New Jersey § 40a:14-123

§ 40a:14-123.

a. In any municipality of this State, before any person shall be appointed as a member

of the police department and force, the appointing authority may classify all the

duly qualified applicants for the position or positions to be filled in the following

classes: I. Residents of the municipality. II. Other residents of the county in which the municipality is situate. III. Other residents of the State. IV. All other qualified applicants. Within each such classification duly qualified applicants who are veterans shall be

accorded all such veterans' preferences as are provided by law. Persons discharged from the service within 6 months prior to making application

to such municipality who fulfill the requirements of N.J.S.40A:14-123.1 , and who, thereby, are entitled to appointment notwithstanding their failure to meet

the New Jersey residency requirement at the time of their initial application, shall

be placed in Class III. Preference in appointment second to that accorded to veterans pursuant to current

law but superseding that accorded non-veterans shall be accorded all duly qualified

applicants whose natural or adoptive parent was killed in the lawful discharge of

official duties while serving as a law enforcement officer in any law enforcement

agency in the State at any time prior to the closing date for the filing of an application,

provided that required documentation is submitted with the application by the closing

date. This paragraph shall not, however, be applicable if the municipality has entered

into a consent decree with the United States Department of Justice concerning the

hiring practices of the municipality. When a veteran and a non-veteran whose parent was killed in the lawful discharge of

official duties while serving as a law enforcement officer in any law enforcement

agency in the State are duly qualified applicants for a position, first preference

shall be given to the veteran. As used in this section, “ law enforcement officer ” means any person who is employed as a permanent full-time member of an enforcement

agency, who is statutorily empowered to act for the detection, investigation, arrest

and conviction of persons violating the criminal laws of this State and statutorily

required to successfully complete a training course approved, or certified as being

substantially equivalent to such an approved course, by the Police Training Commission

pursuant to P.L.1961, c. 56 ( C.52:17B-66 et seq. ); and “ law enforcement agency ” means a department, division, bureau, commission, board or other authority of the

State or of any political subdivision thereof which has by statute or ordinance the

responsibility of detecting and enforcing the general criminal laws of this State. b. In any municipality which classifies qualified applicants pursuant to subsection

a. of this section, the appointing authority shall first appoint all those in Class

I and then those in each succeeding class in the order above listed, and shall appoint

a person or persons in any such class only to a vacancy or vacancies remaining after

all qualified applicants in the preceding class or classes have been appointed or

have declined an offer of appointment. c. In any such municipality operating under the provisions of Title 11A of the New

Jersey Statutes, the classes of qualified applicants defined in subsection a. of this

section shall be considered as separate and successive lists of eligibles, and the Civil Service Commission shall, when requested to certify eligibles for positions specified in this section,

make such certifications from said classes separately and successively, and shall

certify no persons from any such class until all persons in the preceding class or

classes have been appointed or have declined offers of appointment. d. This section shall apply only to initial appointments and not to promotional appointments

of persons already members of the police department. e. In making temporary appointments the appointing authority may utilize the classifications

set forth in subsection a. of this section, and shall classify accordingly all duly

qualified applicants for the positions to be temporarily filled.