Bill Text: NY A05824 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Eliminates the maximum age for taking the civil service examination for appointment as a police officer or as an environmental conservation officer.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 11-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-16 - held for consideration in governmental employees [A05824 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05824-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5824 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 19, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GIGLIO, CROUCH, McDONOUGH, DeSTEFANO, MORINELLO, THIELE, HAWLEY, REILLY, LAWRENCE, SMULLEN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. SAYEGH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern- mental Employees AN ACT to amend the civil service law and the executive law, in relation to eliminating the maximum age limitation for appointment as a police officer or as an environmental conservation officer The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 58 of the civil 2 service law, as amended by chapter 244 of the laws of 2013, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 (a) he or she is not less than twenty years of age as of the date of 5 appointment [nor more than thirty-five years of age as of the date when6the applicant takes the written examination, provided that the maximum7age requirement of thirty-five years of age as set forth in this para-8graph shall not apply to eligible lists finalized pursuant to an exam-9ination administered prior to May thirty-first, nineteen hundred nine-10ty-nine or a police officer in the department of environmental11conservation, provided, however, that:12(i) time spent on military duty or on terminal leave, not exceeding a13total of six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant14who has passed his or her thirty-fifth birthday as provided in subdivi-15sion ten-a of section two hundred forty-three of the military law;16(ii) such maximum age requirement of thirty-five years shall not apply17to any police officer as defined in subdivision thirty-four of section181.20 of the criminal procedure law, who was continuously employed by the19Buffalo municipal housing authority between January first, two thousand20five and June thirtieth, two thousand five and who takes the next writ-21ten exam offered after the effective date of this subparagraph by the22city of Buffalo civil service commission for employment as a policeEXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06863-01-9A. 5824 2 1officer in the city of Buffalo police department, or June thirtieth, two2thousand six, whichever is later; and3(iii) such maximum age requirement of thirty-five years shall not4apply to any police officer of any county, town, city or village police5force not otherwise provided for in this section if the eligible list6has been exhausted and there are no other eligible candidates; provided,7however, the police officer themselves are on the eligible list of such8county, town, city or village and meet all other requirements of merit9and fitness set forth by this chapter and do not exceed the maximum age10of thirty-nine]; 11 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 58 of the civil service law, as amended 12 by chapter 244 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows: 13 2. The provisions of this section shall not prevent any county, city, 14 town, village, housing authority, transit authority, police district or 15 the department of environmental conservation from setting more restric- 16 tive requirements of eligibility for its police officers[, except the17maximum age to be a police officer as provided in paragraph (a) of18subdivision one of this section]. 19 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 58 of the civil service law, as sepa- 20 rately amended by chapters 375 and 397 of the laws of 1990, paragraphs 21 (a) and (b) as amended by chapter 561 of the laws of 2015, paragraph (c) 22 as amended by chapter 190 of the laws of 2008 and subparagraphs (ii) and 23 (iv) of paragraph (c) as amended by section 58 of subpart B of part C of 24 chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 25 4. (a) [Any person who has received provisional or permanent appoint-26ment in the competitive class of the civil service as a police officer27of the regional state park police, the state university of New York28police, the department of environmental conservation or any police force29or police department of any county, city, town, village, housing author-30ity, transit authority or police district shall be eligible to resign31from any police force or police department, and to be appointed as a32police officer in the same or any other police force or police depart-33ment without satisfying the age requirements set forth in paragraph (a)34of subdivision one of this section at the time of such second or subse-35quent appointment, provided such second or subsequent appointment occurs36within thirty days of the date of resignation.37(b) Any person who has received permanent appointment in the compet-38itive class of the civil service as a police officer of the regional39state park police, the state university of New York police, the depart-40ment of environmental conservation or any police force or police depart-41ment of any county, city, town, village, housing authority, transit42authority or police district shall be eligible to resign from any police43force or police department and, subject to such civil service rules as44may be applicable, shall be eligible for reinstatement in the same45police force or police department or in any other police force or police46department to which he or she was eligible for transfer, without satis-47fying the age requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of subdivision one48of this section at the time of such reinstatement, provided such rein-49statement occurs within one year of the date of resignation.50(c) (i)] Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature hereby 51 finds and declares that it is frequently impracticable to ascertain 52 fitness for the positions of detective and investigator within various 53 police or sheriffs departments around the state by means of a compet- 54 itive examination due to the unique nature of the duties assigned and 55 the intangible personal qualities needed to perform such duties. The 56 legislature further finds that competitive examination has never beenA. 