§ 50. Examinations generally. 1. Positions subject to competitive
examinations. The merit and fitness of applicants for positions which
are classified in the competitive class shall be ascertained by such
examinations as may be prescribed by the state civil service department
or the municipal commission having jurisdiction.

2. Announcement of examination. (a) The state civil service department
and municipal commissions shall issue an announcement of each
competitive examination, setting forth the minimum qualifications
required, the subjects of the examination, and such other information as
they may deem necessary, and shall advertise and promote such
examination in such manner as the nature of the examination may require.
Such announcement and advertisement shall each inform prospective
applicants of the options for religious observance provided in
subdivision eight of this section.

(b) In addition to any announcement required by paragraph (a) of this
subdivision, the department and municipal commissions shall provide
notice of each competitive examination to the following entities if the
entity is located within the same geographic area as the department or
commission: board of cooperative educational services (BOCES), school
districts, public colleges, public universities, local social services
districts, and, to the extent practicable, job training programs. In
addition, the department and each municipal commission shall allow any
such entity to sign up to be notified electronically when an
announcement is issued.

3. Application for examination. The civil service department and
municipal commissions shall require prospective applicants to file,
during a prescribed time, a formal application in which the applicant
shall state such information as may reasonably be required touching upon
his background, experience and qualifications for the position sought,
and his merit and fitness for the public service. The application shall
be subscribed by the applicant and shall contain an affirmation by him
that the statements therein are true under the penalties of perjury.
Blank forms for such application shall be furnished by said department
and such municipal commissions without charge to all persons requesting
the same. The department and such municipal commissions may require in
connection with such application such certificates of citizens,
physicians, public officers or others having knowledge of the applicant,
as the good of the service may require.

4. Disqualification of applicants or eligibles. The state civil
service department and municipal commissions may refuse to examine an
applicant, or after examination to certify an eligible

(a) who is found to lack any of the established requirements for
admission to the examination or for appointment to the position for
which he applies; or

(b) who is found to have a disability which renders him or her unfit
to perform in a reasonable manner the duties of the position in which he
or she seeks employment, or which may reasonably be expected to render
him or her unfit to continue to perform in a reasonable manner the
duties of such position; or

(d) who has been guilty of a crime; or

(e) who has been dismissed from a permanent position in the public
service upon stated written charges of incompetency or misconduct, after
an opportunity to answer such charges in writing, or who has resigned
from, or whose service has otherwise been terminated in, a permanent or
temporary position in the public service, where it is found after
appropriate investigation or inquiry that such resignation or
termination resulted from his incompetency or misconduct, provided, that
in cases of dismissal, resignation or termination after written charges
of incompetency, the examination or certification in question be for a
position that requires the performance of a duty or duties which are the
same as or similar to the duty or duties of the position from which the
applicant has been dismissed, resigned or terminated on account of
incompetency; or

(f) who has intentionally made a false statement of any material fact
in his application; or

(g) who has practiced, or attempted to practice, any deception or
fraud in his application, in his examination, or in securing his
eligibility or appointment; or

(h) who has been dismissed from private employments because of
habitually poor performance.

No person shall be disqualified pursuant to this subdivision unless he
has been given a written statement of the reasons therefor and afforded
an opportunity to make an explanation and to submit facts in opposition
to such disqualification.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision or any other law,
the state civil service department or appropriate municipal commission
may investigate the qualifications and background of an eligible after
he has been appointed from the list, and upon finding facts which if
known prior to appointment, would have warranted his disqualification,
or upon a finding of illegality, irregularity or fraud of a substantial
nature in his application, examination or appointment, may revoke such
eligible's certification and appointment and direct that his employment
be terminated, provided, however, that no such certification shall be
revoked or appointment terminated more than three years after it is
made, except in the case of fraud.

In connection with their lawful responsibilities or functions under
paragraph (d) of this subdivision, the department and appropriate
municipal commissions may require applicants to undergo a state and a
national criminal history record check. When required, the fingerprints
of such an applicant shall be submitted to the division of criminal
justice services and the division of criminal justice services is
authorized to submit such fingerprints to the federal bureau of
investigation, in accordance with applicable rules or regulations
promulgated by such entities, in order to obtain relevant state criminal
history record information, if any, concerning such applicant and for a
national criminal history record check. The department and municipal
commissions shall ensure that adequate notice be provided to applicants
regarding the fact that state and national criminal history record
checks may be conducted, and the procedures therefor. Provided, however,
that the provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) any current
employee; or (2) a person who is considered an applicant by reason of
(a) a transfer pursuant to section seventy of this chapter; or (b) a
person who is on a preferred list subject to section eighty-one of this
chapter; or (c) a person whose name is on an eligible list as defined in
section fifty-six of this article and who has successfully completed a
promotion exam subject to section fifty-two of this article.

