Notwithstanding the provisions of section 43:1-1 of the Revised Statutes, any county employee of a first-class county having a population of less than 800,000 as defined in the article to which this is a supplement who at the time of the effective date of this act is ineligible to the benefits of said article by reason of having accepted employment after reaching the age of 45 and who was at the time of accepting such employment under the age of 55 years and had prior service in any other elective or appointive State or municipal office or position, may within 2 months after this act becomes effective become a member of the fund established under article 1 of chapter 10 of Title 43 of the Revised Statutes.
N.J.S. § 43:10-18.28