Massachusetts. Civil Service Commission

The Civil Service Commission was established in 1884. It was abolished in 1919 and its functions transferred to the Division of Civil Service. It was revived as a separate body in 1939 and reconstituted in the Executive Office for Administration and Finance in 1974.

St 1884, c 320 established a Civil Service Commission consisting of three gubernatorial appointees, to prepare rules for the selection of persons to fill offices in the government of Massachusetts, and, after their approval by governor and council, to supervise the administration of such rules. It was abolished by St 1919, c 350, s 63, and it functions transferred to a commissioner of civil service who headed the Division of Civil Service in the Dept. of Civil Service and Registration (s 64). St 1939, c 238 replaced the commissioner with a director of civil service, who shared supervision of the division with a new Civil Service Commission.

St 1969, c 704, ss 16-17 abolished the Dept. of Civil Service and Registration but retained the Division of Civil Service and Civil Service Commission (within the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (s 8)). St 1974, c 835 (effective July 1975) repealed the previous legislation (s 15), but provided once more for a Civil Service Commission, within but not under the supervisor or control of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (ss 8, 176-177); to it were transferred powers and duties of the Personal Appeals Board, also abolished (s 175)

The functions of the commission are currently described in MGLA c 7, s 4I. The commission (2009) defines its mission thus: The Civil Service Commission is a quasi-judicial agency whose mission is to hear and decide appeals of public employees under the protection of civil service laws by ensuring that employment decisions are based on the relative ability, knowledge, and skills of the public employee, and to ensure that all individuals receive fair and impartial treatment.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE: Series relating to the agency described above can be found by searching the following access point for the time period stated: 1884-present--Massachusetts. Civil Service Commission. Additional access as needed may be provided under: 1919-1975--Massachusetts. Division of Civil Service.