Bill Text: PA SB913 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: An Act amending the act of June 5, 1941 (P.L.84, No.45), entitled "An act providing for and regulating the appointment, promotion and reduction in rank, suspension and removal of paid members of the police force in boroughs, incorporated towns and townships of the first class maintaining a police force of not less than three members; creating a civil service commission in each borough, incorporated town and township of the first class; defining the duties of such civil service commission; imposing certain duties and expense on boroughs, incorporated towns and townships of the first class; imposing penalties, and repealing inconsistent laws," further providing for general provisions relating to examinations, for rejection of applicant and hearing, for manner of filling appointments, for probationary period, for promotions and for physical examinations.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-03-15 - Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS [SB913 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-SB913-Amended.html

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HOUSE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 1099, 1235, 1631 PRINTER'S NO. 1755
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 913 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, ERICKSON, EICHELBERGER, STOUT AND WOZNIAK, JUNE 5, 2009
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MARCH 10, 2010
AN ACT
Amending the act of June 5, 1941 (P.L.84, No.45), entitled "An
act providing for and regulating the appointment, promotion
and reduction in rank, suspension and removal of paid members
of the police force in boroughs, incorporated towns and
townships of the first class maintaining a police force of
not less than three members; creating a civil service
commission in each borough, incorporated town and township of
the first class; defining the duties of such civil service
commission; imposing certain duties and expense on boroughs,
incorporated towns and townships of the first class; imposing
penalties, and repealing inconsistent laws," further
providing for general provisions relating to examinations,
for rejection of applicant and hearing, for manner of filling
appointments, for probationary period, for promotions and for <--
physical examinations.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 11 of the act of June 5, 1941 (P.L.84,
No.45), entitled "An act providing for and regulating the
appointment, promotion and reduction in rank, suspension and
removal of paid members of the police force in boroughs,
incorporated towns and townships of the first class maintaining
a police force of not less than three members; creating a civil
service commission in each borough, incorporated town and
township of the first class; defining the duties of such civil
service commission; imposing certain duties and expense on
boroughs, incorporated towns and townships of the first class;
imposing penalties, and repealing inconsistent laws," amended
October 17, 1980 (P.L.1080, No.181), is amended to read:
Section 11. General Provisions Relating to Examinations.--
(a) Each commission shall make rules and regulations, to be
approved as provided in section 6 hereof, providing for the
examination of applicants for positions in the police force and
for promotions therein, 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 in the police force of any municipality 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 for examination 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 [being admitted to the regular
examination held by the commission.] 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 in accordance
with section 19 of this act.
(b) Public notice of the time and place of every
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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 municipality
or in a newspaper circulating generally in the municipality 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 for position under this act. [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 provided for by any
law of this Commonwealth.]
Section 2. Sections 13, 14 and 16, 16 and 18 of the act are <--
amended to read:
Section 13. Rejection of Applicant; Hearing.--(a) The
commission may refuse to examine any applicant, or, if examined,
may refuse to certify after examination as eligible anyone 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 drugs]
who is illegally using a controlled substance, as defined in
section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (Public Law 91-513,
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21 U.S.C. § 802), or who has been guilty of any crime involving
moral turpitude or of infamous or notorious disgraceful conduct,
or who has been dismissed from public service for delinquency or
misconduct in 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 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 (10) 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 14. Eligibility List and Manner of Filling
Appointments.--(a) At the completion of the testing process,
including any background, physical agility or other
examinations, with the exception of physical and psychological
medical examinations pursuant to section 19 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 shall 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
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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.
(b) Every position or employment, except that of chief of
police or equivalent official, unless filled by promotion,
reinstatement or reduction shall be filled only in the following
manner: the appointing officer or body of the municipality shall
notify the commission of any vacancy in the police force 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 the names of three persons
thereon who have received the highest average in the last
preceding examination [held within a period of one year next
preceding the date of the request for such eligibles]. The
appointing officer or body shall thereupon with sole reference
to the merits and fitness of the candidates make [an] a
conditional appointment from the three names certified unless he
or they make objections to the commission as to one or more of
the persons so certified for any of the reasons stated in
section 13 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 19 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.
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(c) In the case of a vacancy in the office of chief of
police 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 noncompetitive
examination, and, if such person shall be certified by the
commission as qualified, he may then be appointed to such
position and thereafter shall be subject to all the provisions
of this act.
Section 16. Probationary Period.--All original appointments
to any position in the police force shall be for a probationary
period of six months, but during the probationary period an
appointee may be dismissed only for a cause specified in section
13 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 or fitness of the probationer has not been
satisfactory to the appointing officer or body 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 18. Promotions.--Promotions shall be based on merits <--
to be ascertained by examinations to be prescribed by the
commission. All questions relative to promotions shall be
practical in character and such as will fairly test the merit
and fitness of persons seeking promotion. The appointing officer
or body shall notify the commission of a vacancy in the police
force which is to be filled by promotion and shall request the
certification of a list of eligibles. The commission shall
certify for each existing vacancy, from the eligible list, the
names of three persons on the list who have received the highest
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average in the last preceding promotional examination held
within a period of two years next preceding the date of the
request for eligibles. If three names are not available, the
commission shall certify the names remaining on the list. The
appointing officer or body shall then, with sole reference to
the merits and fitness of the candidates, make an appointment
from the names certified unless the appointing officer or body
makes objections to the commission as to one or more of the
persons certified.
The appointing officer or body shall have power to determine
in each instance whether an increase in salary shall constitute
a promotion.
Section 3. Section 19 of the act, amended October 17, 1980
(P.L.1078, No.181), is amended to read:
Section 19. Physical and Psychological Medical
Examinations.--[All applicants for examination shall undergo a
physical examination as provided in section 11 which shall be
conducted under the supervision of a doctor of medicine
appointed by the civil service commission. No person shall be
eligible for appointment until said doctor certifies that the
applicant is free from any bodily or mental defects, deformity,
or disease that might incapacitate him from 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
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
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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 physician, other
qualified medical professional, psychiatrist or psychologist
calls into question the conditional appointee's ability to
perform all essential functions of a position, a person or
persons designated by the appointing officer or body 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, the appointing officer or body determines that the
conditional appointee is not qualified, the appointing officer
or body 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 following definitions shall
apply:
"Medical examination" shall mean an examination, procedure,
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inquiry or test designed 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.
"Physician" shall have the meaning given to it in 1 Pa.C.S. §
1991 (relating to definitions).
"Qualified medical professional" shall mean an individual, in
collaboration with or under the supervision or direction of a
physician, as may be required by law, who is licensed:
(1) as a physician assistant pursuant to the act of December
20, 1985 (P.L.457, No.112), known as the "Medical Practice Act
of 1985," or the act of October 5, 1978 (P.L.1109, No.261),
known as the "Osteopathic Medical Practice Act"; or
(2) as a certified registered nurse practitioner pursuant to
the act of May 22, 1951 (P.L.317, No.69), known as "The
Professional Nursing Law."
Section 4. Nothing contained in the amendment of section 11,
13, 14, 16 or 19 of this act shall affect the validity of any
civil service appointment made prior to the effective date of
this section. Nothing contained in the amendment of section 11 <--
or 18 of the act shall affect the validity of any civil service
promotions made prior to the effective date of this section.
Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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