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ORD NO 07-2022 CITY OF VAN BUREN,ARKANSAS ORDINANCE NO.01 -2022 BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, FOR THE CITY OF VAN BUREN, ARKANSAS, AN ORDINANCE TO BE ENTITLED: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE VAN 13UREN CIVIL SERVICE RULES AND REGULATIONS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. WHEREAS, the Van Buren Civil Service Commission has identified the need to amend the Provisions portion of the Van Buren Civil Service Rules and Regulations; and WHEREAS, the proposed amendments herein, promote and protect the fairness and independence of the promotion process in the police department; and WHEREAS, the Van Buren Civil Service Commission has voted to approve the following amendments to the Van Buren Civil Service Rules and Regulations. NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VAN BUREN,ARKANSAS,THAT: SECTION 1: The Provisions Policy portion of the Van Buren Civil Service Rules and Regulations are hereby amended as follows SECTION 2: In Article III: Coverage, Section 1 shall read: These Civil Service Regulations shall apply to and be effective and in force as to all uniformed employees and/or certified personnel of the Police Department working full time in the existing or future positions of: Deputy Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal,Patrol Officer, and Detective. SECTION 3: In Article IV: Probationary Appointment Policy, Section 13 shall read: In the interest of public safety, an "emergency hiring process" may be declared by the Chief of Police when a normal examination process cannot be completed in time to fill vacancies in a timely manner. If an emergency hiring process is declared by the Chief of Police, the chief shall promptly provide written notice of such declaration to the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission. Upon request of any Civil Service Commissioner, a special meeting of the Civil Service Commission shall be called and the Civil Service Commission shall either approve such emergency hiring process declaration or shall direct that such emergency hiring process shall not occur, but in the absence of any such request by a Civil Service Commissioner made within five (5) business `days after written notice of such emergency hiring process declaration to the Office of the Chief of Police, such emergency hiring process shall be conclusively deemed to be approved by the Civil Service Commission. An emergency hiring process shall include the same processes required during a normal examination process. Only applications from individuals who are full-time, state certified officers from any state shall be accepted during an emergency hiring process. The emergency hiring process shall be utilized only for gathering applicants for entry-level, patrol positions within the Department. The emergency hiring process may begin whether there is or will be a normal examination process overlapping with the emergency hiring process or not. Regardless of the type of eligibility list, when two hiring lists exist,the Chief of Police shall use his/her discretion when detaining which list to hire from. Regardless of which hiring list is used, the process as defined in Section 7 shall still apply. All efforts will be made to avoid the need for an emergency hiring process,to maintain the integrity of the normal examination process, but the Civil Service Commission recognizes that hiring and training standards set forth by the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST) combined with a lengthy hiring process can create very long periods of time during which hiring cannot occur;thereby creating critical staffing levels. SECTION 4: In Article V: Qualifying Criteria for Promotion in the Police Department shall read: Section 2: No employee shall be eligible for examination for advancement to the rank of Sergeant until that employee shall have served at least four (4) consecutive years as patrol officer, has obtained the Basic and General Certificates or higher, has completed six (6) college hours of Freshman English with a grade of"C" or better, and received a passing evaluation. Section 3: No employee shall be eligible for examination for advancement to the rank of Lieutenant until that employee shall have served at least two (2) consecutive years as Sergeant, has obtained the Intermediate Certificate or higher and received a passing evaluation. Section 5: No employee shall be eligible for examination to the rank of Deputy Chief until that employee shall have served at least two (2) consecutive years as Captain, has obtained a Senior Certificate, received a passing evaluation, and successfully completed a police supervision and/or management course of instruction of four(4) weeks or more in duration. SECTION 5: In Article VII: Promotional Policy shall read: Section 2: For the Police Department, a score of not less than sixty (60) points of a possible one hundred (100)points on the Civil Service written examination must be achieved in order for an applicant to pass the Civil Service written examination and to be considered for promotion. To pass the Police Department Performance Evaluation, the applicant cannot have one or more of "Does Not Meet Expectations or Standards" scored on his or her Performance Evaluation to be eligible for promotion. A score of at least sixty (60) points of a possible one hundred (100) points must be achieved for an applicant to pass the Civil Service oral review board. A cumulative score from an applicant's written test score and oral review board score will determine placement on a promotion list as defined in Section 7 below. SECTION 6: In Article XI: Miscellaneous