Section 124.23. Examinations

(A) All applicants for positions and places in the classified service shall be subject to examination, except for applicants for positions as professional or certified service and paraprofessional employees of county boards of developmental disabilities, who shall be hired in the manner provided in section 124.241 of the Revised Code.

(B) Any examination administered under this section shall be public and be open to all citizens of the United States and those persons who have legally declared their intentions of becoming United States citizens. For examinations administered for positions in the service of the state, the director of administrative services or the director's designee may determine certain limitations as to citizenship, age, experience, education, health, habit, and moral character.

(C)

(1) Any person who has completed service in the uniformed services, who has been honorably discharged from the uniformed services or transferred to the reserve with evidence of satisfactory service, and who is a resident of this state and any member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States, including the Ohio national guard, who has completed more than one hundred eighty days of active duty service pursuant to an executive order of the president of the United States or an act of the congress of the United States may file with the director a certificate of service or honorable discharge, and, upon this filing, the person shall receive additional credit of twenty per cent of the person's total grade given in the examination in which the person receives a passing grade. A person who receives an additional credit under division (C)(1) of this section shall not receive an additional credit under division (C)(2) of this section.

(2) A member in good standing of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States, including the Ohio national guard, who successfully completes the member's initial entry-level training shall receive a credit of fifteen per cent of the person's total grade given in the examination in which the person receives a passing grade.

(3) As used in this division, "service in the uniformed services" and "uniformed services" have the same meanings as in the "Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994," 108 Stat. 3149, 38 U.S.C.A. 4303.

(D) An examination may include an evaluation of such factors as education, training, capacity, knowledge, manual dexterity, and physical or psychological fitness. An examination shall consist of one or more tests in any combination. Tests may be written, oral, physical, demonstration of skill, or an evaluation of training and experiences and shall be designed to fairly test the relative capacity of the persons examined to discharge the particular duties of the position for which appointment is sought. Tests may include structured interviews, assessment centers, work simulations, examinations of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and any other acceptable testing methods. If minimum or maximum requirements are established for any examination, they shall be specified in the examination announcement.

(E) Except as otherwise provided in sections 124.01 to 124.64 of the Revised Code, when a position in the classified service of the state is to be filled, an examination shall be administered. The director of administrative services shall have control of all examinations administered for positions in the service of the state and all other examinations the director administers as provided in section 124.07 of the Revised Code, except as otherwise provided in sections 124.01 to 124.64 of the Revised Code. The director shall, by rule adopted under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, prescribe the notification method that is to be used by an appointing authority to notify the director that a position in the classified service of the state is to be filled. In addition to the positions described in section 124.30 of the Revised Code, the director may, with sufficient justification from the appointing authority, allow the appointing authority to fill the position by noncompetitive examination. The director shall establish, by rule adopted under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, standards that the director shall use to determine what serves as sufficient justification from an appointing authority to fill a position by noncompetitive examination.

(F) No questions in any examination shall relate to political or religious opinions or affiliations. No credit for seniority, efficiency, or any other reason shall be added to an applicant's examination grade unless the applicant achieves at least the minimum passing grade on the examination without counting that extra credit.

(G) Except as otherwise provided in sections 124.01 to 124.64 of the Revised Code, the director of administrative services or the director's designee shall give reasonable notice of the time, place, and general scope of every competitive examination for appointment that the director or the director's designee administers for positions in the classified service of the state. The director or the director's designee shall post notices via electronic media of every examination to be conducted for positions in the classified civil service of the state. The electronic notice shall be posted on the director's internet site on the world wide web for a minimum of one week preceding any examination involved.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.138, HB 490, §1, eff. 9/28/2012.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 6/30/2011.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Amended by 128th General Assemblych.9, SB 79, §1, eff. 10/6/2009.

Effective Date: 03-31-2003; 07-01-2007; 2007 HB372 03-24-2008