Honorable Garrick L. Stotser
No. 2018-36
Alabama Attorney General Opinion
State of Alabama Office of the Attorney General
June 15, 2018
Honorable
Garrick L. Stotser
City
Attorney, City of Trussville
1780
Gadsden Highway
Birmingham,
Alabama 35235
Municipalities
- Civil Service System - Personnel Boards - Municipal
Employees - Jefferson County
The
City of Trussville is not subject to the Civil Service System
of Jefferson County and has the implied power to establish
its own civil service system for all municipal employees, but
is statutorily required to have a civil service system for
its law enforcement officers.
If the
city creates a new civil service system for its employees,
employees with vested rights under the Civil Service System
of Jefferson County must have those rights continued under
the new system and administered in a way that does not take
away those vested rights. The determination of what rights
are vested requires a factual determination for each
employee.
Dear
Mr. Stotser:
This
opinion of the Attorney General is issued in response to your
request on behalf of the City of Trussville.
QUESTION
(1) Did
the City of Trussville cease to be governed by the Civil
Service System of Jefferson County when it annexed land in
St. Clair County such that the city's corporate limits
ceased to lie wholly within Jefferson County, and thus the
city is now free to form its own civil service system?
FACTS
AND ANALYSIS
Your
request states as follows:
1. The
City of Trussville is a municipality incorporated under the
laws of the State of Alabama and has historically filled
vacancies in its work force through the Personnel Board of
Jefferson County and has participated in the Personnel
Board's civil service merit system.
2.
According to the most recent federal decennial census, the
city has a population of approximately 20,000 inhabitants
within its corporate limits.
3. The
corporate limits do not lie wholly within Jefferson County
because of prior annexations. In 1992 the limits extended
into St. Clair County due to annexation. Subsequently, two
additional annexations into St. Clair County occurred in 2004
and more recently.
4.
Following these annexations, the city did not adopt a
resolution electing to come under the provisions of the
Personnel Board of Jefferson County; therefore, the city
could...
