Bill Text: PA SB910 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: As to civil service for police and firemen, further providing for general provisions relating to examinations, for rejection of applicant and hearing, for manner of filling appointments, for probationary period, for physical examination and for promotions.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2010-10-27 - Act No. 91 [SB910 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-SB910-Amended.html

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PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1096 PRINTER'S NO. 1232
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 910 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, ERICKSON, EICHELBERGER, STOUT AND WOZNIAK, JUNE 5, 2009
SENATOR EICHELBERGER, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AS AMENDED, JUNE 30, 2009
AN ACT
Amending the act of February 1, 1966 (1965 P.L.1656, No.581),
entitled "An act concerning boroughs, and revising, amending
and consolidating the law relating to boroughs," as to civil
service for police and firemen, further providing for general
provisions relating to examinations, rejection of applicant
and hearing, manner of filling appointments, probationary
period and physical examination.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 1181 and 1183 of the act of February 1,
1966 (1965 P.L.1656, No.581), known as The Borough Code, are
amended to read:
Section 1181. General Provisions Relating to Examinations.--
(a) The commission shall make rules and regulations, to be
approved as provided in section 1176 hereof, providing for the
examination of applicants for positions in the police force and
as paid operators of fire apparatus and for promotions, which
rules and regulations shall prescribe the minimum qualifications
of all applicants to be examined and the passing grades. All
examinations for positions or promotions shall be practical in
character and shall relate to such matters and include such
inquiries as will fairly test the merit and fitness of the
persons examined to discharge the duties of the employment
sought by them. All examinations shall be open to all applicants
who have the minimum qualifications required by the rules and
regulations. Each applicant shall:
(1) be subject to the regulations adopted by the
commission[, and shall be required to submit to a physical
examination];
(2) either before or after the written examination, be
required to submit to a physical fitness or agility examination
that is job-related and consistent with business necessity; and
(3) if made a conditional offer of employment, be given a
physical and psychological medical examination as provided in
section 1189 of this act.
(b) Public notice of the time and place of every
examination, together with the information as to the kind of
position or place to be filled, shall be given by publication
once in a newspaper of general circulation in the borough, at
least two weeks prior to each examination, and a copy of the
notice shall be prominently posted in the office of the
commission or other public place.
(c) The commission shall post in its office the eligible
list, containing the names and grades of those who have passed
the examination. [Persons, male or female, who served in the
military or naval service of the United States during any war in
which the United States has been, is now, or shall hereafter be,
engaged and who have honorable discharges from such service, who
have successfully passed the examination, shall be given the
additional credits and preference in appointment and promotion
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provided for by law.]
Section 1183. Rejection of Applicant; Hearing.--(a) The
commission may refuse to examine, or, if examined, may refuse to
certify after examination as eligible, any applicant who is
found to lack any of the minimum qualifications for examination
prescribed in the rules and regulations adopted for the position
or employment for which he has applied, or who is physically
[disabled and] unfit for the performance of the duties of the
position to which he seeks employment, or [who is addicted to
the habitual use of intoxicating liquors or narcotic drugs,] who
is illegally using a controlled substance, as defined in section
102 of the Controlled Substances Act (Public Law 91-513, 21
U.S.C. § 802), or who has been guilty of any crime involving
moral turpitude, or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful
conduct, or who has been dismissed from public service for
delinquency or misconduct of office, or who is affiliated with
any group whose policies or activities are subversive to the
form of government set forth in the constitutions and laws of
the United States and Pennsylvania.
(b) If any applicant or other person feels himself aggrieved
by the action of the commission, in refusing to examine him or
to certify him as eligible after examination, the commission
shall, at the request of such person, within ten days, appoint a
time and place where he may appear personally and by counsel.
Whereupon the commission shall then review its refusal to make
such examination or certification and take such testimony as may
be offered. The decision of the commission shall be final.
Section 2. Section 1184 of the act, amended May 2, 1986
(P.L.148, No.46), is amended to read:
Section 1184. Eligibility List and Manner of Filling
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Appointments.--(a) At the completion of the testing process,
including any background, physical agility or other examination,
with the exception of any physical and psychological medical
examination pursuant to section 1189 of this act, the commission
shall rank the candidates who have satisfied the minimum
requirements for appointment on an eligibility list. The
eligibility list shall contain the names of individuals eligible
for appointment listed from highest to lowest based on their
scores on the examinations administered by the commission and
any points for which the applicant was entitled by virtue of 51
Pa.C.S. Ch. 71 (relating to veterans' preference). The
eligibility list will be valid for one year from the date the
commission ranks all passing applicants, assigns veterans'
preference points and formally adopts the eligibility list. The
commission may, at its sole discretion before the original
expiration date, by a vote of the majority of the commission at
a duly authorized commission meeting, extend the list for up to
an additional twelve months. In the absence of a lawful
extension by the commission, the list shall expire. The <--
commission may, at its sole discretion, void an eligibility list
at any time for any reason so long as the voiding of the list is
not designed to circumvent this act.
