CIVIL SERVICE/FIRE & POL: Provides relative to provisional appointments in the classified service

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Timothy P. Kerner
Last action: 2026-05-15
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 157
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify which exact positions are affected beyond mentioning 'entrance classes'.

Fire and Police Civil Service Provisional Appointments

This act changes the maximum length of provisional appointments for certain fire and police positions to ninety days.

What This Bill Does

Changes the maximum length of provisional appointments from sixty days to ninety days.
Prohibits making more than one provisional appointment for the same position within the new time limit.

Who It Names or Affects

Municipalities that have fire and police civil service systems.
Parishes with fire and police departments.
Fire protection districts needing to fill positions temporarily.

Terms To Know

Provisional appointment: A temporary job offer given by an authority when a permanent position is open, but the person hired does not get full civil service status.
Classified service: The system of employment for government jobs that follows specific rules to ensure fair hiring and promotion practices.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify what happens if a provisional appointment lasts the full ninety days.
It is unclear how this change will affect existing provisional appointments when it becomes effective on August 1, 2026.

Bill History

2026-05-15 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-05-15 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 157.
2026-05-14 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-05-14 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-13 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-13 H
Received from the Senate without amendments.
2026-05-12 S
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-05-05 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-05-04 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-04-29 S
Reported favorably.
2026-04-20 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs.
2026-04-15 S
Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-04-15 H
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 94, nays 0. The bill, having received two-thirds vote of the elected members, was finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-04-15 H
Called from the calendar.
2026-04-15 H
Read by title, returned to the calendar.
2026-04-14 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 04/15/2026.
2026-04-13 H
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-04-09 H
Reported favorably (9-0).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs.
2026-02-27 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
2026-02-25 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs.
2026-02-25 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

CIVIL SERVICE/FIRE & POL: Provides relative to provisional appointments in the classified service

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 1572026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 376
BY REPRESENTATIVE KERNER
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 33:2496(1)(a)(iii) and 2556(1)(a)(iii), relative to the fire and
3 police civil service; to provide relative to provisional appointments in the fire and
4 police civil service for municipalities, parishes, and fire protection districts; to
5 provide for the maximum length of such appointments; and to provide for related
6 matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 33:2496(1)(a)(iii) and 2556(1)(a)(iii) are hereby amended and
9 reenacted to read as follows:
10 §2496. Temporary appointments
11 Temporary appointments may be made to positions in the classified service
12 without the appointees acquiring any permanent status therein as follows:
13 (1)(a)
14 * * *
15 (iii) When a vacancy is to be filled in the classes of entrance firefighter,
16 entrance police officer, entrance jailer, secretary to the chief, departmental records
17 clerk, and for the entrance classes for which the operation and maintenance of radio,
18 alarm, or signal systems for the respective fire or police service is the primary duty,
19 the appointing authority may make a provisional appointment of any person
20 considered qualified. A provisional appointment shall not exceed sixty ninety days.
21 Successive appointments in the classes of entrance firefighter, entrance police
22 officer, entrance jailer, secretary to the chief, departmental records clerk, and for the
23 entrance classes for which the operation and maintenance of radio, alarm, or signal
24 systems for the respective fire or police service is the primary duty shall be
25 prohibited.
26 * * *
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 376 ENROLLED
1 §2556. Temporary appointments
2 Temporary appointments may be made to positions in the classified service
3 without the appointees acquiring any permanent status therein as follows:
4 (1)(a)
5 * * *
6 (iii) When a vacancy is to be filled in the classes of entrance firefighter,
7 entrance police officer, entrance jailer, secretary to the chief, departmental records
8 clerk, and for the entrance classes for which the operation and maintenance of radio,
9 alarm, or signal systems for the respective fire or police service is the primary duty,
10 the appointing authority may make a provisional appointment of any person
11 considered qualified. A provisional appointment shall not exceed sixty ninety days.
12 Successive appointments in the classes of entrance firefighter, entrance police
13 officer, entrance jailer, secretary to the chief, departmental records clerk, and for the
14 entrance classes for which the operation and maintenance of radio, alarm, or signal
15 systems for the respective fire or police service is the primary duty shall be
16 prohibited.
17 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.