Rule change to speed up LR’s civil-servant appeals

Little Rock police officers and firefighters appealing a suspension or termination will see quicker action on their appeals after a change in Civil Service Commission policy early Tuesday morning.

In a brief discussion and public forum that no members of the public attended, the five members at the meeting voted unanimously to adopt changes in rules and regulations that will allow it to meet and to hear appeals with only four of its seven members present.

Assistant city attorney Bill Mann said the change was necessary to be in compliance with changes to Arkansas Code Annotated 14-51-208 that went into effect last summer and states that any majority of a civil-service commission constitutes a quorum for any business or hearing. Until the change, it took five members to constitute a quorum.

“It will help get hearings scheduled,” Mann said. “When you only have to have four there, we’ve had problems getting a quorum from time to time so four is a little bit easier.”

As of now, there are several suspensions and firings awaiting appeal, including one from 2011, and the chairman of the commission, James Hudson, said the new changes will promote “efficiency.”

But an officer or firefighter facing appeal with only four commission members will have to get a unanimous decision if he wants to overturn or lessen the disciplinary action.

State law requires a majority decision by the commission. If only the bare majority shows up for the hearing, one dissenting vote renders the hearing moot and results in a deferral to the city’s disciplinary decision .

Mann said it’s a natural implication of the change in state law and points out that, in the instances where a commission only has four members for an appeal, an employee still can appeal the administration’s decision in circuit court.

Hudson said the changes will benefit the city as well as employees seeking an appeal because it will fast-track the process.

In the past, a split decision that didn’t result in a majority of four commissioners often led to a retrial of the appeal before the commission.

Now, the employee would have the option of taking it to court.