# Department Becoming Civil Service - Residency concern



## humm88 (Feb 20, 2009)

Hi! Our department is trying to go civil service and I have a concern about residency. I don't live within the mileage for civil service - not even close (10 miles). My Chief says I need to have it written into legislation that I am grandfathered in. Our union is still working out all the particulars but I was wondering if anyone else had any experience going from non-civil service to civil service. We are also trying to figure out if people will hold their rank without have to take an exam. 

Thanks for any links, advise, etc. that I could pass on!


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2009)

Not sure if it helps you, but it's actually 15 miles as the crow flies, from the closest two points of the city/town;

http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/41-99a.htm

If you look at a map, that gives a pretty wide radius. Other than that, the only thing I can tell you is that I've never seen or even heard of that law being enforced.


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## Nighttrain (Dec 10, 2004)

15 miles in a straight line is a far greater distance than 10 road miles. You should be good to go. There are free online programs that will calculate "air distance" between two points. Used it myslef when I was considering buying a new house.


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## Johnny Law (Aug 8, 2008)

I would think if you have a house wherever when you are employed at your PD, and then your PD goes civil service, your automatically grandfathered? Who is pushing for the civil service? Your Union or your chief? If it's the chief, he should be doing the grandfathering, both of residency and of rank.

We jumped out of civil service a few years ago, never heard it go the other way.


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## humm88 (Feb 20, 2009)

Thanks for the responses. I am actually 17 miles as the crow flys. A coworker spoke to civil service yesterday and they stated everything can be grandfathed in - as long as we write it up that way. Can I ask why you got out? We (cops) are doing the civil service thing. We have a few reasons why but I would be interested in why someone would get out (maybe job applicants?)Thanks again!


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## Johnny Law (Aug 8, 2008)

Either it really was hampering the hiring process or the chief says it was and we were not getting great applicants. We stayed grandfathered under civil service, however we hold testing every year and new hires are not Civil Service. At the time we jumped out, Civil Service was losing more departments than they were getting. Not sure if it still is that way.


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## csauce777 (Jan 10, 2005)

My department tried to switch from Non to Civil Service a couple of years ago. I believe they put it on the town meeting warrant and it was voted down by the town meeting voters.


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## OfficerObie59 (Sep 14, 2007)

I thought the 15 miles applied regardless of civil service status, and overrode the 10 mile CS requirement do to the way the latter one was worded.

I guess I missed this thread--there was another similar paralell discussion regarding the differences.
http://www.masscops.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71199

And remember, as Delta said, it's 15 miles as the crow flies *from the closest boundary of the two towns*. Take a town like Plymouth that's 16 miles long from north to south. Say you live right on the southern boundary of the town at the Wareham line, you could still take a job in Weymouth because the northern boundary of Plymouth is within 15 miles of Weymouth--though you actually live over 30 miles from work.

I've only seen this enforced once--on someone the dept. wanted to get rid of.



humm88 said:


> A coworker spoke to civil service yesterday and they stated everything can be grandfathed in - as long as we write it up that way.


By this "write-up", you mean submitting special legislation to your state rep, right? If I'm not mistaken, you can write it up in your CBA however you want, but I don't think you can override an MGL.


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