5. Application fees. (a) Every applicant for examination for a
position in the competitive or non-competitive class, or in the labor
class when examination for appointment is required, shall pay a fee to
the civil service department or appropriate municipal commission at a
time determined by it. Such fees shall be dependent on the minimum
annual salary announced for the position, as follows: (1) on salaries of
less than three thousand dollars per annum, a fee of two dollars; (2) on
salaries of more than three thousand dollars and not more than four
thousand dollars per annum, a fee of three dollars; (3) on salaries of
more than four thousand dollars and not more than five thousand dollars
per annum, a fee of four dollars; and (4) on salaries of more than five
thousand dollars per annum, a fee of five dollars. If the compensation
of a position is fixed on any basis other than an annual salary rate,
the applicant shall pay a fee based on the annual compensation which
would otherwise be payable in such position if the services were
required on a full time annual basis for the number of hours per day and
days per week established by law or administrative rule or order. Fees
paid hereunder by an applicant whose application is not approved may be
refunded in the discretion of the state civil service department or of
the appropriate municipal commission.

* (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this
subdivision, the state civil service department, subject to the approval
of the director of the budget, a municipal commission, subject to the
approval of the governing board or body of the city or county, as the
case may be, or a regional commission or personnel officer, pursuant to
governmental agreement, may elect to waive application fees, or to
abolish fees for specific classes of positions or types of examinations
or candidates, or to establish a uniform schedule of reasonable fees
different from those prescribed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision,
specifying in such schedule the classes of positions or types of
examinations or candidates to which such fees shall apply; provided,
however, that fees shall be waived for candidates who certify to the
state civil service department, a municipal commission or a regional
commission that they are unemployed and primarily responsible for the
support of a household, or are receiving public assistance. Provided
further, the state civil service department shall waive the state
application fee for examinations for original appointment for all
veterans. Provided further, the state civil service department shall,
and a municipal commission may, subject to the approval of the governing
board or body of the city or county, as the case may be, or a regional
commission or personnel officer, pursuant to governmental agreement,
waive application fees for all examinations held between July first, two
thousand twenty-three and December thirty-first, two thousand
twenty-five. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of
this section, the term "veteran" shall mean a person who has served in
the armed forces of the United States or the reserves thereof, or in the
army national guard, air national guard, New York guard, or the New York
naval militia, and who (1) has been honorably discharged or released
from such service under honorable conditions, or (2) has a qualifying
condition, as defined in section one of the veterans' services law, and
has received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from
such service, or (3) is a discharged LGBT veteran, as defined in section
one of the veterans' services law, and has received a discharge other
than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service. The term "armed
forces" shall mean the army, navy, air force, marine corps, and coast
guard.

* NB Effective until December 31, 2025

* (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this
subdivision, the state civil service department, subject to the approval
of the director of the budget, a municipal commission, subject to the
approval of the governing board or body of the city or county, as the
case may be, or a regional commission or personnel officer, pursuant to
governmental agreement, may elect to waive application fees, or to
abolish fees for specific classes of positions or types of examinations
or candidates, or to establish a uniform schedule of reasonable fees
different from those prescribed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision,
specifying in such schedule the classes of positions or types of
examinations or candidates to which such fees shall apply; provided,
however, that fees shall be waived for candidates who certify to the
state civil service department, a municipal commission or a regional
commission that they are unemployed and primarily responsible for the
support of a household, or are receiving public assistance. Provided
further, the state civil service department shall waive the state
application fee for examinations for original appointment for all
veterans. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of
this section, the term "veteran" shall mean a person who has served in
the armed forces of the United States or the reserves thereof, or in the
army national guard, air national guard, New York guard, or the New York
naval militia, and who (1) has been honorably discharged or released
from such service under honorable conditions, or (2) has a qualifying
condition, as defined in section one of the veterans' services law, and
has received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable from
such service, or (3) is a discharged LGBT veteran, as defined in section
one of the veterans' services law, and has received a discharge other
than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service. The term "armed
forces" shall mean the army, navy, air force, marine corps, and coast
guard.

