Chap. 323.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 7 and 8 of the Virginia
Retirement Act by adding to section 7 paragraph (c) and by adding a new
paragraph to section 8 designated as paragraph (d) of Chapter 325 of the
Acts of the General Assembly of 1942, as amended by the Acts of the
General Assembly of 1944, Chapter 151, and as amended by the Acts of the
General Assembly of 1946, Chapter 309, respectively, relating to membership,
service, retirement and management of funds, respectively. {H 371]

Approved March 17, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections seven and eight of the Acts of the General
Assembly of nineteen hundred forty-two, as amended by the Acts
of the General Assembly of nineteen hundred forty-four, chapter
one hundred fifty-one, approved March seven, nineteen hundred
forty-four, and as amended by the Acts of the General Assembly
of nineteen hundred forty-six, chapter three hundred nine, be
amended and reenacted as follows:

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 detailed 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 engaged 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 statement 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 regu-
lations 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 consecu-
tive months,

(c) Subject to the above restrictions, and to such other rules
and regulations as are prescribed by the Board, the Board shall
ascertain, as soon as practicable after the said statement is filed,
the amount of prior service, if any, to which each member is
entitled. If a member is an employee 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 service 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 date of establish-
ment, 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 following
such establishment.

The Board may likewise issue prior service certificates to any
other member who was a division superintendent of schools or
school teacher in the public school system for at least thirty years
prior to July one, nineteen hundred forty-two, regardless of when
such prior service terminated.

In addition to any prior service credit certified on his prior ser-
vice certificate for service rendered as an employee, as that term
is defined in this act, a member shall also be entitled to have certi-
fied 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 establish-
ment of the retirement system during which he was regularly and
continuously employed by the Commonwealth, or by any depart-
ment, institution or agency thereof, and not compensated on a
salary basis, regardless of the method upon which he was compen-
sated and of the intervals at which his compensation was paid;
provided that any person who has been a continuous employee of
the Department of Highways since the establishment of the second-
ary system of State highways, and who was, at that time and prior
thereto, under employment by any county to 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 required to be made to
entitle the employee to such credits, shall be made by the Depart-
ment of Highways out of funds appropriated to that department.
And provided further, that any person who has become a permanent
employee of the Department of Highways by reason of and at the
time of the acquisition of the Chesapeake Ferry properties by the
Department of Highways and who was formerly continuously
employed by the Department of Highways or by the Chesapeake
Ferry Corporation shall be entitled to one year of prior service
credit for each year so employed except that no prior service credit
for employment with the Chesapeake Ferry Corporation shall be
allowed prior to the date that the employee became covered by
the provisions of the Federal Social Security Act.

A prior service certificate shall be conclusive as to such
prior service credit unless and until it is modified by the Board
upon application 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
allowance of a member shall be based shall consist of the member-
ship 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 certified on his prior service certificate.

(g) Any employee who was a member of the Virginia Retire-
ment 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 sys-
ten he has not withdrawn from the Virginia Retirement System and
further that he re-enters such active service by October first, nine-
teen hundred and forty-eight, or within four months after dis-
charge 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
Service 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 Unemploy-
ment Compensation Commission 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 employment 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
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 Employment Service from January first, nineteen
hundred and forty-two to the time the Employment Service is
returned to the State or were on military leave from such service.

Section 8. Service retirement—(a) Any member in service
may retire upon written notification to the Board, made by the
member or by his employer, setting forth at what time, not less
than thirty nor more than ninety days subsequent to the filing
of such notification, the retirement is to become effective, provided
that such member at the time so specified for his retirement has
attained sixty-five years of age, or in the case of a teacher in
service prior to July first, nineteen hundred forty-two, has complied
with the requirement for retirement set forth in chapter thirty-six
of the Code of Virginia as it existed immediately prior to the
passage of this act, notwithstanding that during such period of
notification he has separated from service; provided, however, that
any teacher who had served for the time required for class “B”
retirement under such chapter thirty-six of the Code of Virginia
but did not retire prior to the repeal thereof, shall be permitted to
apply for and receive all benefits payable to teachers who retired
under the aforesaid chapter of the Code of Virginia. The words
“any member in service” as used in this paragraph shall not render
ineligible for retirement a member of the Virginia Retirement
System who files his written notification with the Board at a time
subsequent to his being in service, provided that at the time he
ended such service he was eligible for retirement in all respects
under this act and that before filing such notification he had not
withdrawn from the Virginia Retirement System and been paid
his accumulated contributions.

