House File 420 - Enrolled
HOUSE FILE 420
AN ACT
CONCERNING CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONS, DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES,
AND RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 400.1, subsection 1, Code 2009, is
amended to read as follows:
1. In cities having a population of eight thousand or over
and having a paid fire department or a paid police department,
the mayor, one year after a regular city election, with the
approval of the council, shall appoint three civil service
commissioners who. The mayor shall publish notice of the
names of persons selected for appointment no less than thirty
days prior to a vote by the city council. Commissioners shall
hold office, one until the first Monday in April of the second
year, one until the first Monday in April of the third year,
and one until the first Monday in April of the fourth year
after such appointment, whose successors shall be appointed
for a term of four years. In cities having a population of
more than seventy thousand, the city council may establish, by
ordinance, the number of civil service commissioners at not
less than three.
Sec. 2. Section 400.2, Code 2009, is amended to read as
follows:
400.2 QUALIFICATIONS == CONFLICT OF INTEREST PROHIBITED
CONTRACTS.
1. The commissioners must be citizens of Iowa, eligible
electors as defined in chapter 39, and residents of the city
preceding their appointment, and shall serve without
compensation. A person, while on the commission, shall not
hold or be a candidate for any office of public trust.
However, when a human rights commission has been established
by a city, the director of the commission shall ex officio be
a member, without vote, of the civil service commission.
2. Civil service commissioners, with respect to the city
in which they are commissioners, shall not do any of the
following:
a. sell Sell to, or in any manner become parties, directly
or indirectly, to any contract to furnish supplies, material,
or labor to the city in which they are commissioners except as
provided in section 362.5.
b. Have an interest, direct or indirect, in any contract
or job of work or material or the profits thereof or services
to be furnished or performed for the city.
3. A contract entered into in violation of subsection 2 is
void.
4. A violation of this conflict of interest provision the
provisions contained in subsection 2 is a simple misdemeanor.
Sec. 3. Section 400.9, subsection 2, Code 2009, is amended
to read as follows:
2. The commission shall establish guidelines for
conducting the examinations under subsection 1. It may
prepare and administer the examinations or may hire persons
with expertise to do so if the commission approves the
examinations and if the examinations apply to the position in
the city for which the applicant is taking the examination.
It may also hire persons with expertise to consult in the
preparation of such examinations if the persons so hired are
employed to aid personnel of the commission in assuring that a
fair examination is conducted. A fair examination shall
explore the competence of the applicant in the particular
field of examination. The names of persons approved to
administer any examination under this section shall be posted
in the city hall at least twenty=four hours prior to the
examination.
Sec. 4. Section 400.11, unnumbered paragraph 5, Code 2009,
is amended to read as follows:
When there is no such preferred list or certified eligible
list, or when the eligible list shall be exhausted, the person
or body having the appointing power may temporarily fill a
newly created office or other vacancy only until an
examination can be held and the names of qualified persons be
certified by the commission, and such temporary appointments
are hereby limited to ninety days for any one person in the
same vacancy, but such limitation shall not apply to persons
temporarily acting in positions regularly held by another. A
temporary appointment to a position regularly held by another
shall, whenever possible, be made according to the certified
eligible list. Any person temporarily filling a vacancy in a
position of higher grade for twenty days or more, shall
receive the salary paid in such higher grade.
Sec. 5. Section 400.17, unnumbered paragraphs 3 and 4,
Code 2009, are amended to read as follows:
Employees shall not be required to be a resident of the
city in which they are employed, but they shall become a
resident of the state at the time within two years of such
appointment or the date employment begins and shall remain a
resident of the state during the remainder of employment.
Cities However, cities may set a reasonable maximum distances
distance outside of the corporate limits of the city, or a
reasonable maximum travel time, that police officers, fire
fighters, and other critical municipal employees may live from
their place of employment. Each employee residing outside the
state on the date of appointment or on the date employment
begins shall take reasonable steps to become a resident of the
state as soon as practicable following appointment or
beginning of employment.
A person shall not be appointed, denied appointment,
promoted, discharged, or demoted to or from a civil service
position or in any other way favored or discriminated against
in that position because of political or religious opinions or
affiliations, race, national origin, sex, or age, or in
retaliation for the exercise of any right enumerated in this
chapter. However, the maximum age for a police officer or
fire fighter covered by this chapter and employed for police
duty or the duty of fighting fires is sixty=five years of age.
Sec. 6. Section 400.18, Code 2009, is amended to read as
follows:
400.18 REMOVAL, DEMOTION, OR SUSPENSION.
1. No A person holding civil service rights as provided in
this chapter shall not be removed, demoted, or suspended
arbitrarily, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, but
may be removed, demoted, or suspended after a hearing by a
majority vote of the civil service commission, for neglect of
duty, disobedience, misconduct, or failure to properly perform
the person's duties.
2. The party alleging neglect of duty, disobedience,
misconduct, or failure to properly perform a duty shall have
the burden of proof.
3. A person subject to a hearing has the right to be
represented by counsel at the person's expense or by the
person's authorized collective bargaining representative.
Sec. 7. Section 400.26, Code 2009, is amended to read as
follows:
400.26 PUBLIC TRIAL.
The trial of all appeals shall be public, and the parties
may be represented by counsel or by the parties' authorized
collective bargaining representative.
PATRICK J. MURPHY
Speaker of the House
JOHN P. KIBBIE
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 420, Eighty=third General Assembly.
MARK BRANDSGARD
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved , 2009
CHESTER J. CULVER
Governor
-1-