§ 33:2552 — Tests

§2552. Tests
Tests to determine the eligibility of applicants for entry upon the promotional and
competitive employment lists shall be provided as follows:
(1)(a) Except for entrance firefighter, entrance police officer, entrance jailer,
secretary to the chief, departmental records clerk, and for the entrance classes for which the
operation and maintenance of radio, alarm, or signal systems for the respective fire or police
service is the primary duty, the board shall provide through the state examiner for
promotional or competitive tests. Official notice of examination shall be posted on the
bulletin board in each station of the respective department. The notice shall state the class
of positions for which tests will be given, whether the tests will be given on a promotional
or competitive basis, and the final date on which applications for admission to the tests will
be received. The notice shall be posted for a continuous period of ten days preceding the
date for administering the tests.
(b) In addition to the posted notice, public notice for all tests to be given on a
competitive basis shall be published during the ten-day period on the state examiner's website
and the municipality, parish, or fire protection district's website, if available, in which such
tests are to be held. This notice of examination need not state the exact date on which tests
shall be administered, but all applicants shall be advised of the date, place, and time to report
for an announced test at least five days in advance thereof in any manner the board may
prescribe.
(c) For the testing of entrance firefighter, entrance police officer, entrance jailer,
secretary to the chief, departmental records clerk, and for the entrance classes for which the
operation and maintenance of radio, alarm, or signal systems for the respective fire or police
service is the primary duty, the state examiner shall publish notice on his website for ten days
regarding the location where such tests are to be held and the final date on which applications
for admission to the test will be received. This notice of examination shall reveal the exact
date on which the test shall be administered. However, all applicants shall be advised of the
place and time to report for an announced test at least five days in advance in any manner
that the state examiner may prescribe.
(2) As may be necessary from time to time, the state examiner may call for and
administer examinations for the entrance classifications of firefighter, police officer,
secretary to the chief, departmental records clerk, jailer, and for the entrance classes for
positions of which the operation and maintenance of a radio, alarm, or signal system for the
fire or police service is the primary duty. Tests may be administered at the discretion of the
state examiner in any municipality, parish, or fire protection district to which this Part
applies.
(3) Each person in a group of candidates being tested at a given time for the same
class of employment shall be given the same test, and it shall be administered in the same
manner to each candidate. No questions shall be framed so as to elicit information
concerning the political, factional, or religious opinions or affiliations of any applicant.
(4) All tests shall be restricted to those matters which will fairly test the relative
capacity and fitness of the candidates to discharge the duties characteristic of positions of the
class to which they seek to be appointed. Tests may include written or oral questions, trials
on the performance of work characteristic of the class, inquiries into facts relating to
education, experience, or accomplishments in specialized lines of endeavor, or any
combination of these and other elements duly related to the purpose of the tests.
(5) Seventy-five percent shall constitute a passing score for all tests administered
under the provision of this Part.
(6) Promotional tests for positions in the various classes in the classified service,
except those classes in which positions shall be filled only from the competitive list, may be
held as the needs of the service require, but must be given at least one time during each
successive period of eighteen months.
(7) Competitive tests shall be held only as the needs of the service require and shall
be given for classes comprising only the following duties or positions:
(a) Chief of the departmental service.
(b) The entrance or lowest ranking class in the classified service.
(c) The entrance or lowest ranking class in any group of classes where the various
classes have been divided into groups by the classification plan.
(d)(i) Operation and maintenance of radio, fire alarm, and other signal systems.
(ii) Repealed by Acts 2022, No. 322, §3.
(e) Automotive or fire apparatus mechanics and repairmen.
(f) Secretary to the chief.
(g) Departmental records clerk.
(h) For a position in any class in the classified service after reasonable efforts by
preceding methods provided by this Part have failed to produce names of persons eligible for
regular appointment thereto.
(8) All tests required by this Part shall be prepared, administered, and scored by the
state examiner in accordance with the provisions of this Part. The results of the tests shall
be furnished the board for which the tests have been held as soon as practicable after the tests
have been administered. All tests, questions, answers, and papers shall be kept at all times
in the custody of the state examiner and shall be produced by him and exhibited by him at
the domicile of any board upon its written request.
(9) The board for which any tests are administered may, at any time up to six months
after receiving the results from the state examiner, receive and review any or all parts of the
test and the methods used in its grading, in order to determine whether the test was a fair and
reasonable one and was fairly graded. If, after the board reviews any test and consults with
the state examiner, it concludes that any item or part of the test was unfair or unreasonable
or it finds errors in the grading, it may, at its discretion, cause a regrading of the test, and,
thereupon, it shall correct or establish the appropriate employment list in accordance with
the revised ratings. If the board finds that a fair rating can be determined only from an
entirely new test, it may cause a new test to be given to all persons taking the previous test
and establish a new employment list for the class from the results of such new test.
(10) Each applicant who makes a passing score on a test provided by the board
through the state examiner under the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Section shall be
advised, in any manner the board prescribes, of his final score and relative standing on the
list appropriate for the class for which he was tested.
(11) Each applicant who makes a passing score on a test administered by the state
examiner pursuant to Subparagraph (1)(c) or Paragraph (2) of this Section shall be advised,
in any manner that the state examiner prescribes, of his final score.

Legislative History

Acts 1964, No. 282, §1. Amended by Acts 1965, No. 146, §1; Acts 2006, No. 493, §2, eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2019, No. 224, §1; Acts 2019, No. 275, §2, eff. June 11, 2019; Acts 2020, No. 38, §1; Acts 2022, No. 322, §3; Acts 2024, No. 230, §1.