Section 9.22
Subd 1. CREATION. There is hereby created a Civil Service Commission of three members, who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of a majority of the City Council, to be known as the Police Civil Service Commission. (historical)
Subd 2. MEMBERSHIP. When first created, one Commissioner shall be appointed for one year who shall be President of the Commission, one for two years, and one for three years. Each Commissioner shall hold his office until his successor is duly appointed and qualified. There shall, thereafter, be one member of the Commission appointed by the City Council in January of each year for a term of three years, and each member shall, during the last year of his term, be President of the Commission. No Commissioner shall, at the time of appointment or while serving, hold any elected office under the City of Tracy, the United States, the State of Minnesota, or any public corporation or political division thereof, or employment under the City of Tracy, or employment under a police department of any city, other than as a member of a civil service commission for firefighters or other municipal personnel. Each Commissioner before entering upon his duties, shall subscribe and file with the City Administrator an oath for the faithful discharge of his duties.
Subd 3. ADVISORY MEMBER. The City Administrator shall serve as an advisory member of the Police Civil Service Commission.
Subd 4. MEETINGS. The Commission shall first meet immediately after its appointment and thereafter on the first Monday in February each year at which meetings it shall select from its members a secretary who shall serve until a successor is elected. The Commission shall also from time to time fix the times of its meetings and adopt, amend, and alter rules for its procedure.
Subd 5. EXPENSES OF COMMISSION WHO SERVE WITHOUT PAY. Each Commissioner shall serve without pay but the Council may allow the secretary such compensation, not exceeding an amount in accordance with the yearly rate set by an annual resolution per year, as it shall deem commensurate with the additional service rendered. The Council shall pay from the municipal treasury all expenses incurred by the Commission in connection with the performance of its duties and furnish it with all supplies, stationery, and equipment it may require, but all bills and accounts shall be audited and approved by the president and secretary of the Commission before being paid by the Council.
Subd 6. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. The Commission shall have absolute control and supervision over the employment, promotion, discharge, and suspension of all officers and employees of the police department of such City and these powers shall extend to and include all members of the police department. The Commission may not, however, prescribe any residency requirements for the positions under its control, unless approved by the City Council. The Commission shall, immediately after its appointment and organization, grade and classify all of the employees of the police department of the City and a service register shall be prepared for the purpose, in which shall be entered, in their classes, the names, ages, compensation, period of past employment and such other facts and data with reference to each employee as the Commission may deem useful. The Commission shall keep a second register to be known as the application register in which shall be entered the names and addresses, in the order of the date of application, of all applicants for examination and the offices or employments they seek. All applications shall be upon forms prescribed by the Commission and contain such data and information as the Commission deems necessary and useful.
Subd 7. RULES FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT. The Commission shall, immediately after its appointment and from time to time thereafter, adopt, amend alter, and change rules to promote efficiency in the Police Department Service and carry out the purpose of Minnesota Statute Chapter 419 and which shall provide, among other things, the provisions of Minnesota Statute 419.06. Copies of such rules must be kept posted in a conspicuous place at each police station house and no rules of general application with reference to employment, promotion, discharge, or suspension are effective until posted.
Subd 8. PEACE OFFICERS, OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES DISCHARGED ONLY AFTER HEARING. No officer or employee other than a peace officer, after six months' continuous employment shall be removed or discharged except for cause upon written charges and after an opportunity to be heard in defense of the charges as in this chapter hereinafter provided. No newly appointed peace officer after satisfactory completion of the basic peace officers training course pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 626.843 to 626.852 and after a period of no longer that 12 months continuous employment thereafter, shall be removed or discharged except for cause upon written charges and after an opportunity to be heard in defense of the charges as in this chapter hereinafter provided. Such charges shall be investigated by or before such Civil Service Commission. The finding and decision of such Commission shall be forthwith certified to the Chief or other appointed or superior officer, and will be forthwith enforced by such officer. Nothing in this chapter shall limit the power of any officer to suspend a subordinate for a reasonable period not exceeding 60 days for the purpose of discipline, or pending investigation of charges when the officer deems such suspension advisable.
