KRS 18A.115: Employment exempted from classified service -- Reversion rights of

career employees promoted outside classified service -- Transfer of employees

to Kentucky Community and Technical College System -- Change of personnel

system for employees of Dep artment for Technical Education and Department

for Adult Education and Literacy -- Change of personnel system for some

employees of Eastern Kentucky University.

(1) The classified service to which KRS 18A.005 to 18A.200 shall apply shall comprise

all positions in the state service now existing or hereafter established, except the

following:

(a) The General Assembly and employees of the General Assembly, including the

employees of the Legislative Research Commission;

(b) Officers elected by p opular vote and persons appointed to fill vacancies in

elective offices;

(c) Members of boards and commissions;

(d) Officers and employees on the staff of the Governor, the Lieutenant

Governor, the Office of the Secretary of the Governor's Cabinet, and the

Office of Program Administration;

(e) Cabinet secretaries, commissioners, office heads, and the administrative heads

of all boards and commissions, including the executive director of Kentucky

Educational Television;

(f) Employees of Kentucky Educational Television who have been determined to

be exempt from classified service by the Kentucky Authority for Educational

Television, which shall have sole authority over such exempt employees for

employment, dismissal, and setting of compensation, up to the maxi mum

established for the executive director and his or her principal assistants;

(g) One (1) principal assistant or deputy for each person exempted under

subsection (1)(e) of this section;

(h) One (1) additional principal assistant or deputy as may be neces sary for

making and carrying out policy for each person exempted under subsection

(1)(e) of this section in those instances in which the nature of the functions,

size, or complexity of the unit involved are such that the secretary approves

such an addition on petition of the relevant cabinet secretary or department

head and such other principal assistants, deputies, or other major assistants as

may be necessary for making and carrying out policy for each person

exempted under subsection (1)(e) of this secti on in those instances in which

the nature of the functions, size, or complexity of the unit involved are such

that the board may approve such an addition or additions on petition of the

department head approved by the secretary. Effective August 1, 2010:

1. All positions approved under this paragraph prior to August 1, 2010,

shall be abolished effective December 31, 2010, unless reapproved

under subparagraph 2. of this paragraph; and

2. A position approved under this paragraph on or after August 1, 2010,

shall be approved for a period of five (5) years, after which time the

position shall be abolished unless reapproved under this subparagraph

for an additional five (5) year period;

(i) Division directors subject to the provisions of KRS 18A.170. Division

directors in the classified service as of January 1, 1980, shall remain in the

classified service;

(j) Physicians employed as such;

(k) One (1) private secretary for each person exempted u nder subsection (1)(e),

(g), and (h) of this section;

(l) The judicial department, referees, receivers, jurors, and notaries public;

(m) Officers and members of the staffs of state universities and colleges and

student employees of such institutions; offic ers and employees of the

Teachers' Retirement System; and officers, teachers, and employees of local

boards of education;

(n) Patients or inmates employed in state institutions;

(o) Persons employed in a professional or scientific capacity to make or conduct a

temporary or special inquiry, investigation, or examination on behalf of the

General Assembly, or a committee thereof, or by authority of the Governor,

and persons employed by state agencies for a specified, limited period to

provide professional, tec hnical, scientific, or artistic services under the

provisions of KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;

(p) Interim employees;

(q) Officers and members of the state militia;

(r) Department of Kentucky State Police troopers;

(s) University or college engineering students or other students employed part -

time or part-year by the state through special personnel recruitment programs;

provided that while so employed such aides shall be under contract to work

full-time for the state after graduation for a period of time approved by the

commissioner or shall be participants in a cooperative education program

approved by the commissioner;

(t) Superintendents of state mental institutions, including heads of centers for

individuals with an intellectual disability, and penal and corre ctional

institutions as referred to in KRS 196.180(2);

(u) Staff members of the Kentucky Historical Society, if they are hired in

accordance with KRS 171.311;

(v) County and Commonwealth's attorneys and their respective appointees;

(w) Chief district engineers and the state highway engineer;

(x) Employees of the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation;

(y) Employees of the Kentucky Peace Corps;

(z) Employees of the Council on Postsecondary Education;

(aa) Executive director of the Commonwealth Office of Technology;

(ab) Employees of Serve Kentucky;

(ac) Persons employed in certified teaching positions at the Kentucky School for

the Blind and the Kentucky School for the Deaf;

(ad) Federally funded time-limited employees as defined in KRS 18A.005; and

(ae) Employees of the Department of Agriculture who are employed to support the

Agricultural Development Board and the Kentucky Agricultural Finance

Corporation.