(b) Except as provided in subsection [(b)] (c), every
original position or employment in the police force or as paid
operators of fire apparatus, except that of chief of police or
chief of the fire department, or equivalent, shall be filled
only in the following manner: the council shall notify the
commission of any vacancy which is to be filled and shall
request the certification of a list of eligibles. The commission
shall certify for each existing vacancy from the eligible list,
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the names of three persons thereon, or a lesser number where
three are not available, who have received the highest average.
The council shall thereupon, with sole reference to the merits
and fitness of the candidates, make [an] a conditional
appointment from the three names certified, unless they make
objections to the commission as to one or more of the persons so
certified for any of the reasons stated in section 1183 of this
act. Should such objections be sustained by the commission, as
provided in said section, or if the conditional appointee is
determined to be unqualified in accordance with the procedures
set forth in section 1189 of this act, the commission shall
thereupon strike the name of such person from the eligible list
and certify the next highest name for each name stricken off. As
each subsequent vacancy occurs in the same or another position
precisely the same procedure shall be followed.
[(b)] (c) Any vacancy in an existing position in the police
force or as a paid operator of fire apparatus which occurs as a
result of retirement, resignation, disability or death may be
filled by council by the reappointment or reinstatement of a
former employe of the police force or fire department who had
previously complied with the provisions of this section. No
examination, other than a physical examination as directed by
the civil service commission, shall be required in any case of
reappointment or reinstatement.
[(c)] (d) In the case of a vacancy in the office of chief of
police or chief of the fire department, or equivalent official,
the appointive power may nominate a person to the commission. It
shall thereupon become the duty of the commission to subject
such person to a non-competitive examination, and if such person
shall be certified by the commission as qualified, he may then
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be appointed to such position, and thereafter shall be subject
to all the provisions of this subdivision.
Section 3. Section 1186 of the act is amended to read:
Section 1186. Probationary Period.--All original
appointments to any position in the police force or as paid
operators of fire apparatus shall be for a probationary period
of not less than six months, and not more than one year, but
during the probationary period an appointee may be dismissed
only for a cause specified in section 1183 of this act or
because of incapacity for duty due to the use of alcohol or
drugs. If at the close of a probationary period the conduct of
fitness of the probationer has not been satisfactory to the
council, the probationer shall be notified in writing that he
will not receive a permanent appointment. Thereupon, his
appointment shall cease; otherwise his retention shall be
equivalent to a permanent appointment.
Section 4. Section 1189 of the act, amended October 17, 1980
(P.L.1082, No.182), is amended to read:
Section 1189. Physical and Psychological Medical
Examination.--[All applicants for examination shall undergo a
physical examination, either before or after the written
examination, which shall be conducted under the supervision of a
physician appointed by the commission. No person shall be
eligible for appointment until such physician certifies that the
applicant is free from any bodily or mental defect, deformity or
disease that might incapacitate him for the discharge of the
duties of the position desired.] (a) An applicant selected from
the eligibility list shall receive a conditional offer of
employment. The offer of employment shall be conditioned upon
the conditional appointee undergoing a physical and
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psychological medical examination and a determination that the
conditional appointee is capable of performing all the essential
functions of the position. Physical medical examinations shall
be under the direction of a physician or other qualified medical
professional. Psychological medical examinations shall be under
the direction of a psychiatrist or psychologist.
(b) The physician or other qualified medical professional
and the psychiatrist or psychologist shall be appointed by
council and shall render an opinion as to whether the
conditional appointee has a physical or mental condition which
calls into question his or her ability to perform all of the
essential functions of the position for which he or she was
conditionally appointed.
(c) If the opinion rendered by the medical examiner calls
into question the conditional appointee's ability to perform all
essential functions of a position, a person or persons
designated by council shall meet with the conditional appointee
for the purpose of having one or more interactive discussions
focused on the issue of whether the conditional appointee can,
with or without reasonable accommodation, perform all the
essential functions of the position.
(d) If, at the conclusion of the interactive discussion
process, council determines that the conditional appointee is
not qualified, council shall give written notice to the
conditional appointee and the commission.
(e) Nothing in this act shall be construed as authorizing
physical or psychological medical examinations prior to
conditional appointment.
(f) As used in this section, the term "medical examination"
shall mean any examination, procedure, inquiry or test designed
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to obtain information about medical history or a physical or
mental condition which might disqualify an applicant if it would
prevent the applicant from performing, with or without a
reasonable accommodation, all of the essential functions of the
position.
Section 5. Nothing contained in this act shall affect the
validity of any civil service appointment made prior to the
effective date of this section.
Section 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
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