimed,
and such other information as the Board may require. Until such state-
ment is filed, no member or his beneficiary shall be eligible to receive any
benefits under this act.

(b) The Board shall determine by appropriate rules and regula-
tions how much service in any year is the equivalent of a year of service,
but in no case shall it allow credit for more than one year of service for
all service rendered in any period of twelve consecutive months.

(c) Subject to the above restrictions, and to such rules and regula-
tions as are prescribed by the Board, the Board shall ascertain, as soon as
practicable after the said statement 1s filed, the amount of prior service,
if any, to which each member is entitled. Ifa member is an emplovee
who was in service on, or a person who was a teacher during any part of
the school year next preceding, or a person who was on leave from serv-
ice on, the date of establishment of the retirement system, and if such
employee or person, in the case of a person who has once elected not to
become a member, has filed his application for membership within one
hundred and fifty days after such date of establishment, or, in the case of
a person on leave from service on the said date of establishment, within
one hundred and fifty days after the termination of such leave, the Board
shall issue to such member a prior service certificate certifying the length
of service rendered by him. Any period or periods during which any
such member has been on leave from service shall not be counted in his
prior service credit. The Board may issue prior service certificates to
any other member who was an employee at any time during the three-
year period next preceding the date of establishment of the retirement
system and who re-enters service within the three-year period.next fol-
lowing such establishment.

In addition to any prior service credit certified on his prior service
certificate for service rendered as an employee, as that term is defined in
this act, a member shall also be entitled to have certified on his prior
service certificate, as a part of his prior service credit, one year’s credit for
each year prior to the date of establishment of the retirement system dur-
ing which he was regularly and continuously employed by the Common-
wealth, or by any department, institution or agency thereof, and not com-
pensated on a salary basis, regardless of the method upon which he was
compensated and of the intervals at which his compensation was paid;
provided that any person who has been a continuous employee of the De-
partment of Highways since the establishment of the secondary system
of State highways, and who was, at that time and prior thereto, under em-
ployment by any county for work on any road which became a part of
such secondary system, shall be entitled to have one year’s credit on his
prior service certificate for each year he was continuously so employed
by such county; provided further that whatever contributions are re-
quired to be made to entitle the employee to such credits shall be made
by the Department of Highways out of funds appropriated to that de-
partment.

(d) A prior service certificate shall be conclusive as to such prior
service credit unless and until it is modified by the Board upon applica-
tion made by the member to whom it is issued within one year after the
date of its issuance or of any such modification, or upon discovery by the
Board of material error or fraud.

(e) When membership ceases, such certificate shall become void.
Should the employee again become a member, such employee shall enter
the system as an employee not entitled to prior service credit, except as
otherwise provided in subsection (e) of section nine.

(f) Creditable service at retirement on which the retirement allow-
ance of a member shall be based shall consist of the membership service
rendered by him, since he last became a member, and also, if he has a
prior service certificate which is in full force and effect, the service cer-
tified on his prior service certificate.

(g) Any employee who was a member of the Virginia Retirement
System at the time he entered the armed forces of the United States in
World War II and who re-enters the active service of the State or of the
Virginia public free school system shall be entitled to have included as
creditable service his period of active service in the armed forces of the
United States, provided that before re-entering active service with the
State or the Virginia public free school system he has not withdrawn from
the Virginia Retirement System and further that he re-enters such active
service by October first, nineteen hundred and forty-six, or within four
months after discharge from the armed forces, whichever is later, and
further that his discharge from the armed forces was not dishonorable.

(h) Any person who was in the Virginia State Employment Serv-
ice at the time this function was taken over by the United States on or
about January first, nineteen hundred and forty-two, and who was given
an indefinite leave of absence by the Unemployment Compensation Com-
mission of Virginia in order that he might serve with the United States
Employment Service in Virginia, and who was on such leave on July
first, nineteen hundred and forty-two, shall upon the return of the em-
ployment service to the State by the United States and his resumption
of active service with the Virginia State Employment Service and his
becoming a member of the Virginia Retirement System, be entitled to
credit for prior service and also for his period of employment in the United
States Employment Service in Virginia from July first, nineteen hundred
and forty-two to the time of the return of the employment service to the
State; but the foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall apply only to
such persons who were continuously employed by the United States Em-
ployment Service from January first, nineteen hundred and forty-two
to the time the employment service is returned to the State, or who were
on military leave from such service.

2. In order to provide funds to carry out the provisions of this act
there is hereby appropriated, out of the general fund of the State treasury,
to the State annuity accumulation fund of the Virginia Retirement Sys-
tem, for the fiscal year beginning July first, nineteen hundred and forty-
six, the sum of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and in
order to carry out the provisions of paragraph (h) of section seven of the
Virginia Retirement Act, as amended, there is hereby appropriated, out
of the general fund of the State treasury, to the State annuity accumula-
tion fund of the Virginia Retirement System, the sum of forty-eight
thousand eight hundred dollars; provided, however, that this appropria-
tion of forty-eight thousand eight hundred dollars shall not be available
except upon the return of the employment service to the State by the
United States; and provided, further, that the general fund of the State
treasury shall be reimbursed therefor out of the Unemployment Com-
pensation Administration Fund as provided by the Virginia Retirement
Act.