Are Georgia regional and county library employees who are paid only with local funds (no state funds) required to be members of the Teachers Retirement System?

Plain-English summary

The Executive Director of TRS asked whether regional and county library employees whose wages contained no state funds were eligible for TRS membership. The Attorney General said yes; in fact, they are required to be TRS members.

The opinion walks through the statutory history. The 1943 statute creating TRS did not include library employees at all. In 1957, the General Assembly amended the definition of "teacher" to include "regional and county librarians who are compensated in whole or in part from State funds." That language created a state-funds limitation: only state-funded librarians qualified. In 1972, the General Assembly removed the state-funds language and substituted a more expansive definition: "regional and county librarians and clerical personnel employed by such libraries." The accompanying provision required local funds to cover the employer's share for any salary not paid from state funds, which only makes sense if such locally-paid employees are TRS members. In 1977, a one-time opt-out was provided to library employees who were members of a local retirement system, with a January 1, 1978, deadline.

A previous AG opinion (1975 Op. Att'y Gen. 75-46) had already interpreted the 1972 amendment to require all regional and county library employees to be TRS members. The 1978-14 opinion confirmed that interpretation. The 2011-2 opinion just applies the same reading: the 1972 deletion of the "from State funds" language was deliberate and broadened TRS coverage, not narrowed it. Library employees paid solely with local funds are TRS members.

The Director also asked whether a separate provision in O.C.G.A. § 47-3-1(12), defining the local library boards as the "employer" for librarians "whose salaries are paid in full or in part from state funds," conflicted with the 1972 expansion. The AG said no. The "employer" provision only addresses who handles the employer's share of TRS contributions, and its reference to state funds is a vestige of 1957. It does not limit TRS membership for those whose salaries come entirely from local funds.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2011. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can a library employee opt out of TRS now?
A: Generally no. The 1977 amendment provided a narrow one-time opt-out window for library employees who were already members of a local retirement system. They had until January 1, 1978, to elect in writing to remain in the local system instead of joining TRS. After that deadline, the only library employees outside TRS were those who had affirmatively elected the local system before January 1, 1978. New library employees hired after that point have no opt-out option.

Q: What if a county wants to pay all library employee compensation from local funds?
A: TRS membership is still required. The opinion is clear that the source of funds does not control TRS eligibility for regional and county library employees. The local government would still owe employer contributions to TRS for these employees. The 1972 amendment specifically said "the employer's share on such retirement shall be paid from local funds on all salary amounts which are not paid from State funds."

Q: Why does the older "employer" definition mention state funds at all?
A: The "employer" definition in O.C.G.A. § 47-3-1(12) was originally drafted in 1957 alongside the state-funds membership limitation. It established the local library boards as the entity responsible for handling employer-side administrative obligations. When the membership-limiting clause was deleted in 1972, the General Assembly did not also amend the "employer" definition. The 2011-2 opinion treats the leftover "in full or in part from State funds" language as a residual that does not actually limit TRS coverage; it just describes who handles employer-side obligations.

Q: Did the 1972 General Assembly know it was expanding TRS coverage?
A: Almost certainly yes. The 1972 amendment specifically removed limiting language and replaced it with broader language. The accompanying provision about local funds covering the employer's share is consistent only with broad coverage. The 1975 and 1978 AG opinions reading the 1972 amendment broadly are also consistent with the legislative drafting choice.

Q: What about library employees of local government entities other than regional or county libraries?
A: The opinion is specifically about regional and county libraries. Other library structures (for example, the State Library of Georgia or libraries within state agencies) are governed by other parts of TRS membership rules. The opinion does not address those.

Background and statutory framework

The Teachers Retirement System of Georgia was created in 1943 to provide retirement benefits to public school teachers. Over time, the General Assembly expanded the definition of "teacher" to cover related categories of public-education-adjacent employees: school nurses, librarians, food service managers, and so on.

Regional and county library employees were added in 1957 with the limitation that they had to be paid at least partly from state funds. That limitation made sense at the time because most library funding flowed through state grants. As local governments took on a larger share of library funding, some library employees became locally-funded and the 1957 limitation began to exclude them. The 1972 amendment removed the limitation entirely and required local government employer contributions for non-state-funded portions of library employee salaries.

The 1977 amendment provided a one-time opportunity for library employees who were members of local retirement systems to remain there instead of switching to TRS. After the January 1, 1978, deadline, all library employees were required to be TRS members.

The 2011-2 opinion is straightforward statutory interpretation. The General Assembly's 1972 drafting choices clearly broaden coverage, and the AG's reading respects that intent. The "employer" residual in § 47-3-1(12) is read as administrative housekeeping, not a limit on coverage.

Citations and references

Statutes and session laws:
- O.C.G.A. § 47-3-1(12), "employer" definition (residual state-funds language)
- O.C.G.A. § 47-3-1(28), "teacher" definition including regional/county library employees
- 1943 Ga. Laws 640, original TRS statute
- 1957 Ga. Laws 118, original library employee inclusion (with state-funds limit)
- 1972 Ga. Laws 176, removal of state-funds limitation; expansion of coverage
- 1977 Ga. Laws 1135: one-time opt-out window for local-system members

Prior AG opinions:
- 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. 75-46, all regional and county librarians and clerical personnel are TRS members
- 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. 78-14: library employees cannot opt to join local systems instead of TRS

Source

• Landing page: https://law.georgia.gov/opinions/2011-2
• Original PDF: not linked from landing page

