Bill Text: NJ A781 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows appointing authorities in Civil Service to hire from or promote within top five eligible candidates.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-01-13 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A781 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A781-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID BAILEY, JR.
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Allows appointing authorities in Civil Service to hire from or promote within top five eligible candidates.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act allowing certain appointing authorities in the Civil Service to hire from or promote within the top five eligible candidates and amending N.J.S.11A:4-8.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.11A:4-8 is amended to read as follows:
11A:4-8. Certification and appointment. The commission shall certify the [three] five eligibles who have received the highest ranking on an open competitive or promotional list against the first provisional or vacancy. For each additional provisional or vacancy against whom a certification is issued at that time, the commission shall certify the next ranked eligible. If more than one eligible has the same score, the tie shall not be broken and they shall have the same rank. If [three] five or more eligibles can be certified as the result of the ranking without resorting to all [three]five highest scores, only those eligibles shall be so certified.
A certification that contains the names of at least [three] five interested eligibles shall be complete and a regular appointment shall be made from among those eligibles. An eligible on an incomplete list shall be entitled to a provisional appointment if a permanent appointment is not made.
Eligibles on any type of reemployment list shall be certified and appointed in the order of their ranking and the certification shall not be considered incomplete.
(cf: P.L.2008, c.29, s.36)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends current law to allow appointing authorities in Civil Service to hire from or promote within the top five eligible candidates.
Under current law, appointing authorities regulated by the Civil Service Commission must follow a "rule of three." This rule requires the authority to choose from one of the top three eligible candidates from an open competitive or promotional list, taking into consideration veterans' preference.
This bill amends current law to allow appointing authorities regulated by the Civil Service Commission to choose from one of the top five eligible candidates from an open competitive or promotional list, taking into consideration veterans' preference.
