The following words and phrases as used in this article, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context, have the following meanings:

(1) “Accumulated contributions” means the sum of all amounts credited to a member‘s individual account in the member’s deposit fund and includes both contributions deducted from the compensation of a member and contributions of a member picked up and paid by the member’s participating public employer, plus applicable interest thereon.

(2) “Board of trustees” means, as appropriate: The Consolidated Public Retirement Board created in article ten-d of this chapter; the Higher Education Policy Commission; the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education; the institutional governing boards responsible for the higher education retirement plan and supplemental retirement plan; or the boards of trustees of the firemen’s and policemen’s pension and relief funds created in § 8-22-1 et seq. of this code.

(3) “Employee” means any person, whether appointed, elected or under contract, providing services for a public employer for which compensation is paid and who is a member of the applicable retirement system.

(4) “Member” means any person who has accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in a retirement system.

(5) “Member contributions” means, as appropriate: The contributions required by § 5-10-29 of this code from employees who are members of the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System; the contributions required by section § 15-2-26 of this code from employees who are members of the West Virginia State Police Death, Disability and Retirement Fund; the contributions required by § 7-14D-7 of this code from employees who are members of the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System; the contributions required by § 18-7A-14 of this code from employees who are members of the State Teachers Retirement System; the contributions authorized or required by §18-7A-14a of said chapter or by §18-23-4a of said chapter from employees who are members of the West Virginia higher education retirement plan and supplemental retirement plan; the contributions required by § 51-9-4 of this code from employees who are members of the Judges’ Retirement System; the contributions required by § 8-22-19 of this code from employees who are members of municipal firemen’s and policemen’s pension and relief funds; the contributions required by § 8-22A-8 of this code from employees who are members of the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System; the contributions required by § 18-7B-9 of this code from employees who are members of the Teachers’ Defined Contribution Retirement System; the contributions required by § 15-2A-5 of this code from the employees who are members of the West Virginia State Police Retirement System; the contributions required by § 16-5V-8 of this code from employees who are members of the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System; or the contributions required by § 20-18-8 of this code from employees who are members of the West Virginia Natural Resources Police Officers Retirement System.

(6) “Participating public employer” means the State of West Virginia, any board, commission, department, institution or spending unit and includes any agency with full-time employees, created by rule of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which for the purpose of this article shall be considered a department of state government and county boards of education with respect to teachers and nonteachers employed by them; any political subdivision in the state which has elected to cover its employees, as defined in this article, under the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System; any political subdivision in the state which has elected to cover its employees, as defined in this article, under the Deputy Sheriff Retirement System; any political subdivision in the state which has elected to cover its employees, as defined in this article, under the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System; any political subdivision in this state which is subject to the provisions of articles twenty-two and twenty-two-a, chapter eight of this code; and any public charter school established pursuant to § 18-5G-1 et seq. of this code which has elected to participate in, and cover its employees under, either the State Teachers Retirement System or the Teachers’ Defined Contribution Retirement System.

(7) “Political subdivision” means the State of West Virginia, a county, city or town in the state; a school corporation or corporate unit; any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties, cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law with the performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns, any agency or organization established by or approved by the Department of Health and Human Resources for the provision of community health or mental retardation services and which is supported in part by state, county or municipal funds.

(8) “Retirement system” means, as appropriate: The West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System created in § 5-10-1 et seq. of this code; the West Virginia State Police Death, Disability and Retirement Fund created in §15-2-26 through § 15-2-39a of this code, inclusive; the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff Retirement System created in § 7-14D-1 et seq. of this code; the state Teachers Retirement System created in § 18-7A-1 et seq. of this code; the West Virginia higher education retirement plan and supplemental retirement plan created in § 18-7A-14a of this code and § 18-23-4a of this code; the Judges’ Retirement System created in § 51-9-1 et seq. of this code; the firemen’s or policemen’s pension and relief funds created in § 8-22-16 of this code; the Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System created in § 8-22A-4 of this code; the Teachers’ Defined Contribution Retirement System created in article seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code; the West Virginia State Police Retirement System created in article two-a, chapter fifteen of this code; the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Retirement System created in § 16-5V-1 et seq. of this code; or the West Virginia Natural Resources Police Officers Retirement System created in article eighteen, chapter twenty of this code.

(9) “Teacher” and “nonteacher” have the meanings ascribed to the terms “teacher member” and “nonteaching member” in § 18-7A-3 of this code.