H. B. 2453


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate
Williams(By Request))
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article fourteen-d, relating to establishing civil service for the sheriff's tax staff in each county; and providing for criminal penalties for violations of article.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article fourteen-d, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14D. CIVIL SERVICE FOR SHERIFF'S TAX STAFF.

§7-14D-1. Appointments and promotions of sheriff's tax staff.

Notwithstanding the provisions of article seven, chapter seven of this code, all appointments and promotions of full-time tax staff employees, as defined in section two of this article, in the offices of sheriffs of counties of twenty-five thousand population or more, may be made only according to qualifications and fitness to be ascertained by examinations, which, so far as practicable, shall be competitive, as hereinafter provided. On and after the effective date of this article, no person may be appointed, promoted, reinstated, removed, discharged, suspended or reduced in status or pay as a full-time tax staff employee, as defined in said section two, of any county in the state of West Virginia subject to the provisions hereof, in any manner or by any means other than those prescribed in this article.
§7-14D-2. Definitions; population.

(a) For the purpose of this article:
(1) "Appointing officer" or "appointing sheriff" means the sheriff of the county in which the appointment of a tax staff employee shall be made pursuant to this article; and
(2) "Tax staff employee" means persons appointed by a sheriff whose sole duties as such tax staff employee are within the scope of active operation and management of the collection of revenues for the sheriff.
(b) For the purpose of this article, population shall be determined by reference to the last preceding census taken under the authority of the United States or of the Legislature of West Virginia.
§7-14D-3. Civil service commission.

The civil service commission appointed in each county for correctional officers under section three, article fourteen-b of this chapter, shall be the designated civil service commission for tax staff employees with like powers and duties as are hereinafter set forth.
§7-14D-4. Clerk of commission.

The clerk of the county commission shall be ex officio clerk of the civil service commission and shall supply to the commission all necessary clerical and stenographic services for the work of the civil service commission.
§7-14D-5. Office and supplies for commission; appropriations required.

It shall be the duty of the county commission of every county to cause suitable and convenient rooms and accommodations to be assigned and provided, furnished, heated and lighted for carrying on the work and examinations of the civil service commission. The civil service commission may order from the proper authorities the necessary stationery, postage stamps, official seal and other articles to be supplied, and the necessary printing to be done, for its official use. It shall be the duty of the county commission and other county officials of every county to aid the civil service commission in all proper ways in carrying out the provisions of this article, and to allow the reasonable use of public buildings, and to heat and light the same, for holding examinations and investigations and in all proper ways to facilitate the same.
The county commission of each county is hereby required to appropriate sufficient funds for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article.
§7-14D-6. Powers and duties of commission.

The civil service commission in each county shall:
(a) Promulgate and enforce rules for carrying into effect the provisions of this article. All rules so prescribed may, from time to time, be added to, amended or rescinded.
(b) Keep minutes of its own proceedings and records of its examinations and other official actions. All recommendations of applicants for the position of tax staff employee received by the commission or by the sheriff shall be kept and preserved for a period of ten years, and all such records, recommendations of former employees excepted, and all written causes of removal, filed with the commission, shall, subject to reasonable rules, be open to public inspection.
(c) Make investigations, either sitting as a body or through a single commissioner, concerning all matters touching the enforcement and effect of the provisions of this article and the rules promulgated hereunder or concerning the action of any examiner or subordinate of the commission or any person in the public service with respect to the execution of this article; and, in the course of these investigations, each commissioner shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations and to take testimony.
(d) Have power to subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers pertinent to the investigations and inquiries herein authorized, and examine them and any public records as it shall require in relation to any matter which it has the authority to investigate. The fee of the witness for attendance and travel shall be the same as for witnesses before the circuit courts of this state and shall be paid from the appropriation for the incidental expenses of the commission. All officers in the public service and their deputies, clerks, subordinates and employees shall attend and testify when required to do so by the commission. Any disobedience to, or neglect of, any subpoena issued by the commissioners, or any one of them, to any person, shall be held a contempt of court, and shall be punished by the circuit court of the county in which the civil service commission is located, or the judge thereof in vacation, as if such subpoena has been issued by the court. The judge of the circuit court shall, upon the application of any one commissioner, in any case, cause the process of that court to issue to compel any person or persons disobeying or neglecting any subpoena to appear and to give testimony and produce evidence before the commissioner, or any one of them, and shall have the power to punish any contempt.
(e) Prepare a position classification and promotion plan.
(f) Make an annual report to the county commission and sheriff showing its own actions, its rules, including all exceptions thereto in force, and the practical effects thereof, and any suggestions it may have for the more effectual accomplishment of the purposes of this article. The report shall be available for public inspection five days after it has been delivered to the county commission and sheriff.
§7-14D-7. Rules of commission; notice and distribution thereof; probationary period for appointees.

