# Minnesota Civil Service Department *Former Minnesota state agency (1939–1973) that served as the central personnel agency for the state's classified civil service.* The Minnesota Civil Service Department was the state's central personnel agency from 1939 to 1973. The Legislative Reference Library of the [[Minnesota Legislature]] records that it recruited, examined and certified personnel for the classified service, analyzed and classified state jobs, determined pay rates, and kept central personnel records.[^1] The department was created by Chapter 441 of the 1939 session laws (H. F. No. 601). The act's title describes it as creating a department of Civil Service and regulating the civil service of the state.[^2] The library records that the bill became law on April 22, 1939, after favorable action by both houses and signature by the [[governor]].[^1] The act described its design in terms of merit. It created a three-member board appointed "without regard to party affiliation,"[^3] a director chosen by open competitive examination,[^4] and a classified service to be filled from eligible lists according to merit and fitness.[^5] Its operative sections also did three other things. They gave incumbents with five years of state service civil service status without examination. They exempted a list of offices from classification. They allowed appointments under prior law, outside the act, until eligible lists existed.[^6] Governor Harold E. Stassen's third inaugural message, delivered January 6, 1943, listed the complete civil service system among the reorganization measures of the preceding four years.[^7] In 1973, Chapter 507 transferred all powers and duties of the director of civil service and the civil service board to the department of personnel.[^1] ## Who Section 3 of Chapter 441 created the civil service board. It had three members, appointed by the governor with the consent of the [[Minnesota Senate]]. No member could hold another public office, other than notary public or a military office. No person could be appointed who had held a paid position in a political party within the two preceding years. The governor could remove a member only upon written charges and a public hearing before the governor. A copy of the charges and a transcript of the hearing were to be filed with the secretary of state.[^3] Section 4 created the office of director of the state civil service. The board was to appoint the director on the basis of merit and fitness after an open competitive examination, without regard to residence. Applicants were examined by a committee of three. At least two committee members had to be public personnel administrators or specialists, and at least one had to be a nonresident of Minnesota. The committee certified the three highest-rated applicants to the board. The director was placed in the classified service and could be removed only on written charges after a public hearing.[^4] Section 5 made the director the department's executive and administrative head and the board's adviser on civil service matters.[^8] Stassen's 1943 message attributed the reorganization, including the civil service system, to joint work by the Legislature and the executive over the preceding four years.[^7] ## What Chapter 441 amended Mason's Minnesota Statutes of 1927, Section 53-1, to add the Department of Civil Service to the list of state departments. It defined the department as the board, the director, and the officers and employees the director appointed.[^2] Section 9 divided the state civil service into two parts.[^5] - **Unclassified service.** This included elected officers and department heads appointed by the governor. It also covered one executive secretary and five other confidential employees in the governor's office, officers and employees of the Senate and House, deputy registrars of motor vehicles, and the courts and their employees. The Regents of the [[University of Minnesota]] and persons under their jurisdiction were also unclassified, as were officers and enlisted men of the national guard. - **State highway patrolmen.** These were brought under the act only as to the method of selection and appointment. - **Classified service.** This comprised every other position. Appointments were to be made from eligible lists based on examination, competitive so far as practicable. Section 15 forbade discrimination for or against any applicant, eligible or employee because of political or religious opinions or affiliations. Section 16 required every officer, employee and examination applicant to take an oath or affirmation.[^9] The same 1939 session enacted related laws: - **Chapter 431.** This act reorganized state government and created a Department of Administration. It authorized the commissioner of administration to transfer employees between agencies, with the approval of the governor and of the executive head of the department of civil service, "if there be such a department". It also abolished the commission of administration and finance.[^10] Chapter 441, as printed in the record, nonetheless directs that civil service classifications and salary schedules be sent to the commission of administration and finance.[^11] - **Chapter 440.** The [[Minnesota Labor Relations Act]], approved April 22, 1939, defined "employer" to exclude the state and its political subdivisions.[^12] - **Chapter 442.** This act, approved April 22, 1939, created the office of [[Revisor of Statutes]]. Its assistants, clerks and stenographers were to be employed during the Revisor's pleasure.[^13] ## When The Legislative Reference Library's history traces the following earlier attempts.[^1] | Year | Event | |---|---| | 1889 | A bill for a state civil service system was introduced in the Senate and failed. | | Six years later | A state-and-city civil service bill passed the Senate but did not come to a vote in the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]]. | | 1911, 1913 | Further bills failed. | | After 1913 | Governor A. O. Eberhart appointed a commission of thirty citizens, which reported to the 1915 session. | | 1915–1925 | State civil service was at least discussed in every session. | | 1925 | A law authorized the Commission of Administration and Finance to determine classes, grades and titles for certain agencies. | | January 2, 1935 | The Commission established by order the first comprehensive classification of state employees under its control. | | 1933, 1935, 1935–1936 | Department bills introduced in 1933, at the 1935 regular session, and at the 1935–1936 extra session lacked sufficient support. | The 1939 act was signed on April 22, 1939.[^1] It directed the governor to appoint the first board members within 30 days of passage. The first three terms were to expire February 1 of 1941, 1943 and 1945, with six-year terms thereafter.[^3] Incumbents not covered by the five-year rule were to receive a qualifying examination within two years after August 1, 1939.[^6] Stassen addressed the Legislature on January 6, 1943.[^7] The department's powers passed to the department of personnel under 1973 Minn. Laws Chap. 507.[^1] ## Where The board was to keep its principal office, records and regular meetings in space provided by state officials. Special meetings could be held in other cities when the chairman judged it necessary. Meetings were open to the public, and no meeting could be held without at least two members present.[^3] The director kept the official roster of the state civil service in the department's office.[^8] Section 13 opened competitive examinations to United States citizens who had resided in Minnesota for the two years preceding the examination. For positions requiring professional, technical or unusual qualifications, the director could open examinations to residents of other states, subject to board approval.[^14] ## Why In 1943 Stassen listed as his first objective streamlining government, "civil service on merit as a cornerstone".