* NB Effective December 31, 2025

(c) All fees collected hereunder by the state civil service
department, except as hereinafter provided, shall be paid into the state
treasury in the manner prescribed by the state finance law. Fees
collected from applicants for examinations given exclusively for
positions in the division of employment in the department of labor shall
be held in trust until such time as the costs of such examinations have
been ascertained and thereupon shall be disbursed as follows: (1) to the
extent that such fees are sufficient therefor, there shall be paid into
the unemployment administration fund maintained under the unemployment
insurance law, an amount equal to the costs of such examinations. Such
payments shall be made on the fifth day of the month following the month
in which such costs were ascertained and shall be accompanied by a
detailed, verified statement and a duplicate of such statement shall be
filed on the same day with the state comptroller; (2) the balance, if
any, of such fees shall be paid into the state treasury pursuant to the
state finance law.

(d) All fees collected hereunder by any municipal civil service
commission shall be paid into the general fund of the municipality for
which such commission has been appointed.

5-a. Location of examinations. (a) The state civil service department
shall offer examinations at any location or locations that it deems
suitable.

(b) The state civil service department shall make efforts to utilize
state university of New York educational opportunity centers when
selecting testing sites.

6. Scope of examinations. Examinations shall be practical in their
character and shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the
relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the
duties of that service into which they seek to be appointed. The state
civil service department or appropriate municipal commission, as the
case may be, may establish an eligible list on the basis of ratings
received by the candidates in the competitive portions of the
examination and thereafter conduct medical, physical and other
appropriate non-competitive qualifying tests from time to time as the
need for certifications from the eligible list may require. Beginning in
two thousand twenty-five, the state civil service department shall
review and update the questions contained within the examination, as
deemed appropriate by the department, no less than every five years.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the state civil service
department from reviewing or updating the examinations prior to the
scheduled update, as the department deems appropriate.

7. Court review of examination questions and answers. Where the state
civil service commission or appropriate municipal civil service
commission has, following its duly established review procedures, which
in the case of the city of New York are set forth in section fifty-a of
this chapter, made a final determination as to the answers that are
acceptable on a particular examination, such determination shall not be
subject to further review in any court. Court review shall be limited to
be a determination of whether such duly established review procedures
were followed, and the court shall have no authority to determine
whether the commission's determination was correct.

8. Limitation of eligibility to one sex. The state civil service
department or the municipal commission having jurisdiction may limit
eligibility for examination to one sex when the duties of the position
involved relate to the institutional or other custody or care of persons
of the same sex, or visitation, inspection or work of any kind the
nature of which requires sex selection.

9. Examination of candidates unable to attend tests because of
religious observance. A person who, because of his religious beliefs, is
unable to attend and take an examination scheduled to be held by the
state department of civil service or a municipal commission on a
Saturday or on a day which is a religious holiday observed by him, shall
be permitted to take such examination on some other day designated by
the state department of civil service or appropriate municipal
commission, at a reasonably comparable time and place without any
additional fee or penalty.

10. The term "disability" as used in this section, shall be defined as
such term is defined in section two hundred ninety-two of the executive
law. Determination of disability shall be made by a medical officer
employed or selected by the civil service department or the municipal
commission having jurisdiction.

11. Unlawful acts in respect to examinations administered pursuant to
this chapter. A person who shall:

(a) Impersonate, or attempt to or offer to impersonate, another person
in taking an examination held pursuant to this chapter; or

(b) Take, or attempt to take or offer to take such an examination in
the name of any other person; or

(c) Procure or attempt to procure any other person to falsely
impersonate him or her or to take, or attempt to take or offer to take,
any such examination in his or her name; or

(d) Have in his or her possession any questions or answers relating to
any such examination, or copies of such questions or answers, unless
such possession is duly authorized by the appropriate authorities; or

(e) Sell or offer to sell questions or answers prepared for use in any
such examination; or

(f) Use in any such examination any questions or answers secured prior
to the administration of the examination or secure the questions or
secure or prepare the answers to the examination questions prior to the
administration of the examination, unless duly authorized to do so by
the appropriate authorities; or

(g) Disclose or transmit to any person the questions or answers to
such examination prior to its administration, or destroy, falsify or
conceal the records or results of such examination from the appropriate
authorities to whom such records are required to be transmitted in
accordance with this chapter, unless duly authorized to do so by the
appropriate authorities;
shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor punishable by a sentence of
imprisonment of six months or a fine of one thousand dollars, or both.
Additionally, a person who is found by the state civil service
department or municipal commission to have violated this section shall
be disqualified from appointment to the position for which the
examination is being held and may be disqualified from being a candidate
for any civil service examination for a period of five years.