Filed Date: 10/25/1988
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Hon. Douglas H. White Commissioner New York State Division of Human Rights
You have requested an opinion as to the correct interpretation and application of Civil Service Law, §
You ask whether you are correct in reading that sentence to mean that the appointing authority must exhaust the list of resident eligibles before
certification of eligibles may be made from the whole list. In our view, that is the correct reading. Once such a rule has been adopted, it must be followed in accordance with its terms. Agency rules, duly promulgated, are binding upon the agency as well as upon any other person who might be affected (Matter of Frick v Bahou,
It should be noted, however, that a list is effectively exhausted when it contains the names of fewer than three persons willing to accept appointment — the "one-out-of-three" rule (Civil Service Law, §
We conclude that when a city or civil division has elected to require the certification of residents for appointment in advance of non-residents, it must reduce to less than three the list of resident eligibles before non-residents may be certified.