Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board

Meetings


     Bossier City Police Department Administrative Conference Room
     620 Benton Road
     Bossier City, LA 71111

Agendas & Minutes


Agendas are available prior to the meetings. Minutes are available following approval.
View Most Recent Agendas and Minutes

Members


  • William Schwartz, Chairman/GLBM
  • Charles Bridges, PDBM
  • Lou Chandler, Jr, CLBM
  • Charlie Davis, GBBM
  • Jason Shelton, Vice Chairman/FDBM

Membership


The Bossier City Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board consists of 5 members appointed by the governing body as follows:
  • Each Board Member serves a term of 3 years.
  • The governing body appoints 1 Fire Department Board Member after first being nominated and elected by and from the regular and permanent employees of the fire department.
  • The governing body appoints 1 Governing Authority Board Member upon its own nomination.
  • The governing body appoints 1 Police Department Board Member after first being nominated and elected by and from the regular and permanent employees of the police department.
  • The governing body appoints 2 College List Board Members from a list of 4 names received from the executive heard of a regularly chartered and established 4-year institution of higher education located within the area served. If there is no such institution then the governing body would request a list of 4 names from the executive head of such an institution which is within the state and which is the most geographically proximate to the area served.

Background


Article 10, Section 16, of the Louisiana Constitution of 1975, and Act 282 of 1964 provide for systems of Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service. A local civil service board is created to administer the system in each jurisdiction for small municipalities (cities between 7,000 and 13, 000 people) fire protection districts and for larger municipalities (cities over 13,000 people).

Goals & Principles

The primary goal of the civil service system is the effective application of personnel activity based on a system of merit, efficiency and length of service. Civil Service accomplishes this goal in two major ways. First, it provides individual employees, with a sense of job security through the application of three principles:
  1. Procedures for qualifying personnel by objective selection.
  2. Classification and description of each job and position according to actual duties performed and responsibilities involved.
  3. Appointment and promotion of personnel on the basis of examination qualifications, job performance and departmental seniority.
Second, it protects elected officials from unnecessary political pressure and embarrassment in matters of personnel selection. Under this system, the employees who are performing their jobs competently will not be subjected to wholesale terminations upon changes of political administrators. Personnel selections are made on the basis of merit rather than favoritism and political patronage. This creates a mutually beneficial system of efficient personnel management.

Additionally, the civil service system does not infringe upon the duties, authority, or responsibilities entrusted to the mayor or other elected officials. It insures that management of personnel will be conducted in such a manner that benefits the fire and police departments and provides to the community in which it functions, an atmosphere of continuity and professionalism as it related to public safety for citizens which are served by these departments.