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.