(2) Nothing in KRS 18A.005 to 18A.200 is intended, or shall be construed, to alter or

amend the provisions of KRS 150.022 and 150.061.

(3) Nothing in KRS 18A.005 to 18A.200 is intended or shall be construed to affect any

nonmanagement, nonpolicy -making position required to be included in the

classified service as a prerequisite to the grant of federal funds to a state agency.

(4) Career employees within the classified service promoted to positions exempted

from classified service shall, upon termination of their employment in the exempted

service, revert to a position in that class in the agency from w hich they were

terminated if a vacancy in that class exists. If no such vacancy exists, they shall be

considered for employment in any vacant position for which they were qualified

pursuant to KRS 18A.130 and 18A.135, but shall be subject to the limitation s

specified in KRS 18A.111(7).

(5) Nothing in KRS 18A.005 to 18A.200 shall be construed as precluding appointing

officers from filling unclassified positions in the manner in which positions in the

classified service are filled except as otherwise provided in KRS 18A.005 to

18A.200.

(6) The positions of employees who are transferred, effective July 1, 1998, from the

Cabinet for Workforce Development to the Kentucky Community and Technical

College System shall be abolished and the employees' names removed from the

roster of state employees. E mployees that are transferred, effective July 1, 1998, to

the Kentucky Community and Technical College System under KRS Chapter 164

shall have the same benefits and rights as they had under KRS Chapter 18A and

have under KRS 164.5805; however, they shall h ave no guaranteed reemployment

rights in the KRS Chapter 151B or KRS Chapter 18A personnel systems. An

employee who seeks reemployment in a state position under KRS Chapter 151B or

KRS Chapter 18A shall have years of service in the Kentucky Community and

Technical College System counted towards years of experience for calculating

benefits and compensation.

(7) On August 15, 2000, all certified and equivalent personnel, all unclassified

personnel, and all certified and equivalent and unclassified vacant posi tions in the

Department for Adult Education and Literacy shall be transferred from the

personnel system under KRS Chapter 151B to the personnel system under KRS

Chapter 18A. The positions shall be deleted from the KRS Chapter 151B personnel

system. All rec ords shall be transferred including accumulated annual leave, sick

leave, compensatory time, and service credit for each affected employee. The

personnel officers who administer the personnel systems under KRS Chapter 151B

and KRS Chapter 18A shall exercis e the necessary administrative procedures to

effect the change in personnel authority. No certified or equivalent employee in the

Department for Adult Education and Literacy shall suffer any penalty in the

transfer.

(8) On August 15, 2000, secretaries and assistants attached to policymaking positions

in the Department for Technical Education and the Department for Adult Education

and Literacy shall be transferred from the personnel system under KRS Chapter

151B to the personnel system under KRS Chapter 18A. The positions shall be

deleted from the KRS Chapter 151B system. All records shall be transferred

including accumulated annual leave, sick leave, compensatory time, and service

credit for each affected employee. No employee shall suffer any penalty in the

transfer.

(9) On May 1, 2017, all contract employees of Eastern Kentucky University who are

engaged in providing instructional and support services to the Department of

Criminal Justice Training shall be transferred to the personnel system under KRS

Chapter 18A. All records shall be transferred, including accumulated annual leave,

sick leave, compensatory time, and service credit for each affected employee. The

personnel officers who administer the personnel systems for Eastern Kentucky

University and under KRS Chapter 18A shall exercise the necessary administrative

procedures to effect the change in personnel authority. No employee shall suffer

any penalty in the transfer.

(10) On July 1, 2024, all employees of the Louisville and Jefferson County Public

Defender Corporation shall be transferred to the personnel system under KRS

Chapter 18A. Records of each employee's job classification, compensation, dates of

employment, dates of professional licensure, probationary status, accumulated leave

balances by category, months of service, and any other information necessary under

KRS Chapter 18A shall be transferred. The personnel officers who administer the

personnel systems for the Louisville and Jefferson County Public Defender

Corporation and under KRS Chapter 18A shall exercise the necessary

administrative procedures to effect the change in the personnel authority. No

employee shall suffer any penalty in the transfer.