Eliminates the maximum age for taking the civil service examination for appointment as a police officer

3 Co-sponsors

• Tom Libous
• Michael F. Nozzolio
• James L. Seward

BILL NUMBER:S838

Title of bill

An act to amend the civil service law and the executive law, in relation to eliminating the maximum age limitation for appointment as a police officer

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill eliminates the maximum age for taking the civil service examination for appointment as a police officer.

Summary of specific provisions

This bill amends section 58 of the civil service law and section 215 of the executive law to provide that municipalities or state authorities may not restrict the age of police officers, regional state park police or any police force or police department of any county, city, town, village, housing authority, transit authority or police district, including detectives and investigators as they pertain to appointment and eligibility requirements.

Justification

The maximum age requirement for police officers to take the civil service exam was set during a time when the average age life expectancy for males was forty-eight years of age and for females was fifty-one years of age. This statistic is now outdated and therefore the law needs to be changed. Currently, life expectancy in New York is seventy-seven years of age.

Due to restrictions in current law, it is an unfortunate fact that military veterans retiring from the military are excluded from civil service positions as police officers if they are over the age limit. Many are excellent candidates for a law enforcement agency to hire. They could be filling positions and using their expertise and experience of military service to protect civilians in our state. Instead, many returning veterans have trouble finding jobs that use skills and training they gained during service.

Also, many part-time officers with years of experience in a police department are excluded from being promoted to a full-time position or a position of supervision simply because they are not on the "eligible list" of those who were able to take the civil service exam. These part-time employees often do an exemplary job in their positions and have the judgment that only comes from time served on the job. Yet, they are precluded from filling full-time positions due to the state's civil service law age restrictions.

Currently New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia State police Departments and Florida Highway Patrol have no maximum age limits for civil service exams.

This bill does not change the minimum age at which exams may be taken which is twenty-five years of age. However, it does remove the cap of the age of thirty-five years.

Legislative history

2010: S.8453 Referred to Rules

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Immediate.