Words and phrases, wherever used in this Chapter, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context, shall have the following meanings:
COL 2026-10-26
(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 her/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
COL 2026-10-26
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. SOURCE: GC § 4203. Subsection (j) amended by P.L. 10-121:1 (Mar. 20, 1970). Subsection (c) amended by P.L. 11- 135:1 (April 26, 1972). Subsection (p) amended by P.L. 14-121:1 (Apr. 18, 1978). Subsection (q) added by P.L. 17- 066:11 (Sept. 7, 1984). Subsection (j) amended by P.L. 19-019:59 (Aug. 22, 1988). Subsections (j), (q) amended by P.L. 20-004:7-8 (Apr. 10, 1989). Subsection (p) amended by P.L. 20-201:5 (Aug. 20, 1990) and P.L. 24-004:2 (Mar. 19, 1997). Subsections (r) and (s) added and (d) repealed and reenacted by P.L. 26-035:IV:12-14 (Sept. 28, 2001). Subsections (r) and (s) repealed, and (d) reenacted to its prior version by P.L. 26-058:10 (Nov. 20, 2001). Subsection (p) repealed and reenacted by P.L. 26-140:6 (Sept. 17, 2002). Subsections (t), (u) and (v) added by P.L. 29-004:10 (Sept. 6, 2007). Subsection (p) amended by P.L. 30-055:XII:25(a) (Sept. 4, 2009), effective Oct. 1, 2008 pursuant to P.L. 30-055:XII:25(b). Subsections (l) and (v) amended by P.L. 31-192:3-4 (Feb. 27, 2012). Subsection (w) added by P.L. 32-086:2 (Nov. 27, 2013). Subsection (p) amended by P.L. 33-109:2 (Feb. 3, 2016) and P.L. 35-068:2 (Feb. 13, 2020). 2025 NOTE: Past publications of the GCA erroneously included subsections (r) and (s) after they had been repealed by P.L. 26-058:10 (Nov. 20, 2001). These provisions stated: (r) “Beneficiary” shall mean a person other than the member, who is designated by a member or by the Fund to receive a benefit from the Fund. (s) “Fiduciary” shall mean a person who:
COL 2026-10-26
(1) exercises any discretionary authority to manage a retirement system; (2) exercise any authority to invest or manage assets of a system; (3) provides investment advice for a fee or other direct or indirect compensation with respect to assets of a system or has authority or responsibility to do so; or (4) is a trustee or a member of the Board of Trustees. 2024 NOTE: Past electronic publications of the GCA contained the version of subsection (d) reenacted by P.L. 26- 035:IV:14 (Sept. 28, 2001), which stated: (d) Member shall mean any employee included in the membership of the Fund who is or has been an employee enrolled in the Fund and who is or may be eligible to receive, or is currently receiving, a benefit, or whose beneficiaries are or may become eligible to receive a benefit. The term does not include an individual who is no longer in the employ of the government and has not accrued any non-forfeitable benefits in the Fund. This definition was repealed shortly thereafter by P.L. 26-058:10 (Nov. 20, 2001), which stated: “Sections 11 through 28 of Chapter IV of Public Law 26-35 are hereby repealed, and [§] 8104(d) . . . of Title 4 of the Guam Code Annotated in existence prior to the enactment of P.L. 26-35 [is] hereby reenacted.” The definition of “Member” published herein (“Member shall mean any employee included in the membership of the Fund”) is the definition originally codified as § 4203(d) in the Government Code (1970). 2025 NOTE: Reference to “Territorial” in subsection (p) replaced with “Guam” pursuant to 1 GCA § 420.