SB163ENGROSSED
Page 0
35MYZZ-2
By Senator Williams
RFD: Banking and Insurance
First Read: 04-Apr-23
2023 Regular Session
1
2
3
4
5 SB163 EngrossedSB163 Engrossed
Page 1
SYNOPSIS:
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To authorize any county, municipality, or governmental
entity subject to a countywide civil service system
established by a local law to elect by a majority vote of the
governing body of the county, municipality, or governmental
entity to be exempt from the countywide civil service system
for the recruitment and hiring of all employees; to require
the county, municipality, or governmental entity to adopt a
human resources policy and procedures manual and to notify the
director of the countywide civil service system of its
decision to withdraw from the system for the recruitment and
hiring of employees; and to provide that employees, after a
probationary period, would be merit system employees subject
to all rights and protections under the countywide civil
service system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) For the purposes of this section, the
term "countywide civil service system" means a civil service
system established by a local law that did not require
approval by a referendum and that applies only to a named
county that does not sponsor a retirement plan for its
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28 SB163 EngrossedSB163 Engrossed
Page 2
employees and was not established by a general law of local
application that at the time of its enactment applied only to
a county or counties based on population, certain
municipalities in the county, and any governmental entity in
the county to which the civil service system applies.
(b) Any county, municipality, or governmental entity
subject to a countywide civil service system, by a majority
vote of the county commission, the city or town council, or
the governmental entity, may elect to opt out of the
countywide civil service system for the recruitment, testing,
interviewing, and hiring of all employees.
(c) Any county, municipality, or governmental entity
making the election authorized by subsection (b), prior to the
effective date of the partial withdrawal, shall adopt a human
resources policy and procedures manual, which shall include
personnel policy guidelines; operational standards; employee
management, recruitment, testing, hiring and termination
procedures; equal employment opportunities policies; and
workplace harassment policies to ensure compliance with
applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations.
(d) A county, municipality, or governmental entity
making the election pursuant to this section shall provide
written notice to the director of the countywide civil service
system of its decision to conduct its own recruitment and
hiring outside of the countywide civil service system.
(e) Any employee hired by a county, municipality, or
governmental entity shall immediately become subject to the
countywide civil service system, provided that the employee
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56 SB163 EngrossedSB163 Engrossed
Page 3
shall complete a probationary period of twelve months during
which probationary period the employee shall be an at-will
employee with no property right in his or her position. Upon
satisfactory completion of the probationary period, the
employee shall be subject to all rights and protections
currently provided by the countywide civil service system.
(f) Any county, municipality, or governmental entity
that elects to opt out as provided in this section shall enact
a policy that explicitly prohibits the appointment, promotion,
demotion, or dismissal of an employee from any position which
in any way favors or discriminates against the employee
because of his or her political or religious opinions or
affiliations or because of his or her race or gender or for
any other reason that is prohibited by state or federal law.
Section 2. This act shall become effective immediately
following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its
otherwise becoming law.
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73 SB163 EngrossedSB163 Engrossed
Page 4
Senate
Read for the first time and referred
to the Senate committee on Banking
and Insurance
................04-Apr-23
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
0 amendments
................03-May-23
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 34
Nays 0
Abstains 0
................16-May-23
Patrick Harris,
Secretary.
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94