The civil service commission in each county shall promulgate rules providing for competitive examinations for the position of tax staff employee in each county subject to the provisions of this article, for appointments to the position of tax staff employee and for promotions and for any other matters as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this article. Due notice of the contents of all rules and of any modifications thereof shall be given, by mail, in due season to the appointing officer, and the rules and any modifications thereof shall also be printed for public distribution. All original appointments on and after the effective date of this article to any position of tax staff employee in any county subject to the provisions of this article shall be for a probationary period of one year but at any time during the probationary period the probationer may be discharged for just cause in the manner provided in section seventeen of this article. If, at the close of this probationary period, the conduct or capacity of the probationer has not been satisfactory to the appointing sheriff, the probationer shall be notified, in writing, that the probationer will not receive absolute appointment, whereupon the probationer's employment shall cease; otherwise, the probationer's retention in the position of tax staff employee beyond the probationary term shall be equivalent to the probationer's absolute appointment.
§7-14D-8. Form of application; age requirements; exceptions.

The civil service commission in each county shall require persons applying for admission to any competitive examination provided for under this article or under the rules of the commission to file in its office, within a reasonable time prior to the proposed competitive examination a formal application in which the applicant shall state under oath or affirmation:
(a) The applicant's full name, residence and post-office address;
(b) The applicant's United States citizenship, age and the place and date of applicant's birth;
(c) The applicant's health and physical capacity for the position of tax staff employee;
(d) The applicant's business, employments and residences for at least three previous years; and
(e) Such other information as may reasonably be required, relative to the applicant's qualifications and fitness for the position of tax staff employee.
Blank forms for the applications shall be furnished by the commission, without charge, to all persons requesting the same. The commission may require, in connection with the application, certificates of citizens, or others, having pertinent knowledge concerning the applicant, as the good of the service may require.
No application for original appointment shall be considered on and after the effective date of this article, if the person applying is less than eighteen years of age or more than fifty-five years of age at the date of his or her application.
§7-14D-9. Character and notice of competitive examinations; qualifications of applicants; competitive examinations to be prescribed by state civil service commission; posting eligible list; exceptions as to and training of tax staff employees serving on effective date of article.

All competitive examinations for appointments or promotions to all positions of tax staff employee shall be practical in their character, and shall relate to such matters, and include such inquiries, as will fairly and fully test the comparative merit and fitness of the person or persons examined to discharge the duties of the position sought by him or her. The state civil service commission shall prepare and prescribe, from time to time, the competitive examination to be given by the civil service commission of each county. All competitive examinations shall be open to all applicants who have fulfilled the preliminary requirements specified in other sections of this article.
Adequate public notice of the date, time and place of every competitive examination held under the provisions of this article, together with information as to the position to be filled, shall be given at least two weeks prior to the competitive examination. The commission shall post, in a public place at its office, the eligible list, containing the names and grades of those who have passed the competitive examinations for positions as tax staff employees, under this article, and shall indicate thereon the appointments as may be made from the list.
All tax staff employees who are employed as tax staff employees on the effective date of this article, shall be considered to have been appointed under the provisions of this article without regard to their age, and without competitive examination. The civil service commission shall, however, establish or prescribe a training program for tax staff employees who are employed as such on the effective date of this article, giving due consideration to available training personnel and programs. The tax staff employees shall attend any training program so established and certified by the West Virginia state tax department.
However, persons who have: (1) Completed a basic tax course or accounting course or equivalent within the past three years prior to appointment; or (2) who have been employed as a tax staff employee for the sheriff for three years out of the last five years prior to appointment may be certified as a tax staff employee without basic training if in the judgment of the commission such persons are otherwise qualified.
§7-14D-10. Refusal to examine or certify; review thereof.

