Opinion letter to the Honorable J. H. Frappier

January 27, 1911 Hono rabl~ J. h . Frappi er Representative, District 24 Room 202J, Capitol ~uildi n~ Jefferson City, Mi ssouri 6?101 Dear Representative Frappier: Answer by letter-Jones O~INION LETTER ~0. 1 ----- F \LE D 7 This letter is to acknowledFe r eceipt of your request f or an opinion from this office in re~ard to whether or not the manager of the St. Louis Suburban Teachers Association Credit Union who is certified t o t each i n the State of ~i ssouri, but is presently not teaching in a school system, is eligible to become a ~ember of the Public School Retirement System of ~as souri. It is our understanding that the Teachers Credit Union services all school employees in a four county area . In response to your request, it should first of ~1 1 be noted that the individual described does not qualify as a "teacher" as defined in subsection 16 of Section 169. 010, RSMo 1969. Further- more, subsection 2 of Section 169.130, RSMo 19&9 , reads as follows: "Any person, duly certificated under t he l aw governing the certification of teachers , em- ployed full- time by any statewide nonprofit educational association or organization serv- ing on an educational professional basis through its membership t he active members of the pub- lic school retirement system of Missouri or the public school districts maintainin~ high schools in this state, may be a member of the public school retirement system of Missouri. Any such person who becomes a nember before July 1, 1955, may claim and receive credit for prior service. The contributions required to be made by the member's employer shall be paid by the association or organization. '' Honorable J. H. Prappier The phrase "statewide nonprofit educational association or o~­ ganization" is not defined in Chapter 169 . It should be noted, how- ever, that a credit union, while no t ordinarily a private corpora- tion for profit, is organized under s peci f i c statutory provisions with its membership l imited to certain well-defined groups o r people, such as those living within a certain district, employees of a com- mon employer, or the like . In addition , a credi t union is generally restricted in ~aking loans t o its member ship. See 1 3 Am.Jur.2d, Building and Loan Associations, Secti on 4, pa~e 146. Therefore, without pas s i nR on whether a credit union i s a non- profit educationa l association or or~an1zat1on, i t \~ our view that a Teacher s Credit Union, which only provides services ror school employees in a four county area, does not meet the statutory re- quirement of be in ~ "statewide'' and that t he manager of the credit union is not e li ~ible for membershio tn t he Public ~chool Retire- ment System of Missouri. Yours very truly, JOHN C. DANl"ORTH Attor ney General -2-