Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2492 – Tests to determine the eligibility of applicants for entry upon the promotional and competitive employment lists shall be provided, as follows:
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2492
- Appointment: means the designation of a person, by due authority, to become an employee in a position, and his induction into employment in the position. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- Board: means the municipal fire and police civil service board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- Classification plan: means all the classes of positions established for the classified service. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- Classified service: means every appointive office and position of trust or employment in the municipal government which has as its primary duty one of the functions specifically set forth to be included in the classified service by the provisions of this Part; and excludes all elective and appointive offices and positions of trust or employment which have a primary duty specifically set forth to be included in the unclassified service by the provisions of this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- Departmental service: means employment in the public services offered and performed separately by the fire and by the police departments of the municipality. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- Eligible: means a person whose name is on a list. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- list: means a reinstatement employment list, a promotional employment list, a competitive employment list, and a reemployment list. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Position: means any office and employment in the municipal fire and police services, the duties of which call for services to be rendered by one person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:2473
Tests to determine the eligibility of applicants for entry upon the promotional and competitive employment lists shall be provided, as follows:
(1)(a) The board shall provide through the state examiner for promotional or competitive tests. Official notice of examination shall be posted on the bulletin board in each station of the respective department. The notice shall state (i) class of positions for which tests will be given, (ii) whether the tests will be given on a promotional or competitive basis, and (iii) the final date on which applications for admission to the tests will be received. The notice shall be posted for a continuous period of ten days preceding the date for administering the tests.
(b) In addition to the posted notice, public notice for all tests to be given on a competitive basis shall be published during the ten-day period on the state examiner’s website and, if available, the website of the municipality in which such tests are to be held. This notice of examination need not reveal the exact date on which tests shall be administered, but all applicants shall be advised of the date, place, and time to report for an announced test at least five days in advance thereof in any manner the board may prescribe.
(2)(a) For the entrance firefighter and the entrance police officer testing, the state examiner shall publish notice on his website for ten-day notice of the location for where such tests are to be held and the final date on which applications for admission to the test will be received. This notice of examination shall reveal the exact date on which the test shall be administered. However, all applicants shall be advised of the time and place to report for an announced test at least five days in advance in any manner the state examiner may prescribe. The state examiner shall provide for online entrance firefighter and entrance police testing as provided for in this Section by Fiscal Year 2022.
(b) As may be necessary from time to time, the state examiner may call for and administer examinations for the entrance classifications of firefighter, police officer, secretary to the chief, departmental records clerk, jailer, and for the entrance classes for positions of which the operation and maintenance of a radio, alarm, or signal system for the fire or police service is the primary duty. Tests may be administered at the discretion of the state examiner in any municipality, parish, or fire protection district to which this Part applies. Official notification shall not be made to the extent required under Paragraph (1) of this Section; however, public notice shall be published at least four times during a thirty-day period in the official journal of the state of Louisiana and may be posted on the bulletin board in each station of the respective department. This notice of examination need not state the exact date on which tests shall be administered, but all applicants shall be advised of the date, place, and time to report for an announced test at least five days in advance thereof in any manner the state examiner may prescribe.
(3) Each person in a group of candidates being tested at a given time for the same class of employment shall be given the same test, and it shall be administered in the same manner to each candidate. No question shall be framed so as to elicit information concerning the political, factional, or religious opinions or affiliations of any applicant.
(4) All tests shall be restricted to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the candidates to discharge the duties characteristic of positions of the class to which they seek to be appointed. Tests may include written or oral questions, trials in the performance of work characteristic of the class, inquiries into facts relating to education, experience, or accomplishments in specialized lines of endeavor, or any combination of these and other elements duly related to the purposes of the tests.
(5) Seventy-five percent shall constitute a passing score for all tests administered under the provisions of this Part.
(6) Promotional tests for positions in the various classes in the classified service, except those classes in which positions shall be filled only from the competitive list, may be held as the needs of the service require, but must be given at least one time during each successive period of eighteen months.
(7) Competitive tests shall be held only as the needs of the service require and shall be given for classes comprising only the following duties or positions:
(a) Chief of the departmental service.
(b) The entrance or lowest ranking class in the classified service.
(c) The entrance or lowest ranking class in any group of classes where the various classes have been divided into groups by the classification plan.
(d)(i) Operation and maintenance of radio, fire alarm, police alarm, and other signal systems.
(ii) Notwithstanding Item (i) of this Subparagraph, for the city of Shreveport, operations, management, and supervision of radio, fire alarm, police alarm, and other signal systems.
(e) Automotive or fire apparatus mechanics and repairmen.
(f) Secretary to the chief.
(g) Departmental records clerk.
(h) For a position in any class in the classified service after reasonable efforts by preceding methods provided by this Part have failed to produce names of persons eligible for regular appointment thereto.
(8) All tests required by this Part shall be prepared, administered, and scored by the state examiner in accordance with the provisions of this Part. The results of the tests shall be furnished the board for which the tests have been held as soon as practicable after the tests have been administered. All test questions, answers, and papers shall at all times be kept in the custody of the state examiner and shall be produced by him and exhibited by him at the domicile of any board upon its written request.
(9) The board for which any test is administered may, at any time up to six months after receiving the results from the state examiner, receive and review any or all parts of the test and the methods used in its grading, in order to determine whether the test was a fair and reasonable one and was fairly graded. If, after the board reviews any test and consults with the state examiner, it concludes that any item or parts of the test was unfair or unreasonable or finds errors in the grading, it may, at its discretion, cause a regrading of the test and, thereupon, correct or establish the appropriate employment list in accordance with the revised ratings. If the board finds that a fair rating can be determined only from an entire new test, it may cause a new test to be given to all persons taking the previous test and establish a new employment list for the class from the result of such new test.
(10) Each applicant who makes a passing score on a test provided by the board through the state examiner under the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Section shall be advised, in any manner the board prescribes, of his final score and relative standing on the list appropriate for the class for which he was tested.
(11) Each applicant who makes a passing score on a test administered by the state examiner under the provisions of Paragraph (2) of this Section shall be advised, in any manner the state examiner prescribes, of his final score. Except for the positions of entrance firefighter and entrance police officer, such score may be reported and approved by the board under the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 33:2491(I). The original eligibility of an applicant under the provisions of this Paragraph shall be the period of not more than eighteen months after the date on which the signature of the state examiner was affixed to his notification of score.
Acts 2006, No. 493, §2, eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2019, No. 224, §1; Acts 2019, No. 275, §2, eff. June 11, 2019; Acts 2020, No. 38, §1; Acts 2021, No. 51, §1; Acts 2022, No. 322, §2.