The commission may refuse to examine an applicant, or after examination to certify as eligible, one who is found to lack any of the established preliminary requirements for the examination or position of tax staff employee for which the applicant applies; or who is addicted to the habitual use of intoxicating liquors or drugs; or who has been convicted of a felony; or who has been guilty of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct; or who has been dismissed from public service for delinquency or misconduct; or who has made a false statement of any material fact, or practiced or attempted to practice any deception or fraud in his or her application, in any such examination, or in securing his or her eligibility; or who refuses to comply with the rules of the commission.
If any applicant feels aggrieved by the action of the commission in refusing to examine the applicant, or after examination in refusing to certify the applicant as eligible, the commission shall, at the request of the applicant, appoint a date, time and place for a public hearing, at which time the applicant may appear, by himself or herself by counsel or in person and with counsel, and the commission shall then review its refusal to make the examination or certification, and testimony shall be taken. The commission shall subpoena any competent witnesses requested by the applicant. After the review, the commission shall file in its records the testimony taken and shall make and record findings of fact and therefrom make a decision by written order, which decision shall be subject to judicial review in the circuit court of the county wherein the commission sits. Under no circumstances may the provisions of this article be construed, in the case of a refusal to examine an applicant for promotion or to certify an applicant as eligible for promotion, as depriving the applicant of his or her right to seek a writ of mandamus, if the application for a writ is made within twenty days from the date of the order following the hearing, refusing to examine or to certify the applicant as eligible for promotion.
§7-14D-11. Appointments from eligible list.

On and after the effective date of this article, every position of tax staff employee, unless filled by promotion, reinstatement or reduction, shall be filled only in the manner specified in this section. The appointing sheriff shall notify the civil service commission of any vacancy in a position of tax staff employee which the sheriff desires to fill, and shall request the certification of eligibles. The commission shall forthwith certify, from the eligible list, the names of the three persons thereon who received the highest averages at preceding competitive examinations held under the provisions of this article within a period of three years next preceding the date of the prospective appointment. The appointing sheriff shall, thereupon, with sole reference to the relative merit and fitness of the candidates, make an appointment from the three names so certified. However, should he make objection to the commission to one or more of these persons for any of the reasons stated in section ten of this article, and should the objection be sustained by the commission after a public hearing along the lines of the hearing provided for in section ten of this article, if any hearing is requested, the commission shall thereupon strike the name of that person from the eligible list, and certify the next highest name for each person so stricken. As each subsequent vacancy occurs, in the same or another position, precisely the same procedure shall be followed, but after any name has been three times rejected for the same or another position in favor of a name or names below it on the same list, the name shall be stricken from the list. When there are a number of positions of the same kind to be filled at the same time, each appointment shall, nevertheless, be made separately and in accordance with the foregoing provisions. When an appointment is made under the provisions of this section, it shall be, in the first instance, for the probationary period of twelve months, as provided in section seven of this article.
§7-14D-12. Noncompetitive examination for filling vacancy; provisional appointment.

Whenever there are urgent reasons for filling a vacancy in any position for tax staff employee and there is no list of persons eligible for appointment after a competitive examination, the appointing sheriff may nominate a person to the civil service commission for noncompetitive examination; and if the nominee is certified by the commission as qualified, after the noncompetitive examination, the nominee may be appointed provisionally to fill the vacancy until a selection and appointment can be made after competitive examination in the manner prescribed in section eleven of this article; but the provisional appointment may not continue for a longer period than three months, nor may successive provisional appointments be made to the same position, under the provisions of this section.
§7-14D-13. Vacancies filled by promotions; eligibility for promotion.

