Expedited Bill No. 10 -15
Concerning: Personnel – Veteran Hiring Preference – Public Safety Position
Revised: April 2, 2015 Draft No. 4
Introduced: March 3, 2015
Enacted: April 14, 2015
Executive: April 22, 2015
Effective: April 22, 2015
Sunset Date: None
Ch. 23 , Laws of Mont. Co. 2015
County Council
For Montgomery County, Maryland
By: Council President at the Request of the County Executive and Councilmember Katz
AN EXPEDITED ACT to:
(1) establish a hiring preference for a qualified veteran or a veteran with a disability who applies for a uniformed public safety position;
(2) require the Executive to adopt regulations implementing this hiring preference; and
(3) generally amend the merit system law governing competitive hiring for merit system positions.
By amending
Montgomery County Code
Chapter 33, Personnel and Human Resources
Sections 33-7
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The County Council for Montgomery County, Maryland approves the following Act
Sec. 1. Sections 33-7 is amended as follows:
33-7. County Executive and Merit System Protection Board responsibilities
* * *
(d) Hiring persons with disabilities.
* * *
(3) Competitive appointment.
(A) Except as provided in Subsection (e), [The] the regulation must establish and maintain a preference [for the initial appointment of a qualified person with a disability into a merit system position] under the following order of preference:
(i) an employee who is unable to perform the employee’s job because of a disability or injury under the ADA;
(ii) an employee subject to reduction-in-force;
(iii) an employee who was granted a temporary disability retirement under the Employees Retirement System or an initial or temporary disability benefit of any type under the Retirement Savings Plan or the Guaranteed Retirement Income Plan but is no longer eligible for such a temporary disability retirement or benefit;
(iv) a veteran with a disability;
(v) an equal preference for a veteran without a disability and a non- veteran with a disability.
(B) This regulation must only apply the preference in Subparagraphs (A)(iv) and (A)(v) [to] for the initial appointment of a qualified [a] person to a merit system position who is among the highest rating category in a normal competitive process.
* * *
(e) Hiring Veterans for Uniformed Public Safety Positions.
(1) Findings.
(A) Veterans, particularly those returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffer from a high unemployment rate.
(B) The skills and experience gained by veterans while in the military are helpful assets for serving in uniformed public safety positions.
(2) Regulation. The Executive must establish by personnel regulation, under Method (1), standards for a hiring preference point system for the initial appointment of a qualified veteran who applies for a merit uniformed public safety position in a normal competitive process. These standards must:
(A) define a veteran as a person who was honorably discharged or released from a branch of the United States armed services after at least 180 days of active military duty other than for training;
(B) define a veteran with a disability as a veteran rated by the Department of Veterans Affairs with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more;
(C) define a uniformed public safety position as a:
(i) police officer;
(ii) fire fighter/rescuer; or
(iii) [[deputy sheriff; or
(iv)]] correctional officer; and
(D) give preference points for a veteran and additional preference points for a veteran with a disability.
[(e)] (f) * * *
[(f)] (g) * * *
[(g)] (h) * * *
[(h)] (i) * * *
[(i)] (j) * * *
Sec. 2. Short Title
This Act may be cited as the “Veterans in Public Safety Employment Act.”
Sec. 3. Effective Date.
The Council declares that this legislation is necessary for the immediate protection of the public interest. This Act takes effect on the date on which it becomes law.
Approved: