House Bill 428

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE TIME-LIMITED STATE EMPLOYEES IN THE STATE SERVICE; TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-155, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 25-9-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-9-107. The following terms, when used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, * * * have the following meanings:

(a) "Board" means the State Personnel Board created under the provisions of this chapter.

(b) "State service" means all employees of state departments, agencies and institutions as defined in this section, except those officers and employees excluded by this chapter.

(c) "Nonstate service" means the following officers and employees excluded from the state service by this chapter. The following are excluded from the state service:

(i) Members of the State Legislature, their staffs and other employees of the legislative branch;

(ii) The Governor and staff members of the immediate Office of the Governor;

(iii) Justices and judges of the judicial branch or members of appeals boards on a per diem basis;

(iv) The Lieutenant Governor, staff members of the immediate Office of the Lieutenant Governor and officers and employees directly appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(v) Officers and officials elected by popular vote and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;

(vi) Members of boards and commissioners appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or the State Legislature;

(vii) All academic officials, members of the teaching staffs and employees of the state institutions of higher learning, the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, and community and junior colleges;

(viii) Officers and enlisted members of the National Guard of the state;

(ix) Prisoners, inmates, student or patient help working in or about institutions;

(x) Contract personnel; however, * * * any agency that employs state service employees may enter into contracts for personal and professional services only if the contracts are approved in compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Personal Service Contract Review Board under Section 25-9-120(3). Before paying any warrant for those contractual services in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), the State Fiscal Officer shall determine whether the contract involved was for personal or professional services, and, if so, was approved by the State Personal Service Contract Review Board;

(xi) Part-time employees; provided, however, part-time employees shall only be hired into authorized employment positions classified by the board, shall meet minimum qualifications as set by the board, and shall be paid in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan as certified by the board;

(xii) Persons appointed on an emergency basis for the duration of the emergency; the effective date of the emergency appointments shall not be earlier than the date approved by the State Personnel Director, and shall be limited to thirty (30) working days. Emergency appointments may be extended to sixty (60) working days by the State Personnel Board;

(xiii) Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, nurse practitioners and attorneys, while serving in their professional capacities in authorized employment positions who are required by statute to be licensed, registered or otherwise certified as such, provided that the State Personnel Director shall verify that the statutory qualifications are met before issuance of a payroll warrant by the State Fiscal Officer;

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(xiv) The administrative head who is in charge of any state department, agency, institution, board or commission, in which the statute specifically authorizes the Governor, board, commission or other authority to appoint the administrative head; provided, however, * * * the salary of the administrative head shall be determined by the State Personnel Board in accordance with the Variable Compensation Plan unless otherwise fixed by statute;

(xv) The State Personnel Board shall exclude top level positions if the incumbents determine and publicly advocate substantive program policy and report directly to the agency head, or the incumbents are required to maintain a direct confidential working relationship with a key excluded official. A written job classification shall be approved by the board for each such position, and positions so excluded shall be paid in conformity with the Variable Compensation Plan;

(xvi) Employees whose employment is solely in connection with an agency's contract to produce, store or transport goods, and whose compensation is derived therefrom;

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(xvii) The associate director, deputy directors and bureau directors within the Department of Agriculture and Commerce;

(xviii) Personnel employed by the Mississippi Industries for the Blind; provided, that any agency may enter into contracts for the personal services of MIB employees without the prior approval of the State Personnel Board or the State Personal Service Contract Review Board; however, any agency contracting for the personal services of an MIB employee shall provide the MIB employee with not less than the entry level compensation and benefits that the agency would provide to a full-time employee of the agency who performs the same services;

(xix) Personnel employed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks as law enforcement trainees (cadets); such personnel shall be paid in accordance with the Colonel Guy Groff State Variable Compensation Plan.

(d) "Agency" means any state board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof created by the Constitution or statutes if the board, commission, committee, council, department, unit or the head thereof, is authorized to appoint subordinate staff by the Constitution or statute, except a legislative or judicial board, commission, committee, council, department or unit thereof.

SECTION 2. Section 25-9-155, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-9-155. The State Personnel Board shall grant part-time employees, as defined in Section 25-9-107(c)(xi), who are fully qualified, * * * and all other nonstate service employees, who are fully qualified, preference over general public applicants for state service positions in the same manner that preference is given to employees in the state service, as defined in Section 25-9-107(b), for appointment in the state service.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.