(b) Any member who has attained seventy years of age
before the date of establishment of the retirement system, or who
attains seventy years of age on or after such date, shall be retired
forthwith; provided, that upon the request of his employer in
the case of a teacher, or the head of the department, institution or
agency by which he is employed, in the case of a State employee, he
may remain in service not longer than the last day of the fiscal year
during which he attains seventy years of age, or if he is a State
officer appointed by the Governor, he may, in the discretion of the
Governor, be retained in service during such period or periods for
which he may be appointed by the Governor. Notwithstanding the
foregoing provisions, however, until the conclusion of the war
in which the United States is engaged at the time of the enact-
ment of this act, upon the request of his employer, in the case
of a teacher, or of the head of the department, institution or agency
by which he is employed, in the case of a State employee, such
member may remain in service for such period or periods as may
be determined by such employer or department, institution or
agency head, with the approval of the Board, if such member is
mentally and physically able to perform his duties efficiently, but,
upon conclusion of said war, any member so remaining in service
shall be retired not later than the end of the fiscal year in which
occurs the conclusion of the war.

It is further provided that any State employee seventy years of
age or more who by reason of long service and experience has
become specially fitted to perform the duties of his position, and
who is physically and mentally capable to perform such duties
adequately, may, if he so desires, upon request of the head of the
department, institution, or agency by which he is employed, and
upon the recommendation of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia
Retirement System, be continued in service for such period or
periods as is determined by the head of such department, institu-
tion, or agency, but not more than two years in any event. The
provisions of this paragraph shall not be effective after July one,
nineteen hundred fifty.

(c) Upon retirement as provided in this section a member
shall receive a service retirement allowance which shall consist of:

(1) An employee annuity which shall be the actuarial equiva-
lent of his accumulated contributions at the time of his retirement;

(2) ,A State annuity of one-one hundredth sixtieth (1/160)
of his average final compensation multiplied by the number of
his years of membership service since he last became a member;

(3) If the member has a prior service certificate in full force
and effect, an additional State annuity of one-eightieth (1/80) of his
average final compensation multiplied by the number of years of
service certified on his prior service certificate. This paragraph as
hereby amended shall apply to annuity payments due and payable
subsequent to July first, nineteen hundred forty-five, to members
of the Virginia Retirement System who hereafter retire, and to
former members of the Virginia Retirement System who have
heretofore retired, but no such retired former member of the Vir-
ginia Retirement System shall be entitled to any increased payment
because of this amendment for any period prior to July first, nine-
teen hundred forty-five.

4) In the case of a teacher, if the member has a prior service
certificate in full force and effect, an additional State annuity which
shall be the actuarial equivalent of the aggregate amount of all
contributions made by him, or on his behalf, under the provisions
of Chapter thirty-six of the Code of Virginia as it existed immedi-
ately prior to the passage of this act, as though such aggregate
amount had been paid into the State annuity accumulation fund
on the date of establishment of the retirement system and credited
to the individual account of such member at regular interest.

If a teacher retires after thirty years of creditable service and
prior to his attaining age sixty-five, in lieu of the State annuity and
the additional State annuities which he would have received pur-
suant to this section had he remained in service until attaining
sixty-five years of age, he shall receive a State annuity which shall
be the actuarial equivalent of the said State annuity and additional
State annuities computed on the basis of his attained age at the
time of his retirement. In any event, however, a teacher shall
receive, upon retirement under any of the provisions of this section,
a total State annuity which shall be at least sufficient to provide,
together with his employee annuity, a service retirement allowance
equal to the pension which he would receive were he pensioned
under the provisions of chapter thirty-six of the Code of Virginia
as it existed immediately prior to the passage of this act, subject
to the provisions of the following paragraph.

In no event shall the total State annuity, in the case of an em-
ployee who has a prior service certificate in full force and effect at
the time of his retirement, be more than sufficient to provide, to-
gether with his employee annuity less any excess which he may have
accumulated pursuant to the provisions of section thirteen, sub-
section (h), a total service retirement allowance of more than one-
half of his average final compensation.

(d) It is further provided that any employee of the Depart-
ment of Highways who has prior service credit by reason qf former
employment by the Chesapeake Ferry Corporation and who retires
under this act shall have his retirement allowance reduced by the
amount of any benefits due him under the Federal Social Security
Act which accrued to him by reason of his employment by the
Chesapeake Ferry Corporation. It is further provided that the
cost of any benefits to such employees under this act shall be
paid by the Department of Highways from revenues collected in
the operation of the said Chesapeake Ferries by the Department of
Highways, and it is hereby declared that such payment of benefits
is a part of the cost of maintenance, repair and operation of such
ferries.
The term “prior service”, as referred to in this section, shall
be construed and defined, in reference to employees of the Chesa-
peake Ferry Corporation, as set forth in section seven (c) as
herein amended, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph
number ten of section one of this act as approved March thirty-one,
nineteen hundred forty-two.