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4 GCA § 8104

Definitions

Guam Code AnnotatedTitle 4 — Public Officers and Employees
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Words and phrases, wherever used in this Chapter, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context, shall have the following meanings: CH. 8 RETIREMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

(a)“Fund” shall mean the Government of Guam Retirement Fund.

(b)“Board” shall mean the Board of Trustees provided for herein as the agency responsible for the direction and operation of the affairs and business of the system. Title to all assets of the Fund shall be held for the Fund by the Board or its qualified agents or custodians.

(c)“Employee” shall mean any person in the employ of the Government, in all occupational classifications, including a person whose work is classified as casual or temporary.

(d)“Member” shall mean any employee included in the membership of the Fund.

(e)“Service” shall mean actual employment by the Government as an employee for salary or compensation or service otherwise creditable as herein provided.

(f)“Prior service” shall mean service rendered prior to the operative date.

(g)“Membership service” shall mean service rendered on or after the operative date.

(h)“Total service” shall mean prior service, membership service and military service.

(i)“Salary” shall mean the amount received by an employee for service which shall include allowances for maintenance at the prescribed rate and any territorial post differential.

(j)“Average annual salary” shall mean the average of the three

(3)highest annual salaries received by a member during his years of credited service or Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000) whichever is greater. The term average annual salary shall include contributions paid under § 8112 of this Title for employees who joined the Fund before June 1, 1989.

(k)“Regular” interest shall mean such rate as shall be fixed by the Board, provided that for the first five

(5)years of operation of the Fund the rate shall be three per cent (3%) per annum, compounded annually.

(l)Child. The term “child” for the purpose of § 8134(a)(2) shall mean a member’s unmarried child, by blood or adoption,

(1)under the age of eighteen

(18)years, who lived in the same principal residence as the member who provided more than one-half (½) of the child’s support;

(2)eighteen

(18)years of age or older, but under twenty-four

(24)years of age, attending high school or an accredited undergraduate educational institution full-time; or

(3)disabled prior to age eighteen

(18)years. To establish a child’s disability, the Board must receive, no later than one

(1)year following the death of a member, examination report(s) by two

(2)licensed physicians pronouncing that prior to age eighteen

(18)years the child was, and currently remains, physically, mentally and permanently disabled and incapable of self-support.

(m)“Agent” shall mean such person, firm or corporation, other than an employee or Board member that is engaged by the Board to perform services or to render advice.

(n)“Custodian” shall mean any agent that is qualified and has assumed the responsibility for the physical possession of Fund assets.

(o)“Investment Agent” shall mean any agent that is qualified and has been engaged by the Board to provide investment advice.

(p)“Uniformed Personnel” means Guam Police Department Officers; Guam Fire Department Firemen; Customs and Quarantine Officers of the Customs and Quarantine Agency; Conservation Officers, Commodity Inspectors, and Entomologists of the Department of Agriculture; Guam Park CH. 8 RETIREMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES Patrol Officers of the Department of Parks and Recreation; Corrections Officers of the Department of Corrections; Airport Police Officers and Security Personnel at the Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam; Jose D. Leon Guerrero Commercial Port Security personnel; Marshals of the Supreme Court of Guam and the Superior Court of Guam; Probation Officers of the Judiciary of Guam; and Firefighters of the Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam; and Youth Service Workers of the Department of Youth Affairs engaged in juvenile detention and rehabilitation. In all matters involving the uniformed personnel at the Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam, the Jose D. Leon Guerrero Commercial Port, or the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Supreme Court of Guam and the Superior Court of Guam Marshals, and the Guam Police Department shall have concurrent jurisdiction with such personnel.

(q)“Join the Fund” means the act of the employee in making his or her first contribution to the Fund. If such employee separates from the government and withdraws his or her contribution, is later rehired by the government and repays his or her withdrawn contribution in the manner prescribed by this Title, join the Fund still means the original act of such employee in making his or her first contribution to the Fund when first hired.

(r)[Repealed.]

(s)[Repealed.]

(t)“COLA Award” shall mean the Cost of Living Allowance awarded in connection with Superior Court Case No. SP0206-93.

(u)“COLA Awardee” shall mean a retiree of the Fund who is a member of the COLA Class designated in Superior Court Case No. SP0206-93 as entitled to receive a Cost of Living Allowance.

(v)“Surviving Spouse” means a living spouse of a deceased, active or retired member of the Fund, or of a deceased COLA Awardee, in a marriage legally recognized by Title 19, Chapter 3 of the Guam Code Annotated, or in a marriage recognized by the laws of the jurisdiction where the marriage was contracted. A domestic relations order may provide that a former spouse shall be treated as the current spouse of a deceased member for purposes of eligibility for surviving spouse benefits under § 8134.

(w)“Tier 1 Capital” shall have the meaning set forth in regulations promulgated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, 12 C.F.R. § 325, as amended from time to time.

§ The story of this section

  1. Amended by P.L. 10-121 § 1 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  2. Amended by P.L. 11-135 § 1 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  3. Amended by P.L. 14-121 § 1 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  4. Enacted by P.L. 17-66 § 11 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  5. Amended by P.L. 19-19 § 59 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  6. Amended by P.L. 20-4 § 7 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  7. Amended by P.L. 20-201 § 5 (bill & sponsor pending — earlier Legislature not yet ingested)
  8. Amended by P.L. 24-4 § 2 — introduced as Bill 131-24 · introduced by Anthony C. Blaz + 20 cosponsors · lead sponsor unverified
  9. Amended by P.L. 26-35 § IV — introduced as Bill 185-26 · introduced by Mark Forbes
  10. Amended by P.L. 26-58 § 10 — introduced as Bill 162-26 · introduced by Lawrence F. Kasperbauer
  11. Amended by P.L. 26-140 § 6 — introduced as Bill 304-26 · introduced by Mark C. Charfauros
  12. Enacted by P.L. 29-4 § 10 — introduced as Bill 149-29 · introduced by Eddie Baza Calvo + 13 cosponsors · lead sponsor unverified
  13. Amended by P.L. 30-55 § XII — introduced as Bill 58-30
  14. Amended by P.L. 31-192 § 3 — introduced as Bill 399-31 · introduced by Vicente C. Pangelinan + 2 cosponsors
  15. Enacted by P.L. 32-86 § 2 — introduced as Bill 170-32 · introduced by Vicente C. Pangelinan + 14 cosponsors · lead sponsor unverified
  16. Amended by P.L. 33-109 § 2 — introduced as Bill 125-33 · introduced by Frank B. Aguon, Jr + 14 cosponsorsWatch the public hearing · Jun 22, 2015
  17. Amended by P.L. 35-68 § 2 — introduced as Bill 102-35 · introduced by Telena Cruz Nelson

Interpreted by the courts:

  • 2021 Guam 17Government of Guam Major Fred M. Chargualaf, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Government of Guam Retirement Fund, Respondent-App (2021) · per F. Philip Carbullido, J. · pinpoints (e) at ¶9
  • 2025 Guam 19Takako B. Guthrie and Joseph A. Guthrie, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Petitioners-Appell (2025) · per Robert J. Torres, J. · pinpoints (d), (v) at ¶9

Reconstructed from the Guam Code Annotated. For the authoritative version, see the official PDF.