STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3062--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 2, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sens. YOUNG, SEWARD -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
Pensions -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
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 when
6 the applicant takes the written examination, provided that the maximum
7 age requirement of thirty-five years of age as set forth in this para-
8 graph shall not apply to eligible lists finalized pursuant to an exam-
9 ination administered prior to May thirty-first, nineteen hundred nine-
10 ty-nine or a police officer in the department of environmental
11 conservation, provided, however, that:
12 (i) time spent on military duty or on terminal leave, not exceeding a
13 total of six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant
14 who has passed his or her thirty-fifth birthday as provided in subdivi-
15 sion ten-a of section two hundred forty-three of the military law;
16 (ii) such maximum age requirement of thirty-five years shall not apply
17 to any police officer as defined in subdivision thirty-four of section
18 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, who was continuously employed by the
19 Buffalo municipal housing authority between January first, two thousand
20 five and June thirtieth, two thousand five and who takes the next writ-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06726-02-6
S. 3062--A 2
1 ten exam offered after the effective date of this subparagraph by the
2 city of Buffalo civil service commission for employment as a police
3 officer in the city of Buffalo police department, or June thirtieth, two
4 thousand six, whichever is later; and
5 (iii) such maximum age requirement of thirty-five years shall not
6 apply to any police officer of any county, town, city or village police
7 force not otherwise provided for in this section if the eligible list
8 has been exhausted and there are no other eligible candidates; provided,
9 however, the police officer themselves are on the eligible list of such
10 county, town, city or village and meet all other requirements of merit
11 and fitness set forth by this chapter and do not exceed the maximum age
12 of thirty-nine];
13 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 58 of the civil service law, as amended
14 by chapter 244 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
15 2. The provisions of this section shall not prevent any county, city,
16 town, village, housing authority, transit authority, police district or
17 the department of environmental conservation from setting more restric-
18 tive requirements of eligibility for its police officers[, except the
19 maximum age to be a police officer as provided in paragraph (a) of
20 subdivision one of this section].
21 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 58 of the civil service law, as sepa-
22 rately amended by chapters 375 and 397 of the laws of 1990, paragraphs
23 (a) and (b) as amended by chapter 561 of the laws of 2015, paragraph (c)
24 as amended by chapter 190 of the laws of 2008 and subparagraphs (ii) and
25 (iv) of paragraph (c) as amended by section 58 of subpart B of part C of
26 chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
27 4. (a) [Any person who has received provisional or permanent appoint-
28 ment in the competitive class of the civil service as a police officer
29 of the regional state park police, the state university of New York
30 police, the department of environmental conservation or any police force
31 or police department of any county, city, town, village, housing author-
32 ity, transit authority or police district shall be eligible to resign
33 from any police force or police department, and to be appointed as a
34 police officer in the same or any other police force or police depart-
35 ment without satisfying the age requirements set forth in paragraph (a)
36 of subdivision one of this section at the time of such second or subse-
37 quent appointment, provided such second or subsequent appointment occurs
38 within thirty days of the date of resignation.
39 (b) Any person who has received permanent appointment in the compet-
40 itive class of the civil service as a police officer of the regional
41 state park police, the state university of New York police, the depart-
42 ment of environmental conservation or any police force or police depart-
43 ment of any county, city, town, village, housing authority, transit
44 authority or police district shall be eligible to resign from any police
45 force or police department and, subject to such civil service rules as
46 may be applicable, shall be eligible for reinstatement in the same
47 police force or police department or in any other police force or police
48 department to which he or she was eligible for transfer, without satis-
49 fying the age requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of subdivision one
50 of this section at the time of such reinstatement, provided such rein-
51 statement occurs within one year of the date of resignation.
52 (c) (i)] Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature hereby
53 finds and declares that it is frequently impracticable to ascertain
54 fitness for the positions of detective and investigator within various
55 police or sheriffs departments around the state by means of a compet-
56 itive examination due to the unique nature of the duties assigned and
S. 3062--A 3
1 the intangible personal qualities needed to perform such duties. The
2 legislature further finds that competitive examination has never been
3 employed in many police, correction or sheriffs departments, to ascer-
4 tain fitness for the positions of detective and investigator within such
5 police, correction or sheriffs departments; such fitness has always been
6 determined by evaluation of the capabilities of an individual (who has
7 in any case received permanent appointment to the position of police
8 officer, correction officer of any rank or deputy sheriff) by superviso-
9 ry personnel. The legislature further finds that an individual who
10 performs in an investigatory position in a manner sufficiently satisfac-
11 tory to the appropriate supervisors to hold such an assignment for a
12 period of eighteen months, has demonstrated fitness for the position of
13 detective or investigator within such police, correction or sheriffs
14 department at least as sufficiently as could be ascertained by means of
15 a competitive examination.
