Virginia Code 51.1-800: Counties, cities, and certain towns to establish local systems or participate in Virginia Retirement System
A. Every county and city, and every town having a population of 5,000 or more, shall provide a retirement system for those officers and employees listed in subsection B either (i) by establishing and maintaining a local retirement system which provides a service retirement allowance to each employee who retires at age sixty-five or older which equals or exceeds two-thirds of the service retirement allowance to which the employee would have been entitled had the allowance been computed under the provisions of the Virginia Retirement System or (ii) by participating directly in the Virginia Retirement System.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 51.1-800
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
B. The following persons shall be covered by a retirement system as provided in subsection A:
1. Officers and employees who are regularly employed full time on a salaried basis, whose tenure is not restricted to temporary or provisional employment.
2. Officers and employees who are regularly employed full time on a salaried basis, whose tenure is not restricted to temporary or provisional employment by an organization other than a public school board that functions solely within the boundaries of a county, city, or town, unless the cost of the organization’s operation is borne by (i) users of services, (ii) more than one county, city, or town, or (iii) an entity other than a county, city, or town.
3. Clerks of the circuit court and deputies or employees of such officers.
C. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a county, city, or town from participating in the Virginia Retirement System and establishing a local retirement system. If a locality participates in the Virginia Retirement System and establishes a local retirement system, pursuant to § 51.1-801, providing supplemental benefits to the state system, the local system shall not be required to satisfy the criterion established in clause A (i) of this section.
D. A county, city, or town shall not be required to provide retirement benefits to an employee who enters into an agreement with the local government for inclusion in a deferred compensation plan when the agreement specifically prohibits inclusion in any other retirement system established by the county, city, or town.
1952, c. 157, § 51-111.31; 1954, c. 241; 1958, c. 367; 1960, c. 400; 1973, c. 523; 1974, c. 353; 1975, c. 296; 1976, c. 581; 1977, c. 620; 1990, c. 832; 1991, c. 381; 1993, c. 866; 2006, c. 406.