N.J.A.C. 4A:3-1.3 Unclassified service
N.J.A.C. 4A:3-1.3, Unclassified service. A job title shall be allocated by the Civil Service Commission to the unclassified service when: 1. In State service, the title is so designated under N.J.S Full text with 1 recorded amendment, 8 citing decisions, cited by 1 other rule.
Current through New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 14, July 20, 2026. Reviewed as of July 26, 2026.
This is an annotated mirror, not the official publication. Verify against the Civil Service Commission before relying on it.
In plain language
Ten is the ceiling on municipal department heads a single municipality may place in the unclassified service, and it is the hardest number in this section. The rest sets out when a title is unclassified at all: designation under the State statute or the local statute, designation by some other specific statute, a statute providing that incumbents serve a fixed term or at the pleasure of the appointing authority, or a Commission finding that merit and fitness cannot practicably be tested for and that permanent appointments are not appropriate. Two definitions do real work. A municipal department head, where statute has not already fixed the position, is someone whose position was created by ordinance or resolution to perform substantial managerial duties, holding authority over appointment, removal, selection for promotion, and the assignment and work of subordinates, answerable only to the governing body and applicable statutes. Principal executive officer differs by service: in local service a managerial title independent of other executive authority, and in State service someone the Governor appoints with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:3-1.3. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.
(a) A job title shall be allocated by the Civil Service Commission to the unclassified service when: #
1. In State service, the title is so designated under N.J.S.A. 11A:3-4; #
2. In local service, the title is so designated under N.J.S.A. 11A:3-5; #
3. The title is designated unclassified by another specific statute; #
4. A specific statute provides that incumbents in the title serve for a fixed term or at the pleasure of the appointing authority; or #
5. The Civil Service Commission determines that it is not practicable to determine merit and fitness for appointment in or promotion to that title by examination and that it is not appropriate to make permanent appointments to the title. #
(b) In local service, no more than 10 municipal department heads may be allocated to the unclassified service in each municipality. A department head in a municipality, where not otherwise set by statute, is a person whose position has been created by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, to perform substantial managerial duties, and who has the authority and powers of appointment, removal, selection for promotion, and control of the assignment and work of subordinates subject only to the legislative power of the governing body and applicable statutes. #
(c) In local service, a principal executive officer, for purposes of unclassified appointments under N.J.S.A. 11A:3-5(h) and (j), is a managerial title which is independent of other executive authority, and is established by statute or designated by the Civil Service Commission. #
(d) In State service, a principal executive officer, for purposes of unclassified appointments under N.J.S.A. 11A:3-4(h), is one who is appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. #
Amendment history
Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 1 recorded change.
- AmendedR.2017 d.10048 N.J.R. 2653(a); 49 N.J.R. 1182(a)
How this rule has been applied
8 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:3-1.3. The list below is citations to those decisions, not the decisions. We have not written summaries for this section. A citation with no summary is deliberate: we do not paraphrase a decision we have not read. Nothing here is legal advice.
Civil Service Commission final determinations (7)
- In re Interim Pub. Health Recovery Div., Epidemiology & Laboratory Capacity Enhancing Detection, Dep't of Health, CSC Docket No. 2022-9362021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 523Docket 2022-936
- In re American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Dep't of Health, CSC Docket No. 2022-5052021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 436Docket 2022-505
- In re COVID-19 Unclassified Titles, CSC Docket No. 2021-2732020 N.J. CSC LEXIS 987Docket 2021-273
- In re Wallace, Twp. of Willingboro, CSC Docket No. 2018-2972017 N.J. CSC LEXIS 812Docket 2018-297
- In re Office of Recovery, Dep't of Human Servs., CSC Docket No. 2014-3422013 N.J. CSC LEXIS 733Docket 2014-342
- In re Interim Public Health Recovery Div., Dep't of Health, CSC Dkt. No. 2014-1702013 N.J. CSC LEXIS 410
- In re Interim Disaster Recovery Div., CSC Docket No. 2013-25972013 N.J. CSC LEXIS 168Docket 2013-2597
Office of Administrative Law initial decisions (1)
- Tarboro v. Bd. of Trs., Pub. Employees' Ret. Sys.2018 N.J. AGEN LEXIS 651Docket TYP 12438-14