Provisions, Section 5 shall read: Amendments to these rules and regulations shall be adopted only after passage by a majority of the Commission. Notification shall be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing dates set for the adoption thereof, and in addition, written notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the Police Department and the Fire Stations. (See Exhibit A). IN WITNESS WHEREOF,the City of Van Buren, Arkansas,by its City Council, did pass, approve, and adopt, by a vote of ID for and 0 against, the foregoing Ordinance at its regular meeting held on the 281h day of February 2022. Jo ph P. Hrst Ma ATTESTED: APPROVED AS TO FORM: : _ Ph lis Thomas owell City Clerk/Treasurer City Attorney ARTICLE XI: MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS SECTION 1: The Secretary of the Commission shall file with the Van Buren City Clerk a certificate of those entitled to compensation from the City and no compensation shall be allowed to any member of the Police or Fire Department unless their names shall be certified. SECTION 2: No person in the Police or Fire Departments shall be appointed, reduced, or discharged, or otherwise discriminated against because of their political opinion or affiliation, or because of their race, color, religion, national'origin, gender, age or disability. SECTION 3: All employees and candidates for emphym+ of the Fire and Police Departments shall be governed by and subject to any an&WIjules and regulations promulgated by the Chief of their respective Dartments and adopted by the Van Buren City Council. SECTION 4: The Police and Fire Department positions set out in Artrcte )II are positions which may be adopted at the discretion of the City Counot and their listrng�,herein does not obligate the City Council to adopt sgid positioris , e number of positions within each of the respective Department ,thepay policies; fhe fringe benefit policies are all _ matters which the Commission considers AO,be,within the scope of authority of the Van Buren City Council Thex�{uestions of hew maiyployee er a necessary to fill each position and whether a reatedx position should=.be f'ltdduor 4rt ain vacant shall be an administrative dectsliari of thekChief of Poltoe, #lie dire Chrf and the Mayor. SECTION 5: Amendments to these rules and regulations shall be adopted only after passage by a ajonty of ttie Q., ........ Notitration shall be made by publication in a newspper of generatiurculas Jo the cotarityt�at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing dates set for the adoption thereof, End in addition, written notice shall be posted in a conspicuou ,place in the Police De0s6 0 ent and the Fire Stations. SECTION 6: If any portion or,"-,provision of these Regulations or the application thereof to any person or circumstance IS held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other portions, provisions or applica66ns of$" se Regulations which can be given effect without the � invalid portion, provision=ot. pplication, and to this end the various portions and provisions of these Regulations are declared to be severable. r SECTION 7: All previous Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in conflict with these Regulations are hereby repealed. SECTION 13: In the interest of public safety, an "emergency hiring process" may be declared by the Chief of Police when a normal examination process cannot be completed in time to fill vacancies in a timely manner. If an emergency hiring process is declared by the Chief of Police, the chief shall promptly provide written notice of such declaration to the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission. Upon request of any Civil Service Commissioner, a special meeting of the Civil Service Commission shall be called and the Civil Service Commission shall either approve such emergency hiring process declaration or shall direct that such emergency hiring process shall not occur, but in the absence of any such request 3 by a Civil Service Commissioner made within five (5)b""'fness days after written notice of such emergency hiring process declaration t -,the Office of the Chief of Police, such emergency hiring process shall be �briclt" ively deemed to be approved by the Civil Service Commission. An emergency hiring process shall include the same processes.required during a 9 Y gp P 4 normal examination process. Only applications from individuals"�uvho are full-time, state certified officers from any state shall bwPxccepted;during anrnergency hiring process. The emergency hiring process shall be utrk6a only for gathering applicants for entry-level, patrol positions witlrf the Department` The emergency hiring process may begins whether there is or will be a normal examination process overlapping wi�h,the a�►e, ency nif process or not. Regardless of the type of e'Iigib lity list, whe44 n to o hinng lists exist, the Chief of Police shall use his/her discrion when citermining which list to hire from. Regardless of which hiring list is used, the process as defined in Seam 7 shall still apply. All effort yvill be made to avoid the need for antmergency hiring process,to maintain the int�gi'ity of the normal examination proci ss, but the Civil Service Commission recognizes,that hiring``and trainer standards set forthby the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Train LEST) combined with a lengthy hiring process can create very lorig�periods`oftime during which hiring cannot occur; thereby creating critical staffing levels;'. I i I { ARTICLE III: COVERAGE Gffertive QGteber 28 201 the o SECTION 1: These Civil Service Regulations shall �. apply to and be effective and in force as to all uniformed employees and/or certified personnel of the Police