(a) Purpose and Intent. This section is adopted pursuant to Ohio R.C. 737.16 for the purpose of providing for competitive examinations to ascertain the merit and fitness of applicants for appointment and promotion in the Police Department. This section authorizes Council to establish criteria for age, residency and other requirements for such appointments and promotions. (1974 Code § 35.01)
(b) Compliance Required. No person shall be appointed or promoted in the Police Department in any manner or by any means other than those prescribed in this section, excepting, however, the Village Marshal (Chief of Police). (1974 Code § 35.02)
(c) Competitive Examinations.
(1) When there is a vacancy, or a vacancy appears imminent, in any rank in the Police Department, the Mayor, with the approval of Council, shall select an outside agency to conduct a competitive examination for all applicants for the position to be filled. Such examinations shall be practical in character, shall be written or written and oral, and shall relate directly to those matters which fairly test the capacity of the person examined to discharge the particular duties of the position for which the appointment is to be made. Reasonable notice of the time, place and general scope of the competitive examination for appointment or promotion shall be given by the Mayor. Such notice shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in the Village Hall and in the Police Department at least two weeks prior to the examination.
(2) Prior to taking the competitive examination for a new applicant to the Police Department, an applicant shall take and pass an examination which fairly tests the ability of the person examined to physically perform the particular duties of the position for which the appointment is to be made. Prior to appointment to a vacancy in the Police Department, an applicant shall take and pass an examination which fairly tests the ability of the person examined to mentally perform the duties of the position for which the appointment is to be made. A medical officer shall establish the mental standards for qualification and shall be the sole judge as to whether or not an applicant meets these standards.
(3) If there is only one applicant for a promotion in the Police Department, the written examination shall be dispensed with and the applicant shall be appointed to the position to be filled, if otherwise qualified.
(1974 Code § 35.03)
(d) Applications.
(1) Each applicant seeking a promotion in the Police Department shall file with the Mayor, within the period allowed in the announcement, a formal application in which the applicant shall state under oath or affirmation as follows:
A. His or her full name, residence and post office address;
B. His or her age, place of birth and date of birth;
C. His or her business employment and residence for the previous five years; and
D. Such other information as may reasonably be required pertaining to the applicant's fitness for the position sought.
Any downloads of documents after closing, the candidate does not receive credit for bonus and disqualifies candidate if required documentation.
(2) The Mayor, with the approval of Council, may refuse to allow an applicant to be examined, or, after an examination, refuse to consider an applicant for the position, who is found to lack any of the established preliminary requirements for the examination; who is physically so disabled as to be unfit for the performance of the duties of the position to be filled; who is addicted to the habitual use of intoxicating liquor or drugs to excess; who has been convicted of a felony; who has been guilty of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct; who has been dismissed from any public position for delinquency or misconduct; or who has made false statements of any material fact or practiced or attempted to practice any deception of fraud in the applicant's application or in the applicant's examination in establishing the applicant's eligibility or securing the applicant's appointment.
(3) No person shall be eligible to take an examination for an original appointment as a police officer unless he or she is at least twenty-one years of age, but not more than thirty-five years of age at the time of the examination, however, there is a five year extension (forty years of age maximum) granted for applicants who have service credit verified in one of the three qualified Ohio law enforcement pension systems OP&F, PERS-LE, and/or HPRS), a high school graduate, a natural born or naturalized citizen of the United States. (1974 Code §35.04)
(e) Eligible Lists and Preferences.
(1) From the returns of the examination, the examiners shall prepare an eligible list of the persons who have passed the examination and are regarded as eligible for the position, and such persons shall be ranked upon the list as candidates in the order of their relative excellence as determined by the examination. In the event two or more applicants receive the same mark on a promotional examination, seniority shall determine the order in which their names shall be placed on the eligible list. For promotions, the term of eligibility on promotion list shall be two years. For initial appointment to the police department, an eligibility list expires upon the filling or closing of the position(s). An expired eligible list may be used to fill a position of the same classification within the same appointing authority for which the list was created. In no event shall an expired list be used more than one year past its expiration date. Such list shall be published by posting at the Village Hall and a copy shall be furnished to the Clerk/Treasurer, as well as the appointing authority.
(2) The first ten candidates on the eligibility list shall then be given an interview by the appointing authority. The appointing authority may then appoint one of the first ten candidates from the eligibility list.
Should a candidate refuse, for any reason, to accept appointment to the Police Department when first offered such an appointment by the Mayor, said candidate's name shall be removed from the eligible list and said candidate shall be ineligible to be reinstated on said list. After the expiration of said eligible list, the candidate shall be eligible to reapply to take the competitive examination for initial appointment in the Police Department.
(3) Upon being passed over for the third time, an applicant's name shall be dropped from the list, but he or she may re-apply at a later date. An eligibility list shall expire two years after its first date of publication.
(4) In the case of promotional examinations, an additional credit of one-half point per year shall be allowed for seniority from five to twenty-five years of service, with a maximum credit allowable of ten points.
(5) An additional credit of four percent shall be given to all applicants for initial appointment for military service in the United States Armed Forces, upon presentation of an honorable discharge form from such service. No document other than an honorable discharge form shall be regarded as proof of such service entitling the applicant to the four percent credit. The military credit shall not be added unless a passing grade is obtained. (1974 Code § 35.05)
(f) Qualifications of New Members.
(1) Any member receiving an initial appointment as a member of the Police Department shall be a citizen of the United States and, if a naturalized citizen, the applicant shall submit his or her Naturalization Certificate.
(2) An appointee to the Police Department shall be no less than twenty-one years of age when placed on the eligible list. He or she shall be a high school graduate and shall submit to the Mayor a complete report of a physical examination to be made by the Village Medical Officer pursuant to subsection (c) hereof, which report shall show the applicant to be physically and mentally fit to perform his or her duties as a member of the Police Department . (1974 Code §35.06)
(g) Vacancies; Eligibility for Promotions. In the case of a vacancy in the supervisory ranks in the Police Department, the officer taking the test for such position must have at least five or more continuous years of service at the time of taking the examination. (1974 Code §35.07)
(h) Probationary Periods. All initial appointments to any position in the Police Department, with the exception of the Police Chief, shall be for a probationary period of one year, and all promotional appointments shall be for a probationary period of six months. No initial appointment or promotion shall be deemed final until the appointee has satisfactorily served the probationary period. At the end of the probationary period, the Chief of Police shall transmit to the Mayor a record of the employee's service, together with a recommendation as to whether or not the employee has satisfactorily served the probationary period. If such service is satisfactory, the appointee shall continue in his or her rank. If, at the end of the probationary period, the appointee's service is deemed unsatisfactory by the Mayor, the appointee shall be terminated from the Police Department if the appointee had received an initial appointment in the Police Department, or the appointee shall be reduced to the rank held at the time he or she was appointed to the higher rank if the appointee received a promotional appointment. In all cases of unsatisfactory probationary periods, the Mayor shall furnish the employee with written notice of an unsatisfactory probation and a statement of the basis for such finding. (1974 Code §35.08)
(Ord. 59-2014. Passed 7-1-14; Ord. 82-2018. Passed 11-7-18; Ord. 51-2020. Passed 9-1-20.)