Vacancies in positions of tax staff employee on and after the effective date of this article, shall be filled, so far as practicable, by promotion from among persons holding positions in the next lower grade. Promotions shall be based upon merit and fitness to be ascertained by competitive examinations to be provided by the civil service commission and upon the superior qualifications of the persons promoted, as shown by their previous service and experience. However, no person shall be eligible for promotion from the lower grade to the next higher grade until the person shall have completed at least two years' service in the next lower grade.
§7-14D-14. No inquiry shall be made concerning political or religious opinions or affiliations of applicants, etc.

No question in any form of application or in or during any examination shall be so framed as to elicit information concerning the political or religious opinions or affiliations of any applicant; nor shall inquiry be made concerning the opinions or affiliations; and all disclosures thereof shall be discountenanced. No discrimination shall be exercised, threatened or promised by any person in the sheriff's office against, or in favor of, an applicant, eligible tax staff employee in the office of any sheriff of any county subject to the provisions of this article because of his or her political or religious opinions or affiliations.
§7-14D-15. Political activity of tax staff employees prohibited; petition for vacating appointment; action on petition; appeal.

(a) On and after the effective date of this article, no tax staff employee covered by the provisions of this article shall act as an election official in any municipal, county or state election, or engage in any political activity of any kind, character or nature whatsoever, except to cast his or her vote at any election. Any tax staff employee violating the provisions of this section shall have his or her appointment vacated and shall be removed, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of this section.
(b) Any three residents of the county may file their written petition with the civil service commission thereof setting out therein the grounds upon which a tax staff employee of the county should be removed for a violation of subsection (a) of this section. Notice of the filing of a petition shall be given by the commission to the accused tax staff employee, which notice shall require the accused to file a written answer to the charges set out in the petition within thirty days of the date of the notice. The petition and answer thereto, if any, shall be entered upon the records of the civil service commission. If the answer is not filed within the time stated, or any extension thereof for cause which in the discretion of the civil service commission may be granted, an order shall be entered by the commission declaring the appointment of the tax staff employee vacated. If an answer is filed within the time stated, or any extension thereof for cause which in the discretion of the civil service commission may be granted, the accused tax staff employee may demand within the period a public hearing on the charges, or the civil service commission may, in its discretion and without demand therefor, set a date and time for a public hearing on the charges which hearing shall be within thirty days of the filing of the answer, subject, however, to any continuances which may in the discretion of the civil service commission be granted. A written record of all testimony taken at the hearing shall be made, kept and preserved by the civil service commission, which record shall be sealed and not be open to public inspection if no appeal be taken from the action of the commission. The commission, at the conclusion of the hearing, or as soon thereafter as possible, but not later than fifteen days, make findings of fact, and shall enter an order setting forth its findings and decision. In the event that charges are sustained, the order shall also declare the appointment of the tax staff employee to be vacated and thereupon the sheriff shall immediately remove the tax staff employee from his office and from the payroll of the county. Notice of the action of the commission shall be given by registered letter to the tax staff employee, county commission and the sheriff. If the sheriff fails to immediately comply with the order of the commission, the sheriff shall be punished for contempt, upon application of the commission to the circuit court of the county.
(c) An appeal from the ruling of the commission may be had in the same manner and within the same time as specified in section seventeen of this article for an appeal from a ruling of a commission after hearing held in accordance with the provisions of this section and section seventeen.
§7-14D-16. Removal, discharge, suspension or reduction in rank or pay; appeal; reduction in force; mandatory retirement age.