16 [(ii)] (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any juris-
17 diction, other than a city with a population of one million or more or
18 the state department of corrections and community supervision, which
19 does not administer examinations for designation to detective or inves-
20 tigator, any person who has received permanent appointment to the posi-
21 tion of police officer, correction officer of any rank or deputy sheriff
22 and is temporarily assigned to perform the duties of detective or inves-
23 tigator shall, whenever such assignment to the duties of a detective or
24 investigator exceeds eighteen months, be permanently designated as a
25 detective or investigator and receive the compensation ordinarily paid
26 to persons in such designation.
27 [(iii)] (c) Nothing contained in [subparagraph (ii)] paragraph (b) of
28 this [paragraph] subdivision shall be construed to limit any jurisdic-
29 tion's ability to administer examinations for appointment to the posi-
30 tions of detective and investigator, provided however that any person
31 temporarily assigned to perform the duties of detective or investigator
32 within the period commencing September twenty-third, nineteen hundred
33 ninety-three through and including the date upon which this paragraph
34 shall have become a law and who has not been designated as a detective
35 or investigator and who has not been subject to an examination for which
36 there is a certified eligible list, shall be permanently designated as a
37 detective or investigator whenever such assignment to the duties of
38 detective or investigator exceeds eighteen months.
39 [(iv)] (d) Detectives and investigators designated since September
40 twenty-third, nineteen hundred ninety and prior to February twenty-
41 fourth, nineteen hundred ninety-five by any state, county, town, village
42 or city (other than a city with a population of one million or more or
43 the state department of corrections and community supervision) police,
44 correction or sheriffs department, pursuant to the provisions of this
45 paragraph in effect during such period, who continue to serve in such
46 positions, shall retain their detective or investigator status without
47 any right to retroactive financial entitlement.
48 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 215 of the executive law, as amended by
49 chapter 478 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
50 3. The sworn members of the New York state police shall be appointed
51 by the superintendent and permanent appointees may be removed by the
52 superintendent only after a hearing. No person shall be appointed to the
53 New York state police force as a sworn member unless he or she shall be
54 a citizen of the United States, [between the ages of] and at least twen-
55 ty-one [and twenty-nine years except that in the superintendent's
56 discretion, the maximum age may be extended to thirty-five years.
S. 3062--A 4
1 Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any general or special law
2 to the contrary the time spent on military duty, not exceeding a total
3 of six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant who has
4 passed his or her twenty-ninth birthday, solely for the purpose of
5 permitting qualification as to age and for no other purpose. Such limi-
6 tations as to age however shall not apply to persons appointed to the
7 positions of counsel, first assistant counsel, assistant counsel, and
8 assistant deputy superintendent for employee relations nor to any person
9 appointed to the bureau of criminal investigation pursuant to section
10 two hundred sixteen of this article nor] years of age. Nor shall any
11 person be appointed unless he or she has fitness and good moral charac-
12 ter and shall have passed a physical and mental examination based upon
13 standards provided by the rules and regulations of the superintendent.
14 Appointments shall be made for a probationary period which, in the case
15 of appointees required to attend and complete a basic training program
16 at the state police academy, shall include such time spent attending the
17 basic school and terminate one year after successful completion thereof.
18 All other sworn members shall be subject to a probationary period of one
19 year from the date of appointment. Following satisfactory completion of
20 the probationary period the member shall be a permanent appointee.
21 Voluntary resignation or withdrawal from the New York state police
22 during such appointment shall be submitted to the superintendent for
23 approval. Reasonable time shall be required to account for all equip-
24 ment issued or for debts or obligations to the state to be satisfied.
25 Resignation or withdrawal from the division during a time of emergency,
26 so declared by the governor, shall not be approved if contrary to the
27 best interest of the state and shall be a misdemeanor. No sworn member
28 removed from the New York state police shall be eligible for reappoint-
29 ment. The superintendent shall make rules and regulations subject to
30 approval by the governor for the discipline and control of the New York
31 state police and for the examination and qualifications of applicants
32 for appointment as members thereto and such examinations shall be held
33 and conducted by the superintendent subject to such rules and regu-
34 lations. The superintendent is authorized to charge a fee of twenty
35 dollars as an application fee for any person applying to take a compet-
36 itive examination for the position of trooper, and a fee of five dollars
37 for any competitive examination for a civilian position. The superinten-
38 dent shall promulgate regulations subject to the approval of the direc-
39 tor of the budget, to provide for a waiver of the application fee when
40 the fee would cause an unreasonable hardship on the applicant and to
41 establish a fee schedule and charge fees for the use of state police
42 facilities.
43 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
