Iowa § 400.11 - 400.11 Names certified — temporary appointment.

§ 400.11. 400.11 Names certified — temporary appointment.

1. a. The commission, within one hundred eighty days after the beginning of each competitive examination for original appointment, shall certify to the city council a list of the names of forty persons, or a lesser number as determined by the commission, who qualify with the highest standing as a result of each examination for the position they seek to fill, or the number which have qualified if less than forty, in the order of their standing, and all newly created offices or other vacancies in positions under civil service which occur before the beginning of the next examination for the positions shall be filled from the lists, or from the preferred list existing if provided for in case of diminution of employees, within thirty days. If a tie occurs in the examination scores which would qualify persons for the last position on the list, the list of the names of the persons who qualify with the highest standing as a result of each examination shall include all persons who qualify for the last position. Preference for temporary service in civil service positions shall be given those on the lists. However, the commission may certify a list of names eligible for appointment subject to successfully completing a medical examination. The medical examination shall be provided pursuant to commission rules adopted under section 400.8. b. The commission may hold in reserve, for original appointments, additional lists of forty persons, each next highest in standing, in order of their grade, or such number as may qualify if less than forty. If the list of up to forty persons provided in the first paragraph is exhausted within one year, the commission may certify such additional lists of up to forty persons each, in order of their standing, to the council as eligible for appointment to fill such vacancies as may exist. 2. a. The commission, within ninety days after the beginning of each competitive examination for promotion, shall certify to the city council a list of names of the ten persons who qualify with the highest standing as a result of each examination for the position the persons seek to fill, or the number which have qualified if less than ten, in the order of their standing and all newly created offices or other vacancies in positions under civil service which occur before the beginning of the next examination for the positions shall be filled from the lists, or from the preferred list existing if provided for in the case of diminution of employees, within thirty days. If a tie occurs in the examination scores which would qualify persons for the tenth position on the list, the list of names of the persons who qualify with the highest standing as a result of each examination shall include all persons who qualify for the tenth position. b. Except where the preferred list exists, persons on the certified eligible list for promotion shall hold preference for promotion for two years following the date of certification, except for certified eligible lists of fire fighters as defined in section 411.1, subsection 11, which lists shall hold preference for three years upon approval of the commission, after which the lists shall be canceled and promotion to the grade shall not be made until a new list has been certified eligible for promotion. 3. When there is no such preferred list or certified eligible list, or when the eligible list shall be exhausted, the person or body having the appointing power may temporarily fill a newly created office or other vacancy only until an examination can be held and the names of qualified persons be certified by the commission, and such temporary appointments are hereby limited to ninety days for any one person in the same vacancy, but such limitation shall not apply to persons temporarily acting in positions regularly held by another. A temporary appointment to a position regularly held by another shall, whenever possible, be made according to the certified eligible list. Any person temporarily filling a vacancy in a position of higher grade for twenty days or more, shall receive the salary paid in such higher grade. [SS15, §1056-a32; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §5698; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §365.11; C75, 77, 79, 81, §400.11] 83 Acts, ch 62, §1; 89 Acts, ch 187, §3; 93 Acts, ch 147, §3; 94 Acts, ch 1071, §2; 97 Acts, ch 162, §6, 7; 2009 Acts, ch 111, §4; 2019 Acts, ch 59, §116, 117 Referred to in §400.10, 400.12A Fri Dec 12 20:13:10 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 400.11 (23, 0)