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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


ARITA MAGEE, Plaintiff-Appellee, v RETIREMENT COMMISSION OF THE GENESEE COUNTY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED March 16, 2001

No. 218292 Genesee Circuit Court LC No. 96-051716-CK

Before: K. F. Kelly, P.J., and Smolenski, Meter, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant appeals as of right from the circuit court order resolving plaintiff's petition for writ of superintending control. We reverse the circuit court's decision and dismiss plaintiff's petition. I. Factual and Procedural Background On January 22, 1981, plaintiff entered into a contract with the Genesee County Clerk. Under that contract, plaintiff agreed to perform specific services for the Genesee County Road Commission. In general, plaintiff's duties involved keeping the minutes for the road commission's board meetings. For approximately twelve years, plaintiff performed the duties set forth in her contract with the county. During that time period, she did not work a full-time schedule, but worked an average of approximately 5 to 6 hours per week. The county clerk provided all the office space, equipment and supplies used by plaintiff in performance of her contractual duties. The county clerk provided plaintiff with computer training and also provided a replacement employee to perform plaintiff's duties when she was unavailable. Plaintiff's contract with the county specified a flat hourly rate for her services and stated that plaintiff would be considered as an independent contractor, not as an employee of either the county or the road commission. Finally, the contract specified that plaintiff was not "entitled to receive any benefits" as a county or road commission employee. On October 7, 1993, plaintiff requested permission to purchase service credits in the Genesee County Employees' Retirement System for the twelve years during which she kept the -1-

road commission minutes. Defendant denied plaintiff's request for service credits, finding that plaintiff's services were not rendered as a member of the retirement system. Rather, defendant found that plaintiff was a person "engaged for special services on a contract or fee basis" under an exception defined in

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