(a) On and after the effective date of this article, no tax staff employee of any county shall be removed, discharged, suspended or reduced in rank or pay except for just cause, which may not be religious or political, except as provided in section fifteen of this article; and no tax staff employee shall on and after the effective date of this article, be removed, discharged, suspended or reduced except as provided in this article and in no event until the tax staff employee has been furnished with a written statement of the reasons for such action. In every case of removal, discharge, suspension or reduction, a copy of the statement of reasons therefor and of the written answer thereto, if the tax staff employee sought to be removed, discharged, suspended or reduced desires to file a written answer, shall be furnished to the civil service commission and entered upon its records. If the tax staff employee sought to be removed, discharged, suspended or reduced shall demand it, the civil service commission shall grant him or her a public hearing, which shall be held within a period of ten days from the filing of the charges in writing or the written answer thereto, whichever shall last occur. At the hearing the burden shall be upon the removing, discharging, suspending or reducing sheriff, hereinafter in this section referred to as "removing sheriff," to justify his or her action, and in the event the removing sheriff fails to justify his or her action before the commission, then the tax staff employee removed, discharged, suspended or reduced shall be reinstated with full pay, forthwith and without any additional order, for the entire period during which the tax staff employee may have been prevented from performing his or her usual employment, and no charges shall be officially recorded against the tax staff employee's record. The tax staff employee, if reinstated or exonerated, shall, if represented by legal counsel, be awarded an attorney fee of no more than two hundred fifty dollars by the commission and paid by the removing sheriff from county funds. The commission shall make findings of fact and a written record of all testimony shall be taken at the hearing and be kept and preserved by the civil service commission, which record shall be sealed and not be open to public inspection, if no appeal be taken from the action of the commission.
(b) In the event that the civil service commission shall sustain the action of the removing sheriff, the tax staff employee removed, discharged, suspended or reduced on or after the effective date of this article, shall have an immediate right of appeal to the circuit court of the county where employed. In the event that the commission shall reinstate the tax staff employee removed, discharged, suspended or reduced, the removing sheriff shall have an immediate right of appeal to the circuit court. Any appeal must be taken within ninety days from the date of entry by the civil service commission, of its final order. Upon an appeal being taken and docketed with the clerk of the circuit court of the county, the circuit court shall proceed to hear the appeal upon the original record made before the commission and no additional proof shall be permitted to be introduced, unless justice shall require it. The circuit court's decision shall be final, but the tax staff employee or removing sheriff, as the case may be, against whom the decision of the circuit court is rendered shall have the right to petition the supreme court of appeals for a review of the circuit court's decision as in other civil cases. The tax staff employee or removing sheriff shall also have the right, where appropriate, to seek in lieu of an appeal, a writ of mandamus. The tax staff employee, if reinstated or exonerated by the circuit court shall, if represented by legal counsel, be awarded an attorney fee of five hundred dollars, and if reinstated or exonerated by the supreme court of appeals, shall be awarded an attorney fee of seven hundred fifty dollars, and these fees shall be paid by the removing sheriff from county funds. The aggregate amount of attorney fees awarded by the commission, the circuit court and the supreme court of appeals, shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars for any member litigant.
(c) The removing sheriff and the tax staff employee sought to be removed, discharged, suspended or reduced shall at all times, both before the civil service commission and upon appeal, be given the right to employ counsel to represent them.
(d) If for reasons of economy or other reasons it shall, on and after the effective date of this article, be deemed necessary by any appointing sheriff to reduce the number of the sheriff's tax staff employees, the sheriff shall follow the procedure set forth in this subsection. The reduction in the numbers of tax staff employees of the county shall be effected by suspending the last person or persons, including probationers, who have been appointed as tax staff employees. In the event the number of tax staff employees shall again be increased in numbers to the strength existing prior to the reduction of tax staff employees, the tax staff employees suspended under the terms of this subsection shall first be reinstated in the inverse order of their suspension, before any new appointments of tax staff employees in the county shall be made.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, no tax staff employee in any county subject to the provisions of this article shall, on or after the effective date of this article, serve as a tax staff employee in any county subject to the provisions of this article after he attains the age of sixty-five.
§7-14D-17. Vacations for tax staff employees.

The county commission of each county shall allow the tax staff employee in its employ vacation time accrued in the following manner: For tax staff employees with less than five years of service, vacation time shall be accrued at the rate of one and one-quarter days for each calendar month of service; for tax staff employees with five to ten years of service, vacation time shall be accrued at the rate of one and one-half days for each calendar month of service; for tax staff employees with ten to fifteen years of service, vacation time shall be accrued at the rate of one and three-quarters days for each calendar month of service; and for tax staff employees with fifteen or more years of service, vacation time shall be accrued at the rate of two days for each calendar month of service.
Each tax staff employee shall only receive vacation time for each month in which he or she shall have worked one hour more than one half the normal working hours in a given month as prescribed by the sheriff.
Accrued vacation time may be carried forward from one calendar year to the next.
§7-14D-18. Sick leave.

