Texas Attorney General Opinion: M-229 Page: 4 of 5
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Mrs. Marie Hudson Winters, page 4 (M-229)
fire department of which such person is a
member. Such money so deducted from salaries
or compensation or agreed to be paid to be-
come and form a part of the Fund herein des-
ignated and established as Firemen's Relief
and Retirement Fund of that city or town.
Failure or refusal to make and file the state-
ment herein provided, or failure or refusal
to allow deduction from salary or to pay the
amount herein specified as herein provided on
the part of any member shall forfeit his right
to participate in any of the benefits from said
Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund. If any
such member shall elect not to participate in
such Fund, he shall not be liable for any salary
deduction nor to pay as herein provided."
(Emphasis added.)
Section 10A of the above statute applies to "all cities having
fully paid firemen," as does Section 10OA-2, whereas Section 10B
applies to cities with firemen in a "'full paid' fire department."
We are not at liberty to hold these terms synonymous in order to
hold that Section 10A-2 does not apply to the City of Sulphur
Springs. We must presume that the Legislature carefully chose
its words, and we must give effect to the distinctions in its
language.
The statutes are not clear as to the status of volunteers.
However, it is the opinion of this office that volunteers in the
Sulphur Springs Fire Department should be allowed to continue par-
ticipation in the manner prescribed above in Section 10 of Article
6243e of Vernon's Civil Statutes. We conclude that by its amend-
ments to the statute, the Legislature evidently intended to re-
quire all fully paid firemen to be members of the State Firemen's
Relief and Retirement Fund except those who were not members of
the Fund at the time the 1967 amendment became effective. Volunteers,
part-paid firemen, and those fully paid but not members of the Fund
at the time of the 1967 amendment were given an individual election
as to participation in the Fund.
SUMMARY
Fully paid firemen of Sulphur Springs who
were appointed after August 28, 1967, must be- 1122-
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: M-229, text, May 7, 1968; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth269448/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.