Request By:
Mr. Mim C. Clark
General Manager
Kentucky Retirement Systems
226 West Second Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Patrick B. Kimberlin, III, Assistant Attorney General
This is in response to your recent letter wherein you request an opinion of this office pertaining to the following recent amendment to KRS 61.555:
"(6) Effective July 1, 1978, no veteran shall be eligible to purchase military service credit under this section if he is receiving a military pension or is eligible for such pension in the future. Provided, that nothing in this section shall prohibit such purchase of credit where the military pension results from service primarily on inactive duty in a reserve component of the Armed Forces. "
With reference to the above provision, you ask our opinion as to whether the term "receiving a military pension" includes those veterans receiving payments as a result of a disability 1 incurred while serving in the armed forces of the United States.
The term "pension" has been defined as a stated allowance out of the public treasury granted by government to an individual, or to his representatives, for his valuable services to the country, or in compensation for loss or damage sustained by him in the public service. Black's Law Dictionary (1968). It has been generally recognized in this country that federal military pensions are divisible into two classes, those granted to invalided or disabled persons, and those granted as rewards for eminent services, irrespective of physical disability. United States v. Hall, 98 U.S. 343, 347, 351 (1878). Accordingly, it is our opinion that the term "receiving a military pension" , as found in KRS 61.555(6), includes those veterans receiving payments as a consequence of a disability incurred while serving in the armed forces of the United States. Also see 60 Am.Jur.2d, Pensions and Retirement Funds, § 10. We see no reason to distinguish a military pension predicated on disability as opposed to one predicated upon accumulated service in the armed forces. We believe that these two "types" of military pensions are treated similarly in general as a matter of practice and require the same treatment in regard to the application of KRS 61.555(6). See Generally, What Constitutes A "Pension" Within The Meaning Of Federal Statutes Excluding Actions On Claims For Pensions From Jurisdiction Of Federal Courts, 40 A.L.R.2d §§ 4 and 5, at 649-653.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 For purposes of this opinion we are assuming that you are referring exclusively to federal military pensions.