(a) The county commission of each county shall allow the tax staff employee sick leave with pay to be computed as follows: Tax staff employees shall be entitled to one and one-half days sick leave for each calendar month, or greater part thereof, worked.
(b) Sick leave shall be granted only when illness on the part, of or injury to, the tax staff employee incapacitates the tax staff employee for duty, but the sheriff of the county in which the tax staff employee is employed shall have the authority to require the tax staff employee to produce a statement from an attending physician for each day of sick leave beyond three days. This statement shall include dates of treatment and also state that the tax staff employee was unable to work. In the absence of the required physician's statement, annual leave shall be charged for the entire period.
(c) Tax staff employees may accumulate yearly sick leave in accordance with the policy to be established by the county commission.
(d) In the event of illness, a tax staff employee may take emergency sick leave without pay after all accrued sick leave, annual leave and compensatory time available to such full-time tax staff employee has been exhausted, but the total number of days sick leave and emergency sick leave used during such illness may not exceed the total number of days of sick leave which may be accumulated under the provisions of subsection (c) of this section by any tax staff employee with the same number of years of service.
§7-14D-19. Offenses and penalties.

Any person who makes an appointment or promotion to any position, or selects a person for employment, contrary to the provisions of this article, or willfully refuses or neglects otherwise to comply with, or to conform to, any of the provisions of this article, or violates any of such provisions, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
Any commissioner or examiner, or any other person, who willfully, individually or in cooperation with one or more persons, defeats, deceives or obstructs any person with respect to such person's right of examination or registration according to this article, or to any rules promulgated pursuant thereto, or who willfully or corruptly, falsely marks, grades, estimates or reports upon an examination or proper standing of any person so examined, registered or certified, pursuant to the provisions of this article, or aid in so doing, or who willfully or corruptly furnishes to any person any special or secret information, for the purpose of either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of appointment or promotion to any position of the person so examined, registered or certified, or to be so examined, registered or certified; or who impersonates any other person, or permits or aids in any manner any other person to impersonate him or her, in connection with any examination or registration, or application request to be examined or registered, shall, for each offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
Any person convicted of any such misdemeanor offense shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned, in the discretion of the court.
§7-14D-20. County commission of counties with a population of less than twenty-five thousand may place tax staff employees under civil service; protest and election with respect thereto.

The county commission of any county having a population of less than twenty-five thousand may by order entered of record provide that the provision of this article providing civil service for tax staff employees shall apply to the county on and after the effective date of this article. A copy of the order, together with a notice advising the qualified voters of the county of their right to protest the placing of tax staff employees of such county under civil service, shall be published as a Class II-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be the county.
In the event fifteen percent of the qualified voters of a county protest the order, by petition duly signed by them in their own handwriting (which petition may be signed in any number of counterparts) and filed with the county clerk of the county within sixty days after publication of the copy and notice, the order may not become effective unless and until it is ratified by a majority of the legal votes cast with respect to the question of civil service coverage for the tax staff employees of a county by the qualified voters of the county at a regular or special election. Any election shall be conducted and superintended and the results thereof ascertained as provided by law for regular or special elections, as the case may be.
Whenever the tax staff employees of any county are placed under civil service pursuant to the provisions of this section, the civil service system for the tax staff employees of the county shall thereupon become mandatory and all of the provisions of this article shall apply to the tax staff employees of the county with like effect as if the county had a population of twenty-five thousand or more.
§7-14D-21. Inconsistent acts repealed; once established civil service remains mandatory.

All acts and parts of acts of the Legislature, whether general, special or local, in relation to tax staff employees inconsistent with the provisions of this article shall be, and the same are, hereby repealed to the extent of the inconsistency.
Any civil service system for tax staff employees in any county with a population of twenty-five thousand or more shall remain mandatory and shall be governed by the provisions of this article even if the population of the county shall at any time decrease below twenty-five thousand.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish civil service for county sheriffs' tax staff.

This is a new article; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.