§ 54. Age requirements. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, except as herein provided, neither the state civil service
department nor the state civil service commission, nor any municipal
civil service commission shall prohibit, prevent, disqualify, or
discriminate against, any person who is physically and mentally
qualified, from participating in a civil service examination or from
qualifying for a position in the classified civil service, or penalize
any such person in a final rating by reason of his or her age; and any
such rule, requirement, resolution, regulation or penalization shall be
void. Nothing herein contained, however, shall prevent the adoption of
reasonable minimum or maximum age requirements for open competitive
examinations for positions where it is determined by the department and
approved by the commission that such age requirements would be
reasonable minimum qualification for such position. Minimum age
requirements shall in no case prohibit an applicant who is within six
months of the minimum age requirement from taking any competitive
examination. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the
disqualification, on account of age, of any applicant for a position who
has reached the mandatory retirement age applicable by law to such
position.