Original opinion text

This responds to your letter asking my opinion interpreting several statutes found within the Georgia Code which contain those statutory provisions related to the creation and operation of the Teachers Retirement System. Specifically, you have requested my opinion whether regional and county library employees who are paid wages that consist of no state funds are eligible for membership in the Teachers Retirement System. For the reasons that follow, it is my opinion that the membership of regional and county library employees in the Teachers Retirement System is not dependent upon the source of their wages. Therefore, a regional or county library employee paid solely with local funds is required to be a member of the Teachers Retirement System. The Teachers Retirement System was created by statute in 1943. 1943 Ga. Laws 640. In the original statute, the definition of "teacher" did not include regional and county librarians or clerical workers. In 1957, the statute was amended by adding to the definition of "teacher" and including regional and county librarians: The word "teacher" shall also include regional and county librarians who are compensated in whole or in part from State funds. Prior service of such librarians and other service for which such librarians have contributed to the Teachers' Retirement System of Georgia is hereby ratified, subject to the same laws and the same rules and regulations applicable to other members of the System. 1957 Ga. Laws 118, 120. Additionally, the statute was amended to provide that the individual boards of the county and regional libraries were to be deemed the "employer" for the purposes of administering the employer obligations to the Teachers Retirement System on behalf of its member librarians. Notwithstanding any provisions in prior or future Acts to the contrary, the county and regional library boards or trustees shall be deemed to be the employer of the county or regional librarians, whose salaries are paid in full or in part from State funds, and said employer shall be subject to all provisions of the laws pertaining to the establishment and management of the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia in the same manner as any other employer designated in the Act. 1957 Ga. Laws 118, 120. Therefore, in 1957 the definition of "teacher" included regional and county librarians and clearly specified that only such librarians "who are compensated in whole or in part from State funds" could gain membership in the Teachers Retirement System. This limitation is clearly set forth in section 1 of the amendment. Section 2 of the amendment sets forth no such limitation on the membership requirements of the librarians, but rather establishes the local county and regional library boards as the "employer" of the librarians for the purpose of administering the act. In 1972, the statute was amended and the definition of "teacher" was changed with respect to regional and county librarians. The statute was amended by striking the language "The word 'teacher' shall also include regional librarians who are compensated in whole or in part from State funds" and substituting in lieu thereof the following language: The word "teacher" shall also include regional and county librarians and clerical personnel employed by such libraries. The employer's share on such retirement shall be paid from local funds on all salary amounts which are not paid from State funds. 1972 Ga. Laws 176, 177 (emphasis added). Notably absent from the amended statute were the words "who are compensated in whole or in part from State funds." Instead, the legislature substituted more expansive language mandating the inclusion of regional and county librarians and their clerical personnel. A plain reading of the amended statute leads to the conclusion that the legislature removed the limitation that such members must be compensated in some way by state funds. Previously this office issued an official opinion answering in the negative whether regional and county librarians may elect to be members of local retirement systems in lieu of membership in the Teachers Retirement System. The statutory basis for the opinion was the above-referenced 1972 amendment to the definition of "teacher": The word "teacher" as used in the 1972 amendment, quoted supra, must be given the meaning ascribed to it in the definition of "teacher" for purposes of the entire TRS Act. Ga. Laws 1943, p. 640 et seq., as amended; Ga. Code Ann. § 32-2901. Accordingly, all regional and county librarians and clerical personnel employed by such libraries are "teachers" under the Act and are required to be members of TRS. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. 75-46 at 93 (emphasis added). (See also 1978 Op. Att'y Gen. 78-14 at 28 ("An opinion of this office interpreted that statute [1972 amendment] to mean that all employees of regional and county libraries were required to become members of TRS and could not at their option join a local retirement system.")). There has been only one amendment since 1972 concerning the status of regional and county librarians and clerical personnel. In 1977, the statute was amended to allow regional and county library personnel who were then members of a local retirement system to opt out of membership in the Teachers Retirement System by January 1, 1978. Pursuant to the statute, the election of such library personnel was to be made in writing to the Teachers Retirement System Board of Trustees. The amendment further provided that any persons not making such an election in writing by the deadline "shall be members of the retirement system created by this Act [Teachers Retirement System]." 1977 Ga. Laws 1135, 1136. With the passage of the 1972 and 1977 amendments to the definition of "teacher" striking the limiting language of the original 1957 law, the legislature made clear that all regional and county library personnel are to be members of the Teachers Retirement System. It is therefore my opinion that regional and county library personnel are to be included in the membership of the Teachers Retirement System. You have also asked whether the membership of regional and county library personnel who are not paid by state funds is contrary to the definition of "employer" found in O.C.G.A. § 47-3-1(12), specifically that portion which reads "[n]otwithstanding any provisions in prior or future Acts to the contrary, the county and regional library boards of trustees shall be deemed to be the employer of the county or regional librarians, whose salaries are paid in full or in part from state funds." I find no conflict between the two provisions of law. As previously noted, the referenced language was part of the original 1957 amendment first establishing regional and county librarians as "teachers" under the statute. The portion of the statute limiting membership to those librarians paid in whole or in part by state funds was enacted independently of this provision. Further, the language itself, as originally written and as it appears in O.C.G.A. § 47-3-1(12), merely provides that a certain entity, the local library board, will be deemed the "employer" for purposes of the Act and will be responsible for administering the payment of contributions on behalf of its member employees. The language in no way limits the membership in the Teachers Retirement System to only those regional and county library personnel who are paid in whole or in part by state funds. Therefore, it is my official opinion that regional and county library employees paid solely with local funds are required to be members of the Teachers Retirement System. Prepared by: Bryan K. Webb Senior Assistant Attorney General