CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION RULES OF PROCEDURE Adepted (Date) March 9, 2017 PREAMBLE The City of Wilmington Civil Service Commission (hereinafter ?Commission?) was established by the NC. General Assembly and codified under Article XI ofthe Charter ofthe City of Wilmington (hereinafter ?Article Article XI generally sets forth thejurisdiction, powers, and duties of the Commission and is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. The City Attorney is the legal advisor to the Commission and is responsible for retaining outside legal counsel, when necessary. Any duly called meeting of the Commission may be adjourned or recessed to a later date and time upon concurring vote ofa majority ofa quorum of the Commission All meetings of the Commission are subject to the North Carolina Open Meetings Law; however, if the meeting involves a personnel matter, such meeting shall be closed unless opened by the Commission, upon the request of the petitioning employee. In addition to and pursuant to the provisions contained in Article XI, the Commission hereby adopts the below listed Rules of Procedure which shall only be amended as set forth herein. Rule 1 PRESIDING OFFICE-R The Chairman of the Commission shall preside at all meetings of the Commission, and on the appearance of a quorum shall call the meeting to order, and the Commission shall thereupon proceed with its business. In the absence of the Chairman, the Commission Members present shall select a Chairman pro tempore who shall then preside over the meeting. The presiding of?cer shall preserve order and decorum. He or she may speak and vote on all questions and shall decide all questions of order without debate. Rule 2 QUORUM The Commission shall consist offive (5) members. A quorum shall consist of at least three (3) members ofthe Commission. Rule 3 RECORDING SECRETARY The Clerk of the City of Wilmington shall be the permanent Recording Secretary of the Commission. The Commission Recording Secretary shall have those duties set forth in Article XI of the Wilmington City Charter and additional administrative duties as established from time to time by the Commission. Rule 4 EX OFFICIO MEMBER The Director of the City of Wilmington Department of Human Resources shall act as an ex officio member ofthe Commission. The Director of Human Resources shall have those duties set forth for the ?director of personnel? in Article XI ofthe Wilmington City Charter; further, he or she shall attend all Commission meetings which involve a personnel matter and shall directly advise the Commission regarding all ordinances, polices and administrative procedures affecting the employees of the City of Wilmington. Rule 5 APPEAL BOND A person who appeals a Commission decision to the Superior Court ofNew Hanover County shall ?rst file with the Commission Recording Secretary a bond/surety in an amount equal to the actual costs of producing the transcript of the matter appealed. Rule 6 APPEAL HEARING ORDER OF BUSINESS When the Commission hears an appeal ofa dismissal or demotion, it is sitting in its administrative quasi-judicial capacity; further, during such hearings neither the North Carolina Rules of Evidence nor the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply. Any petitioning employee may represent himself/herself in a proceeding before the Commission, or may be represented by an attorney licensed in North Carolina. The parties of an appeal hearing appearing before the Commission shall be given a full and fair opportunity to present their case to include the reasonable examination and cross-examination of witnesses and the reasonable review of items of evidence. All persons testifying at an appeal hearing before the Commission shall give sworn testimony. Parties to an appeal hearing before the Commission shall have the right to an unbiased and non- partisan panel. Therefore, Commission Member/s shall not vote at a hearing concerning the appeal of a dismissal or demotion unless the Member has actually attended the hearing/s of that Page 2 of4 matter. Commission Members shall not discuss a pending appeal prior to a hearing on the matter, nor shall a Member conduct an independent investigation of a pending appeal, nor express an opinion on the proper outcome of a pending appeal prior to the Commission?s determination of that matter. Further, Commission Members shall not participate in a pending appeal if the Member has an impermissible conflict. The Commission may grant a continuance of an appeal of a dismissal or demotion upon a showing of good cause by either of the parties. At least ten (10) working days prior to the scheduled hearing date, the parties thereto shall exchange with each other and submit to the Recording Secretary the following: All stipulated undisputed facts, Copies ofall documents each party may offer at the hearing, in a number suf?cient to distribute to Commission Members, and A list of the names and last known addresses of all witnesses each party intends to call at the hearing and all subpoenas to be executed by the Chairman. During the course of an appeals hearing, the Commission shall generally adhere to the following order of business: Each party shall be allotted five (5) minutes to present an opening statement to the Commission; The City of Wilmington shall present its case in chief first. The petitioning employee shall present his/her case in chief after the City has rested its case in chief; Reasonable examination, cross-examination of witnesses, examination of evidence and rebuttals shall be permitted; howex-er the Chairman may limit repetitive and argumentative questioning and argument; and Each party shall be allotted ten (10) minutes to present a closing statement to the Commission. The Commission may receive all documents and testimony presented by the parties, and has the authority to determine what weight, if any, to be given to presented materials. However, the Commission?s ?nal determination shall be based on substantial, competent, and material evidence. The Commission?s deliberations on all appeals involving dismissals and demotions shall be closed to the all persons except regular Commission Members and the Recording Secretary. During such deliberations, the Commission may request legal guidance from its appointed legal advisor and policy guidance from the Commissionis Ex Officio Member. The final decision of the Commission in an appeal hearing shall take the form ofa written Order and shall include the substantial, competent, and material facts relied upon in making its determination. Page 3 of4 Rule 7 PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE The rules of parliamentary procedure comprised in Robert?s Rules of Order shall be parliamentary authority for the Commission except as otherwise provided for in these rules. Rule 8 AMENDMENT OF RULES Amendments to these rules shall be submitted in writing at a regular meeting of the Commission and shall be adopted only by an af?rmative vote of at least three (3) regular Commission Members. AdOpted by the Commission on March 9 2011_- M6 db RONALD LOVE, CHAIRMAN ?l PENELOPE CLERK a SECRETARY TO THE COMMISSION Page 4 of4