Request By:
Mr. Pat N. Miller
Executive Secretary
Teachers Retirement System
216 West Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General
Re: Defining "Professional Level of Training" Pursuant to KRS 161.220(4).
Your letter of June 5, 1985, to Attorney General David Armstrong, requests a formal opinion "as to the interpretation of the words 'professional level of training' as contained in KRS 161.220(4)". The question arises in connection with determining eligibility for participation in the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System. Among several eligibility catagories, one makes eligible a person who meets other pertinent statutory criteria of KRS 161.220(4), and occupies a position requiring a "professional level of training."
As explained below, in the context involved here, interpretation (which amounts to definition in this situation) of what constitutes a "professional level of training" is a responsibility resting with the Board of Trustees of the Teachers Retirement System of the State of Kentucky.
KRS 161.220(4) does not specifically define "professional level of training." However, KRS 161.250 vests in the Board of Trustees (hereinafter "Board") of the Teachers Retirement System of the State of Kentucky, responsibility for "making effective" KRS 161.220 and certain other provisions. Under such circumstance, the Board clearly is charged with particularizing or defining the language of KRS 161.220(4); if it does so in a manner that is not arbitrary, its determination will control.
The Board, through the System it administers, has for a number of years defined "professional level of training" to mean graduation from a recognized college or university or its equivalent. It is the opinion of this office that such definition is reasonable and consistent with the statutory responsibilities of the Board.