(a) From and after March 28, 1976, members and employees of boards, commissions, committees, councils, and the like, by whatever name known, whose duties are performed intermittently or periodically for the purpose of fixing rates, issuance of permits or licenses, regulating trades or professions, or serve in an advisory, study, or planning capacity, and the like, shall not be eligible for membership in the Tennessee consolidated retirement system based on such service, where such service does not provide the person’s primary livelihood or such position qualify under the Constitution of Tennessee as a lucrative office; provided, that:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 8-35-113
Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member, together with any amount transferred to the account of the member established pursuant to chapters 34-37 of this title from the respective account of the member under one (1) or more of the superseded systems, with interest thereon, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
Average final compensation: means the average annual earnable compensation of a member during the five (5) consecutive years of the member's creditable service affording the highest such average, or during all of the years in the member's creditable service if less than five (5) years. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Employer: means : (A) The state or any department, commission, institution, board or agency of the state government by which a member is paid, with respect to members in its employ. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Prior service: means service rendered prior to the date of membership in the retirement system for which credit was given under the terms of one (1) or more of the superseded systems as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Public school: means any school conducted within the state under the authority and supervision of a duly elected or appointed city or county school board, and any educational institution supported by and under the control of the state. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Retirement allowance: means the sum of the member annuity and the state annuity. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
(1) In instances where persons who fall into the above classifications have heretofore been granted membership in the Tennessee consolidated retirement system, such persons who, together with their employer, shall make petition, may withdraw from membership and shall be entitled to a refund of any contributions heretofor made; and(2) If the assets are insufficient to provide a full refund of the member‘s accumulated contributions, or the reserve credited from employee contributions are insufficient to provide the retirement allowance for retired members, the employer shall be assessed in a lump sum the amount necessary to refund the employee’s accumulated contributions, and assessed a periodic amount to provide the retirement allowances to retired members each as determined by the board of trustees.(b) In all cases of doubt as to whether the employee falls in the above classification, the board of trustees shall determine from objective test whether a person is within the specified category by considering, among other things, the amount of compensation earned as compared to compensation from other employment or sources, the nature of service performed, and the time required in performing such services.(c)(1) Members or former members of the state election commission with a minimum of five (5) years of service on such commission shall be eligible for membership in the Tennessee consolidated retirement system; except that the retirement benefits of such members shall be based on the Group 1 benefit formula as defined by § 8-36-206(1)(A) and not on the minimum retirement allowance provided for in § 8-36-209. This service shall be independent of all other creditable service for the purpose of calculation of the average final compensation. It is further provided that such benefits are subject to the limitations of § 8-36-102.(2) Notwithstanding this subsection (c) to the contrary, any member of the state election commission with a minimum of five (5) years of service on such commission and who is also a member of the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as a teacher in a public school system shall be eligible to have the compensation for service on the election commission included in the computation of average final compensation, if applicable; provided, that such creditable service as a member of the election commission is concurrent with a portion of the creditable service as a teacher.(3) Any current member or former member of the election commission may claim prior service with such commission pursuant to this subsection (c) as prior service for retirement credit upon proper documentation; provided, that the member makes a lump sum payment equal to the sum such person would have paid had such person been a member of the system during the period claimed, together with interest as provided by § 8-37-214.