Department working fulltime in the existing or future positions of: Deputy Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal, Patrol Officer, and Detective, e Regulations. Any person holding the position of Part Time POI*Ge OffiGer , to be appointed to any full time Patrol QffiGer position within the POliGe DepaFtMent shall who wishes SECTION 2: 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 existing or future positions of Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief/Battalion Chief, Captain, Driver/Operator/Lieutenant or Firefighter. t F i X gg bg 4 r CpCp t:- tt t' ARTICLE V: QUALIFYING CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT SECTION 1: No employee shall be eligible for advancement to the rank of Corporal until that employee shall have served at least five (5) consecutive years as patrol officer, has obtained a General Certificate or higher, has completed fifty (50) or more police training hours beyond basic, shall have completed three (3) college hours of Freshman English with a grade of"C" or better, and received passing evaluations. This will be considered an automatic advancement if the above minimum requirements have been met. SECTION 2: No employee shall be eligible for examinant "."for advancement to the rank of Sergeant until that employee shall have served at:#east twe-(-2)four 4 consecutive years as Corperatpatrol officer, has obtained the Ba 'o and.General Certificates or higher, has completed six (6) college hours of Freshman "n"Olish with a grade of"C" or better, and received a passing evaluations. i l SECTION 3: No employee shall be eligible for_examination for advancement to the rank ; of Lieutenant until that employee shall have 'O'eved at least two (2) d"'doi cutive years as Sergeant, has obtained the and rq�qeiv Intermte Certificate �- or higher and received a passin tion. SECTION 4: No employee shall be"'eligible fog examinafior.for advancement to the rank 4; of Captain until that employee shall haVp served t least tW0 2) consecutive years as l Lieutenant, has obtairi&-d Mt Advanced certificate ter. r� her, fiias completed one ' hundred and fifty (1Q police:training hoots, s11�11 hava pvmpleted six (6) hours of college English with a'grade of" or better, and received��a passing evaluations. SECTION to r. le fore_ amination to the rank of Deputy Chief � until th 0` 1644:�mall h erve st �6 2 consecutive years as Captain, has obtai 6 . Senior C400cate, ived a 64 "' ci evaluation and successful) complete a police supe61sion a r or management course of instruction of four (4) l weeks orGre in duration k SECTION 56 Ifirio..applicant Oar promotion meets the requirements set out above, an ; employee who does dot meefthe above requirements may be promoted pursuant to the promotional policy setkbut in icle VII of these Regulations. Promotions pursuant to this section shall be m400 , the next lowest rank to the rank open for promotion unless there are no applicants from that rank. Said promotion must be approved by the Civil Service Commission and must be pursuant to existing State law. 3 l l is s e ARTICLE VII: PROMOTIONAL POLICY SECTION 1: Promotions shall be based upon open, competitive examinations of efficiency, character and conduct. Examinations shall be in the form of a Civil Service written examination, oral review board and Departmental Performance Evaluations. The Performance Evaluation shall be conducted by supervisors selected by the respective Chief, 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 passingscore on the Civil Service written examination in order to be considered for prom:00n `Those applicants who, by ' their passing score on the Civil Service written examinfition, are qualified to take the Fire Departmental Examination and the Police or F�rrtment Performance Evaluations, must achieve at least a minimum totaiscore from the tests and evaluations to be eligible for promotion. SECTION 2: For the Police Department, a score of not less than sixty.(60) points of a possible one hundred (100) points on the Civil=Service written examination must be achieved in order for an applicant to pass the Civil Service written examination and to be considered for promotion. in 60 4plo pass the Police Department Performance 4' Evaluation, the applicant cannot haws Q-i6 or more of"goes Not Meet Expectations or Standards" scored on his or her Pe' rm-466-0 Evaluation erde�teto be eligible for d promotion. A score of at ast sixt ointsf`� . ossib a hundred 100 points must be achieved for s �JW' . ant to `�` the 11 � ice review board. A cumulative score f a n am nt's wri �� �� scor hd,oral review board score will determine laceme n a pro on list aj A"ned in Section 7 below. SECTION 3: For the Fire beattmntt promotional examinations may consist of a Civil Service written`ezat inatioft,:a;pepartmet.talzpettormance evaluation and oral perforr... evaluation; and service credits service credits are earned at a rate of point zero eight,.three three (0833) poi` tiper month per in rank service through the rank of Captain 6p t© a maximum oftwenty'�20) service credit points that can be accumulated). The Civil Service written exa�ination',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 Departmental performance evaluation and oral performance evaluation shall each have R a maximum score of thief`'(30) points each for a total of sixty (60) points. A composite of these two evaluations shall equal sixty percent (60%), or shall be thirty-six (36) points of the sixty (60) points possible. A minimum total point score of ninety-six (96) out of a possible one hundred sixty (160) points from the Civil Service written examination and the Departmental performance evaluations 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 