The Committee on District Courts shall certify to the director of the Virginia Retirement System the names of those magistrates serving on a regular full-time basis. Certification by the Committee shall qualify a magistrate as a state employee, for purposes of §§ 51.1-124.3 and 51.1-152 of the Virginia Retirement System (§ 51.1-124.1 et seq.), effective on the date given in the certificate as the date on which such magistrate first served on a regular full-time basis on or after January 1, 1974.