NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8421

Senate Bill S8421

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to the age of eligibility for provisional or permanent appointment of certain police officers

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 29, 2024	referred to civil service and pensions

2023-S8421 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Civil Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §58, Civ Serv L

2023-S8421 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases the age of eligibility for provisional or permanent appointment of certain police officers from thirty-five to forty.

2023-S8421 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8421

SPONSOR: BRESLIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to increasing the age
of eligibility for provisional or permanent appointment of certain
police officers from thirty-five to forty

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To increase the maximum age that a police officer can serve.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends section 58 of the civil service law to raise the
maximum age to allow police officers to serve until they are forty years
old. Section two establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Attracting individuals to fill public service jobs continues to be a
challenge across all positions in local government and law enforcement
is not immune. Over the past three years civil service bureaus and law
enforcement municipalities have witnessed a deep decline in individuals
seeking law enforcement as a career. Out of all the positions in govern-
ment, local law enforcement has an age limit of 35 for an individual to
apply for the opportunity to sit for a civil service exam. This require-
ment does not apply to other physically demanding jobs such as fire-
fighting and public works to name just some examples. The maximum age
for State Police was recently raised by the Governor from 29 to 35 which
resulted in the "highest Trooper candidate processing turnout in over a
decade." This legislation seeks to raise the current maximum age for
local law enforcement from 35 to 40 years old. Law enforcement has
changed dramatically over the past decade with the adoption of community
policing programs and an increased awareness of best practices and a
greater interest in transforming policing. Improved training and certif-
ication programs have provided law enforcement with better approaches to
conflict resolution with the goal of avoiding physical confrontations to
the extent possible, moving away from certain approaches that were
emphasized in the past. There is an enhanced focus on trainings that
cover diversity and implicit bias, best practices for encounters with
disabled people, how to best engage with those who have mental health
disorders, deescalating domestic violence, and more. Law enforcement
training seeks to emphasize placing the proper focus on deescalation
skills to protect the public writ large. Increasing the eligibility age
to 40 years old will grow the pool of potential applicants and engage
those who have what may be the best education for this field, that is
lived experience. Often, we recognize that individuals are more likely
to make mistakes early in their lives and learning from these mistakes
leads to greater maturity and wisdom. Raising the age for individuals to
apply for law enforcement shows that we are looking to attract mature
individuals with life experience to protect the public.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
No fiscal implications.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

2023-S8421 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8421
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 29, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to increasing the age
   of eligibility for provisional or  permanent  appointment  of  certain
   police officers from thirty-five to forty

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 58 of  the  civil
 service  law,  as amended by chapter 244 of the laws of 2013, is amended
 to read as follows:
   (a) he or she is not less than twenty years of age as of the  date  of
 appointment  nor  more  than  [thirty-five] FORTY years of age as of the
 date when the applicant takes the written examination, provided that the
 maximum age requirement of [thirty-five] FORTY years of age as set forth
 in this paragraph shall not apply to eligible lists  finalized  pursuant
 to  an  examination  administered  prior  to  May thirty-first, nineteen
 hundred ninety-nine or a police officer in the  department  of  environ-
 mental conservation, provided, however, that:
   (i)  time spent on military duty or on terminal leave, not exceeding a
 total of six years, shall be subtracted from the age  of  any  applicant
 who  has  passed his or her [thirty-fifth] FORTIETH birthday as provided
 in subdivision ten-a of section two hundred forty-three of the  military
 law;
   (ii)  such  maximum age requirement of [thirty-five] FORTY years shall
 not apply to any police officer as defined in subdivision thirty-four of
 section 1.20  of  the  criminal  procedure  law,  who  was  continuously
 employed  by  the  Buffalo  municipal  housing authority between January
 first, two thousand five and June thirtieth, two thousand five  and  who
 takes  the  next  written  exam offered after the effective date of this
 subparagraph by the city of Buffalo civil service commission for employ-
 ment as a police officer in the city of Buffalo  police  department,  or
 June thirtieth, two thousand six, whichever is later; and
   (iii)  such maximum age requirement of [thirty-five] FORTY years shall
 not apply to any police officer of any county,  town,  city  or  village
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14061-02-4
 S. 8421                             2
 
 police  force not otherwise provided for in this section if the eligible
 list has been exhausted and there  are  no  other  eligible  candidates;
 provided,  however,  the  police  officer themselves are on the eligible
 list  of  such county, town, city or village and meet all other require-
 ments of merit and fitness set forth by this chapter and do  not  exceed
 the maximum age of [thirty-nine] FORTY;
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.