Subd 9. EXAMINATIONS. All examinations shall be impartial, fair, and practical and designed only to test the relative qualifications and fitness of applicants to discharge the duties of the particular employment which they seek to fill. No question in any examination shall relate to the political or religious convictions or affiliations of the applicant. All applicants for positions of trust and responsibility shall be specially examined as to moral character, sobriety, and integrity, and all applicants for position requiring special experience, skill, or faithfulness shall be specially examined in respect to those qualities. It shall be the duty of the chief of police department and every employee to act as an examiner or assistant examiner, at the request of the Commission, without special compensation therefor. The members of the Commission collectively or individually may act as examiners or assistant examiners.
Subd 10. NOTICE OF EXAMINATIONS. Notice of the time, place and scope of each examination shall be given by publication and posting as specified in Minnesota Statute 419.06, and by mailing such notice to each applicant upon the appropriate list of the application register ten days in advance. The names of those found eligible upon examination, after giving credit for character and previous successful experience, shall be entered with their address and percentages on the eligible register. No name shall remain upon the eligible register more than two years without a new application, and, if the rules of the Commission so require, a new examination. When a vacancy has been filled or new appointment made, the names selected shall be stricken from the register and transferred to the service register.
Subd 11. CHARGES FILED WITH SECRETARY OF COMMISSION. Charges of inefficiency or misconduct against any peace office, officer or employee may be filed with the secretary of the Commission by a superior officer, City Clerk/Administrator or by the appointing authority, and thereupon the Commission shall try the charges after no less than ten days' written notice to the accused. Such notice shall set forth the charges as filed. The trial of these charges shall be open to the public and each Commissioner shall have the power to issue subpoenas and to administer oaths and to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books and papers relevant to the investigation. The Commission shall require by subpoena the attendance of any witness requested by the accused who can be found in the county in which such city is located. The Commission may make complaint to the district court of disobedience of its subpoenas or orders under this Subdivision, and the court shall prescribe notice to the person accused and require the accused person to obey the Commission's subpoena and order, if found within the lawful powers of the Commission, and punish disobedience as a contempt of court. Witnesses shall be entitled to the same fees and mileage as for attendance upon the district court, except that any officer, agent, or employee of the City who receives compensation for services, shall not be entitled to fees or mileage.
Subd 12. SUSPENSION AND REMOVAL; REINSTATEMENT. An employee who, after investigation and trial by Civil Service Commission, is found guilty of inefficiency, breach of duty, or misconduct, may be removed, reduced, or suspended. The employee's name also may be stricken from the service register. If the Commission determines that the charges are not sustained, the accused, if suspended pending investigation, shall be immediately reinstated and shall be paid all back pay due for the period of suspension.
Findings, determinations, and orders of the Commission for suspension, reduction, or removal, shall be in writing and shall be filed within three days after the completion of the hearing with the secretary of the Commission. The secretary shall notify the employee of the decision in writing. Any person suspended, reduced, or removed by the Commission after investigation may appeal in accordance with Minnesota Statutes Chapter 14.
The question to be determined by the court shall be: "Upon the evidence, was the order of the Commission reasonable?"
Subd 13. CERTAIN ACTS A MISDEMEANOR. An applicant for examination, appointment or promotion in the police department service of the City of Tracy who shall, either directly or indirectly, give, render, or pay or promise to give, render, or pay any money, service or other thing to any person, for or on account of or in connection with the applicant's examination, appointment or proposed appointment or promotion shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall also be subject to suspension or removal. Any officer or employee of the police department, when operating under civil service in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, who shall in any manner directly or indirectly solicit, receive, or pay, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting, receiving, or paying, any assessment, subscription or contribution for any party or political purpose, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to suspension or removal.
Any person who shall solicit or receive directly or indirectly, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting or receiving any assessment, contribution, or payment for any political purpose whatever from any officer or employee in a police department operated under civil service as in this Ordinance provided for, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
ORDINANCE HISTORY
ORDINANCE NO. 359 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE SECTION 9.22 SUBD 5 – CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MAY 22, 2017