The following shall be eligible for membership in the retirement system:

(1) all persons who become employees or who reenter service after the date of establishment of the retirement system; (2) all persons who are employees upon the date of establishment of the retirement system; (3) all persons on leave from the service of the state to enter service in the armed forces of the United States and return to employment of the state.

There are hereby created three (3) classes of members, to be known as class A, class B, and class C members and to be defined as follows:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 8-3410

  • 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pursuant to chapters 34-37 of this title from the respective account of the member under one (1) or more of the superseded systems, with interest thereon, as provided in §.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
  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • Date of establishment: means the date as of which the retirement system is established as provided in §. 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
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. 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
  • State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Class A members shall be those members who are covered by the provisions of Title II of the Federal Social Security Act and who contribute hereunder for benefits supplementary to the Social Security benefits. It shall consist of:

(i) all employees who were members prior to the date coverage under the Social Security Act is extended to such class A members, and who prior to September 1, 1959 on a form approved by the board waive their rights to benefits accrued to them under this chapter as it existed prior to March 11, 1959, elect to be covered by said Social Security Act and the supplementary benefits provided by this chapter, as amended, and agree to the deduction of their accrued taxes, if any, under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act for the period from January 1, 1956, from the accumulated contributions held in their accounts in the employees’ fund, and who make payment, prior to September 30, 1959, of any lump sum amount required under the provisions of § 8-3432 hereof; and
(ii) all employees who were eligible to elect to become class A members and to be covered under the Social Security Act as provided in (i) above but did not so elect, and who, if a future amendment of the Social Security Act should so permit, elect to become class A members and to be covered under the Social Security Act in accordance with the terms of an agreement, if any, between the state of Tennessee and the social security administration; and
(iii) all employees who enter the membership on or after the date coverage under the Social Security Act is extended to such class A members except employees in positions to which such coverage is not extended.
(2) Class B members shall consist of those employees who were members prior to the date coverage under the Social Security Act is extended to class A members and who have not elected to become class A members, and all employees in positions to which such coverage is not extended except commissioned members of the department of safety.
(3) Class C members shall consist of all commissioned members of the department of safety and shall also include any person having at least twenty-two (22) years of service as a class C member of the Tennessee state retirement system on January 1, 1965 and who becomes warden of a Tennessee state prison prior to July 1, 1965.