[^7] He said state employees, many first hired under other administrations, had become public servants instead of "corporals in a political army."[^15] The act's own transition provisions set terms alongside its merit design: - Persons with five or more years of state service on the effective date received civil service status automatically, without examination. - Until August 1, 1939, persons in the classified service could be laid off, suspended, transferred or discharged at the will of the employing authority. - After that date, until eligible lists existed, appointments could be made under existing laws and without regard to the act. Such appointees could serve until 60 days after the director certified lists for their positions.[^6] Section 15's anti-discrimination clause was keyed to political or religious opinions or affiliations.[^9] In his 1943 message, the governor asked the Legislature for action to indicate that the state was "opposed to intolerance or discrimination for race, creed or color in employment".[^16] ## How Rules and amendments proposed by the director took effect only after board approval at a public hearing on two weeks' published notice. Classification plans and compensation schedules also required public hearings. The board, or the director when authorized by majority vote, could issue subpoenas. In hearings neither was bound by the technical rules of evidence.[^17] The director classified positions by duties and responsibilities. Salary schedules approved by the board went to the commission of administration and finance and then to the Legislature. The Legislature could raise or lower rates only uniformly across a grade or group.[^11] The director could refuse to examine or certify applicants on enumerated grounds, and rejected applicants could appeal to the board.[^14] For each vacancy the director certified the three names at the head of the eligible list. The appointing officer chose one of them, on probation, with sole reference to merit and fitness. Eligibility lasted one year and could be extended, but never beyond three years.[^18] Under Chapter 431, the first salary and wage schedules prepared after that act took effect went to the legislative emergency committee, which could approve or modify them.[^19] ## How much The director's salary was set at not less than $5,000 nor more than $7,000 a year. Until compensation schedules were adopted, the board fixed staff salaries, subject to approval by the department of administration and finance.[^20] Board members received $15.00 per day of service, capped at $450.00 a year. The cap did not cover expenses and did not apply during the board's first two years.[^3] In 1943 the governor reported an emergency war-time salary adjustment of five per cent plus five dollars and recommended that the Legislature continue it.[^15] The record does not establish the department's own appropriation. ## How many The board had three members, and the examining committee had three members.[^3][^4] Three names were certified for each vacancy.[^18] Section 9 allotted the governor's office one executive secretary and five other confidential employees outside the classified service.[^5] Stassen stated in 1943 that hundreds of employees had left state service for the armed forces, war industries or farms. He also stated that the number of employees had been reduced 25% in four years, with a further 20% reduction under way.[^15] The record gives no count of positions classified by the department. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Civil Service Department* (agency record, updated 09/20/2024) — active dates 1939–1973; authority 1939 Minn. Laws Chap. 441; function; history of proposals from 1889; enactment April 22, 1939; 1973 transfer to the department of personnel. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/agencies/detail?AgencyID=241 [^2]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441 (H. F. No. 601)*, title and §§1–2 (1939) — creates the Department of Civil Service and defines its personnel. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^3]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §3 (1939) — civil service board: appointment, qualifications, terms, removal, office, meetings, pay. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^4]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §4 (1939) — director of the state civil service: examination, examining committee, appointment, removal. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^5]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §9 (1939) — division into unclassified and classified services. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^6]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §§10–11 (1939) — status of incumbents, qualifying examinations, temporary employment. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^7]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Inaugural Message of Governor Harold E. Stassen to the Legislature of Minnesota* (January 6, 1943), pp. 3–5 — ten objectives and reorganization measures of the preceding four years. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2007/other/070499.pdf [^8]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §5 (1939) — director's role and duties, including the official roster. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^9]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §§15–16 (1939) — discrimination forbidden; oath of office. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^10]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 431 (H. F. No. 1270)*, art. I §1, art. II §§13, 22 (1939) — creates the Department of Administration; employee transfers; abolishes the commission of administration and finance. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/431/ [^11]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §12 (1939) — classification and salary schedules. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^12]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 440 (H. F. No. 352)*, §1(b), §19 (approved April 22, 1939) — Minnesota Labor Relations Act; "employer" excludes the state. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/440/ [^13]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 442 (H. F. No. 746)*, §§1–3 (approved April 22, 1939) — creates the office of Revisor of Statutes; staff employed at the Revisor's pleasure. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/442/ [^14]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §§13–14 (1939) — competitive examinations, residency and citizenship, director's refusal powers and appeal. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^15]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Inaugural Message of Governor Harold E. Stassen* (January 6, 1943), p. 18 — civil service system, salary adjustment, departures, employee reductions. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2007/other/070499.pdf [^16]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Inaugural Message of Governor Harold E. Stassen* (January 6, 1943), p. 9 — proposed action on discrimination in employment. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2007/other/070499.pdf [^17]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §§6–7 (1939) — board duties, public hearings, subpoenas, rules of evidence. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^18]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §§17–18 (1939) — certified lists, terms of eligibility, certification of three names, probationary appointment. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^19]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 431*, art. II §21(d) (1939) — first salary and wage schedules submitted to the legislative emergency committee. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/431/ [^20]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws of Minnesota 1939, Chapter 441*, §8 (1939) — salaries of the director and staff. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/