5824 3 1 employed in many police, correction or sheriffs departments, to ascer- 2 tain fitness for the positions of detective and investigator within such 3 police, correction or sheriffs departments; such fitness has always been 4 determined by evaluation of the capabilities of an individual (who has 5 in any case received permanent appointment to the position of police 6 officer, correction officer of any rank or deputy sheriff) by superviso- 7 ry personnel. The legislature further finds that an individual who 8 performs in an investigatory position in a manner sufficiently satisfac- 9 tory to the appropriate supervisors to hold such an assignment for a 10 period of eighteen months, has demonstrated fitness for the position of 11 detective or investigator within such police, correction or sheriffs 12 department at least as sufficiently as could be ascertained by means of 13 a competitive examination. 14 [(ii)] (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any juris- 15 diction, other than a city with a population of one million or more or 16 the state department of corrections and community supervision, which 17 does not administer examinations for designation to detective or inves- 18 tigator, any person who has received permanent appointment to the posi- 19 tion of police officer, correction officer of any rank or deputy sheriff 20 and is temporarily assigned to perform the duties of detective or inves- 21 tigator shall, whenever such assignment to the duties of a detective or 22 investigator exceeds eighteen months, be permanently designated as a 23 detective or investigator and receive the compensation ordinarily paid 24 to persons in such designation. 25 [(iii)] (c) Nothing contained in [subparagraph (ii)] paragraph (b) of 26 this [paragraph] subdivision shall be construed to limit any jurisdic- 27 tion's ability to administer examinations for appointment to the posi- 28 tions of detective and investigator, provided however that any person 29 temporarily assigned to perform the duties of detective or investigator 30 within the period commencing September twenty-third, nineteen hundred 31 ninety-three through and including the date upon which this paragraph 32 shall have become a law and who has not been designated as a detective 33 or investigator and who has not been subject to an examination for which 34 there is a certified eligible list, shall be permanently designated as a 35 detective or investigator whenever such assignment to the duties of 36 detective or investigator exceeds eighteen months. 37 [(iv)] (d) Detectives and investigators designated since September 38 twenty-third, nineteen hundred ninety and prior to February twenty- 39 fourth, nineteen hundred ninety-five by any state, county, town, village 40 or city (other than a city with a population of one million or more or 41 the state department of corrections and community supervision) police, 42 correction or sheriffs department, pursuant to the provisions of this 43 paragraph in effect during such period, who continue to serve in such 44 positions, shall retain their detective or investigator status without 45 any right to retroactive financial entitlement. 46 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 215 of the executive law, as amended by 47 chapter 478 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows: 48 3. The sworn members of the New York state police shall be appointed 49 by the superintendent and permanent appointees may be removed by the 50 superintendent only after a hearing. No person shall be appointed to the 51 New York state police force as a sworn member unless he or she shall be 52 a citizen of the United States, [between the ages of] and at least twen- 53 ty-one [and twenty-nine years except that in the superintendent's54discretion, the maximum age may be extended to thirty-five years.55Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any general or special law56to the contrary the time spent on military duty, not exceeding a totalA. 5824 4 1of six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant who has2passed his or her twenty-ninth birthday, solely for the purpose of3permitting qualification as to age and for no other purpose. Such limi-4tations as to age however shall not apply to persons appointed to the5positions of counsel, first assistant counsel, assistant counsel, and6assistant deputy superintendent for employee relations nor to any person7appointed to the bureau of criminal investigation pursuant to section8two hundred sixteen of this article nor] years of age. Nor shall any 9 person be appointed unless he or she has fitness and good moral charac- 10 ter and shall have passed a physical and mental examination based upon 11 standards provided by the rules and regulations of the superintendent. 12 Appointments shall be made for a probationary period which, in the case 13 of appointees required to attend and complete a basic training program 14 at the state police academy, shall include such time spent attending the 15 basic school and terminate one year after successful completion thereof. 16 All other sworn members shall be subject to a probationary period of one 17 year from the date of appointment. Following satisfactory completion of 18 the probationary period the member shall be a permanent appointee. 19 Voluntary resignation or withdrawal from the New York state police 20 during such appointment shall be submitted to the superintendent for 21 approval. Reasonable time shall be required to account for all equip- 22 ment issued or for debts or obligations to the state to be satisfied. 23 Resignation or withdrawal from the division during a time of emergency, 24 so declared by the governor, shall not be approved if contrary to the 25 best interest of the state and shall be a misdemeanor. No sworn member 26 removed from the New York state police shall be eligible for reappoint- 27 ment. The superintendent shall make rules and regulations subject to 28 approval by the governor for the discipline and control of the New York 29 state police and for the examination and qualifications of applicants 30 for appointment as members thereto and such examinations shall be held 31 and conducted by the superintendent subject to such rules and regu- 32 lations. The superintendent is authorized to charge a fee of twenty 33 dollars as an application fee for any person applying to take a compet- 34 itive examination for the position of trooper, and a fee of five dollars 35 for any competitive examination for a civilian position. The superinten- 36 dent shall promulgate regulations subject to the approval of the direc- 37 tor of the budget, to provide for a waiver of the application fee when 38 the fee would cause an unreasonable hardship on the applicant and to 39 establish a fee schedule and charge fees for the use of state police 40 facilities. 41 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
