526                              Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 229

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1971.

Approved April 29, 1971

CHAPTER 229
(Senate Bill 277)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 3 (5) of
Article 73B of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1970 Replace-
ment Volume), title "Pensions," subtitle "In General," to grant
credit for previous service as an elected or appointed official to
members of the Employees Retirement System of Maryland upon
payment of certain sums of money.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 3 (5) of Article 73B of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1970 Replacement Volume), title "Pensions," subtitle "In General,"
be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read
as follows:

3.

(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this article,
membership in the retirement system shall be optional with any class
of officials elected or appointed; or with any employees of the Gov-
ernor's office, or with any desk officer or employee of either house
of the General Assembly who receives an annual salary as his com-
pensation for such employment, who shall be deemed to be an ap-
pointed official within the application of this subsection. All officials
elected or appointed on or after July 1, 1957, may become members
of the system upon making application therefor at any time after
their elections or appointment and before the expiration of their
respective terms. All such officials shall be entitled to credit for
previous service rendered by them to the State, or a participating
municipal corporation, including service rendered prior to the estab-
lishment of the Employees' Retirement System. If any such official
is entitled to a pension or retirement allowance under the provisions
of any other law, and such pension or retirement allowance under
the provisions of any other law, and such pension or retirement
allowance is supported wholly or in part by the State of Maryland,
except benefits from social security, such official shall be deemed to
have waived the benefits thereof by accepting the payment of bene-
fits under this article. Upon receiving a claim for such service credit
from the official, the board of trustees of the retirement system
shall verify the fact of such previous employment and the creditable
service to which the member is entitled, compute the amount due
from such political subdivision for which credit is claimed, and sub-
mit a statement to the participating municipal corporation for such
amount, such computation to be based upon the compensation actually
received by the official from the municipal corporation during the
period for which service is to be credited. The participating municipal
corporation is authorized and directed forthwith to pay the said