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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 6263 December 10, 1984 RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS Firefighters and police retirement system--eligibility of city animal control officer for membership A city animal control officer who is not also a police officer of the city is ineligible for membership in the city firefighters and/or police officers retirement system. The Honorable Vincent Porreca House of Representatives Lansing, Michigan You have requested my opinion with respect to whether a city animal control officer may be a member of a municipal firefighters and/or police retirement system established pursuant to 1937 PA 345; MCL 38.551 et seq; MSA 5.3375(1) et seq. You advise that the animal control officer seeking membership took the same oath as do certified police officers, is a member of a police officers' association, and is not considered a civilian employee. He is not, however, nor has he ever been, a police officer of the city. The title to 1937 PA 345, supra, provides: 'AN ACT to provide for the establishment, maintenance and the administration of a system of pensions and retirements for the benefit of the personnel of fire and/or police departments, employed by cities, villages or municipalities having full paid members in such departments, and for the widows and children of such members, and to provide for the creation of a board of trustees to manage and operate same; to authorize appropriations and deductions from salaries; and to repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent therewith.' 1937 PA 345, supra, Sec. 12, as last amended by 1978 PA 421, provides: '(1) The membership of the retirement system created by a municipality affected by this act shall include each police officer and fire fighter employed by a municipality. A police officer or fire fighter, who is a member of the retirement system and who is transferred from the classification of a police officer or fire fighter to a civilian position within the police or fire department or who is transferred from the police or fire department of the municipality to another department of the municipality by an officer or body of the municipality authorized to make the transfer, shall continue as a member of this retirement system covering the police officers and fire fighters, and shall be subject to the provisions of the retirement system. If the officers and employees of the department to which the person is transferred are covered by an annuity pension or retirement system to which the municipality makes contributions and the person transferred becomes entitled to membership in that system, the person shall cease to be a member of this police officer and fire fighter retirement system. '(2) The membership of the retirement system shall not include a volunteer fire fighter, a privately employed police officer or fire fighter, a person temporarily employed during an emergency, a civilian employee of a police and fire department, or a person participating in a transitional public employment program, except as provided in subsection (1) and section 6c.' (Emphasis added.) By its plain terms, membership in a firefighters and/or police officers retirement system is limited by 1937 PA 345, Sec. 12, supra, to firefighters and police officers employed by a municipality. Civilian employees of a police or fire department are expressly excluded from membership. The Legislature must be held to have intended what it has plainly stated and, therefore, there is no basis for construction or interpretation. MacQueen v City Commission of City of Port Huron, 194 Mich 328, 342; 160 NW 627 (1916). 'Clearly, 1937 PA 345, Sec. 12, as amended, supra, requires a member of the retirement system to be a police officer employed by the municipality. . . .' OAG, 1981-1982, No 5937, p 267, 268 (July 27, 1981). It is noted that the Michigan Law Enforcement Officers Training Council Act, 1965 PA 203, Sec. 9, MCL 28.609; MSA 4.450(9), sets forth certain minimum standards for the training of police officers as a prerequisite for the exercise of police powers of the state. That training must include either completion of at least 240 instructional hours in an approved police training school or certain previous service as a law enforcement officer. A 'police officer' is defined as a member of a public police force, regularly employed as such, and 'who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the general criminal laws of the state, . . ..' 1965 PA 203, Sec. 2(c); MCLA 28.602; MSA 4.450(2). Furthermore, 1919 PA 339, Sec. 29b; MCLA 287.289b; MSA 12.539b exempts a police officer who also serves as an animal control officer from the minimum educational standards required of an animal control officer. It is clear that while a police officer may also function as an animal control officer without additional training, unless an animal control officer meets the minimum requirements for the training of a police officer as set forth in 1965 PA 203, Sec. 9, supra, he or she is not empowered to exercise the authority of a peace officer in this state. It is my opinion, therefore, that an animal control officer who is not also a police officer of the city is ineligible for membership in the city firefighters and/or police officers retirement system. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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