point zero eight three (.0833) service credit point for each month the i- applicant has been at their present rank (including time on probation), through the rank of Captain, with a maximum possible earned service credits of twenty (20) points. is SECTION 4: In the Fire Department, the oral performance evaluation shall consist of a question and answer session calculated to assess the applicant's readiness for the promotion sought. The oral performance evaluation score will be determined by eliminating the highest and lowest scores, and then calculating the average of the remaining scores awarded by the Evaluation Board to the applicant. SECTION 5: An eligible member of the Fire and Police Departments desiring to be examined shall file their written request within the time set out in Article II, Section 3, with the respective Chief, asking to be examined for promotion. The written request ` shall state the candidate's name, present position in the respective Department, period of service in that position and the position for which examination is desired. i SECTION 6: An applicant for promotion shall be eligible to'siaek promotion if that i individual qualifies for the position sought as s,et out in the 06111ying Criteria related to the position sought. SECTION 7: After completion of the promotionsJ.exam ina ions, the viLService Commission shall compile eligibility lists for each rank of"ervice in the Poiice and Fire Departments and promotions sha11 � made there fro M��Names on the promotional eligibility lists for the Police and rfie"Dep rtments wiii a ranked according to highest total examination scores to lowest examiriation,scores, including earned service credits for the Fire Department., If, with reference to 66er Departr6 nt, identical total examination scores are`:recetyod, then r'nking on the Lists shell be determined by time in grade (time served �r'the currently held"rank}from�► ft promotion is sought. If there i are identical amounts of time served in rank from which the position is sought, ranking i on the list shall be by date of hire If dates of hire are identical, then ranking shall be determined;by Aot., SECTION 8: When a position°becomes vacant�and subject to being filled by promotion, the Commission shall certify to the;C,hief of the respective Department the three (3) i st candidates standing highe on the°eligibility List for appointment to that rank of service. I The Chief ofthat Department; mill then select for appointment one (1) of the three (3) i persons so certified and shahratify the Commission thereof. After selection of an individual to fill a position, ali✓naining applicants fora ointment, including those pp g { certified but not selected b..the Chief, will remain on the Eligibility List. If the individual selected for appointment falils'to accept such appointment within ten (10) days of being notified in writing, that individual makes written application to the Commission within i such ten (10) days and receives, at the discretion of the Commission, additional time in which to accept the appointment. Such request shall not constitute a grievance request. t; A SECTION 9: Promotion shall be made from the Eligibility List in effect on the date the vacancy occurs unless such list has been exhausted. (Promotion shall be made after any vacancy occurs within a reasonable period of time, giving due consideration to the administrative duties of the Department. If a promotion has not been made within ninety (90) days after a vacancy occurs, any individual eligible for promotion may present a ' k i fi i t, a; grievance to the Civil Service Commission, which shall be adjudicated according to the grievance procedure outlined in these rules). ' SECTION 10: Although a physical examination is not required generally as a prerequisite to promotions, the Commission reserves the right to require any applicant for promotion to undergo a reasonable, suitable physical examination to determine whether the applicant can fulfill the physical functions and obligations of the rank to which such person has applied for promotion. Such examination, if required, shall be given during the probationary period after the promotion has been made. I t SECTION 11: A promotion to any rank in service will no e'complete for a period of six 6 months, and the Chief of the Department, or the J1a �r in the event of promotion to O p y Chief of Police or Fire Chief, may reduce in rank arty... ....ted member of the Department during that 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 I likewise be reduced unless the authorized number of positions r lower ranks has been increased. A written notice of such reduction in rank shall be givers by the person making the reduction and such notice shall state the reasons for sucW`ctions; provided that such notice shall not be considered as granting tc('t6e_-'member reduced, a right to trial before the Commission, or appeal there from net` hall the requirements of stating the reasons therefore be consideret as10 require such.reduction to be for good cause. SECTION 12: Advancement in rank or jncreaso In base saWry beyond the limits fixed for the grade by the Commission or,as set by the,Qty Council, shall constitute a promotiom�"Present Police and Fire personnel.who may be drawing pay equivalent to a position higher than their present positionshall not be considered to have been promoted to that higher position SECTI©N3 In:the event an individual:Who series in the position of Chief of Police or Fire Chi6fls remov6d'fr6m that position tij 4h 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 wntten;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 wha fiave 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. ,q. F