ORD NO 24-1997 CITY OF VAN BUREN, ARKANSAS
ORDINANCE NO. /71 -1997
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE VAN BUREN CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS.
WHEREAS, The Van Buren Civil Service Regulations, as originally enacted by
ordinance by the City Council, specified that the positions of Police
Chief and Fire Chief were covered by those regulations and,
therefore, appointment or promotion to those positions was
governed by the Civil Service regulations and procedure and
selection thereto was made by the Civil Service Commission; and,
WHEREAS, Under authority of A.C.A., X14 -42 -110, the power to appoint and
remove the Chiefs of the Police and Fire Departments belongs to
the Mayor, unless the City Council, has by ordinance placed that
power in the hands of the Civil Service Commission; and,
WHEREAS, The City Council desires to remove the authority to appoint and
remove the Chiefs of the Police and Fire Departments from the
Civil Service Commission and place it within the authority of the
Mayor, and to that end has previously passed Ordinance No. 20-
1997, as amended, which, among other purposes, amended Article
111, Section 1 to remove the position of Police Chief from the list of
positions covered by the Civil Service Regulations; and,
WHEREAS, In order to complete this transfer, the present Civil Service
Regulations must be further amended to remove the position of Fire
Chief from the list of positions covered by the Civil Service
Regulations and also to remove other references to the positions of
Police or Fire Chief within the regulations; and,
WHEREAS, The Civil Service Commission has met and voted to approve the
following amendments to the present Civil Service Regulations.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF VAN BUREN, ARKANSAS:
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SECTION 1: That Article III, Section 2 shall read as follows:
"These Civil Service Regulations shall be effective and be in force
as to all uniformed and non uniformed employees of the Fire
Department working either full or part-time, in the positions
of Assistant Chief, Captain, Driver /Operator or Firefighter."
SECTION 2: That Article VI, Section 4 shall be deleted in its entirety and the remaining
section following shall be renumbered accordingly.
SECTION 3: That Article VII, Section 1 shall read as follows:
"Promotions shall be based upon open, competitive examinations of
efficiency, character and conduct in the form of a Civil Service
written examination, Fire Department Examinations (written, oral
or practical or a combination of the three) and Departmental
Performance Evaluations. For both the Police and Fire
Departments, the Performance Evaluation shall be conducted by
officers selected by the Chief(s), who are senior in rank to the
persons being evaluated and such evaluation shall be of the
examinee's proficiency, character and conduct. The Civil Service
Commission shall establish the measurable standards capable of
review of said evaluations. Applicants must first achieve at least a
minimum passing score on the Civil Service written examination in
order to be considered for promotion. Those applicants who, by
their passing score on the Civil Service written examination, are
qualified to take the Fire Departmental Examination and the Police
or Fire Department Performance Evaluations, must achieve at least
a minimum total score from the tests and evaluations to be eligible
for promotion."
SECTION 4: That Article VII, Section 3 shall read as follows:
"For the Fire Department, promotional examinations may consist of
a Civil Service written examination, a Departmental written and
oral performance evaluation, and service credits (service credits are
earned at a rate of one (1) point per year of service through the
rank of Captain up to a maximum of twenty (20) service credit
points that can be accumulated). The Civil Service written
examination shall consist of fifty (50) questions prepared by the
Commission so that each applicant shall have the possibility of
scoring a maximum of one hundred (100) points. A passing score
of sixty (60) points must be achieved on the Civil Service written
examination for an applicant to be considered for promotion. The
Fire Department written performance evaluation and oral
performance evaluation shall each have a maximum score of thirty
(30) points each for a total of sixty (60) points. A total passing
score for the written and oral performance evaluations shall be fifty
three (53) points of the sixty (60) points possible. A minimum total
point score of one hundred thirteen (113) points out of a possible
one hundred sixty (160) points from the Civil Service written
examination and the Fire Department written and oral performance
evaluations, with at least a minimum passing score on both the Civil
Service written examination and the combination of the written and
oral performance evaluations, must be achieved to be eligible for
promotion. Service credits are added to the applicants total score
at the rate of one (1) service credit point earned per year, through
the rank of Captain, with a maximum possible earned service
credits of twenty (20) points. For promotion to Assistant Chief,
service credits shall not be used."
SECTION 5: That Article VII, Section 5 shall be deleted in its entirety and the sections
following shall be renumbered accordingly.
SECTION 6: That Article VII, renumbered Section 8 shall read as follows:
"In the event of a promotion to the rank of Assistant Chief, the act
of selection shall be made by the Mayor and the Civil Service
Commission."
Sc�` 4 7,
A. :P 7: That Article VII, renumbered Section 12 shall read as follows:
"A promotion to any rank in service will not be completed for a
period of six (6) months, and the Chief of the Department may
reduce in rank any promoted member of the Department during the
six (6) month period, for any reason. In the event of that reduction,
any promotions made in lower ranks as a result of the initial
promotion shall likewise be reduced unless the authorized number
of positions in lower ranks has been increased. A written notice of
such reduction in rank shall be given by the person making the
reduction and such notice shall state the reasons for such actions;
provided that such notice shall not be considered as granting to the
member reduced a right to trial before the Commission or appeal
therefrom nor shall the requirements of stating the reasons therefor
be considered as to require such reduction to be for good cause."
SECTION 8: That Article VII shall be further amended to add a new Section 14 which
shall read as follows:
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"In the event an individual who serves in the position of Chief of
Police or Fire Chief is removed from that position by the Mayor,
the individual so removed may be allowed to re -enter the Van
Buren Police Department or the Van Buren Fire Department
respectively, at the last prior rank held by that individual in that
department, and the regular requirements for promotion or
appointment as set out herein shall be waived. However, the ability
of such an individual to so re -enter shall only apply if the
Commission receives a written notice from the Mayor requesting
that the individual be allowed to re- enter. Individuals who have
been removed from the position of Chief of either department and
who have not previously held a rank with either the Van Buren
Police or Fire Departments may also be employed with the
respective department, upon the written request of the Mayor, at a
rank designated by the Mayor and with the same waiver of
promotion or appointment requirements."
SECTION 9: That Article VIII, Section 1 shall read as follows:
"The heads of the Police and Fire Departments, respectively, may
make, with the consent of the Commission, a temporary
appointment or a temporary promotion without examination and
without compliance with other requirements for appointment or
promotion in cases where the head of such Department determines
an emergency exists requiring such temporary appointment or
promotion."
SECTION 10: That Article IX, Section 3 shall read as follows:
"Any member reduced in rank or compensation a suspension
without pay shall not be considered a reduction in pay) or
discharged, after promotion or appointment is complete, shall first
be presented with the reasons for such discharge or reduction in
writing signed by the head of the Department."
SECTION 11: That it is the specific intent of the City Council to reaffirm, reiterate
and ratify its previous act, contained in Ordinance No. 20 -1997, as
amended, to remove the position of Chief of Police from the
coverage of the Civil Service Regulations.
SECTION 12: If any portion or provision of this Ordinance or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect other portions, provisions or applications of this
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Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid portion,
CP provision or application, and to this end the various portions and
provisions of this Ordinance are declared severable.
SECTION 13: All previous ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this
Ordinance are hereby repealed.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 20 DAY OF 6 /1eC, 1997.
MAYOR
AT 'D:
1 47414/
CITY CLERK/TRE RER
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