NJ Civil Service Navigator

N.J.A.C. 4A:4-4.7 Removal of names

N.J.A.C. 4A:4-4.7, Removal of names. The name of an eligible may be removed from an eligible list for any of the following reasons: 1. The causes for disqualification listed in N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6. Full text with 9 recorded amendments, 388 citing decisions, cited by 5 other rules.

Selection and Appointment · Certification From Eligible Lists

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

Eleven reasons a name comes off an eligible list, and the list is the answer to why yours did. They run from the disqualification causes in 4A:4-6.1, through regular appointment to the title the list was promulgated for, inability or refusal to accept appointment, a criminal record that adversely relates to the employment sought, mail the postal authorities cannot deliver, non-compliance with the instructions on the notice of certification, discontinued residence in a jurisdiction the examination was limited to, and discontinued employment in the unit scope a promotional examination was limited to. Weighing a criminal record means weighing the seriousness of the crime, the circumstances, the date and the age of the eligible then, whether it was isolated, and evidence of rehabilitation. A pardon or an expungement prohibits removal, except for law enforcement, correction officer, correctional police officer, juvenile detention officer, firefighter and judiciary titles. Procedure has teeth. An appointing authority seeking removal must file everything it relies on by the disposition date and give the eligible copies, and failing either can defeat the request. Removal is appealed under 4A:4-6.3.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:4-4.7. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) The name of an eligible may be removed from an eligible list for any of the following reasons: #

1. The causes for disqualification listed in N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6.1; #

2. Regular appointment through certification to the title for which the list was promulgated or made appropriate, except that the appointment to a lower title will not be cause for removal; #

3. Inability, unavailability or refusal of eligible to accept appointment. An eligible who has declined appointment may, upon written request, have his or her name withheld from future certifications until available for appointment. An appropriate representative of the Civil Service Commission must be notified when the eligible wishes to be considered for certification; #

4. The eligible has a criminal record that adversely relates to the employment sought. #

i. The following factors may be considered in determining whether a criminal record adversely relates to employment: #

(1) The nature and seriousness of the crime; #

(2) The circumstances under which the crime occurred; #

(3) The date of the crime and age of the eligible when the crime was committed; #

(4) Whether the crime was an isolated event; and #

(5) Evidence of rehabilitation. #

ii. The presentation of a pardon or an expungement shall prohibit removal from a list, except for law enforcement, correction officer, correctional police officer, juvenile detention officer, firefighter, or judiciary titles and other titles as the Chairperson or designee may determine. #

5. Notice by the postal authorities that they are unable to locate or deliver mail to the eligible; #

6. Non-compliance with the instructions listed on the notice of certification; #

7. Discontinuance of an eligible's residence in the jurisdiction to which an examination was limited or for a title for which continuous residency is required; #

8. Discontinuance of the eligible's employment in the unit scope to which a promotional examination was limited, except when the eligible has accepted a temporary or interim appointment in another unit scope. An employee who subsequently returns to the unit scope within current continuous service may request, in writing to an appropriate representative of the Civil Service Commission, that his or her name be restored to the promotional list; #

9. Employees who are involuntarily transferred shall be retained on a promotional list until they have had an opportunity to take a promotional examination in the new promotional unit scope or have been appointed from the list; #

10. Failure to maintain interest in a geographical area or choice; and #

11. Other valid reasons as determined by the Chairperson or designee. #

(b) An appointing authority that requests removal of an eligible's name from a list shall submit to an appropriate representative of the Civil Service Commission, no later than the date for disposition of the certification, all documents and arguments upon which it bases its request. #

1. Upon request of the eligible or upon the eligible's appeal, the appointing authority shall provide the eligible with copies of all materials sent to the appropriate Commission representative. #

2. If the appointing authority fails to provide either the appropriate Commission representative or the eligible with copies of materials, the request for removal may be denied. #

(c) An appropriate representative of the Civil Service Commission shall determine if there are sufficient grounds for removal, notify the appointing authority and the eligible of its decision, and advise the eligible of his or her appeal rights. #

(d) An eligible may appeal his or her removal from an eligible list utilizing the procedures in N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6.3. #

(e) The removal of names from an eligible list will advance the rank order of all names below it. The Chairperson or designee may supplement a certification to provide the appointing authority with the number of names necessary for a complete certification. #

(f) Acceptance or refusal of a temporary or interim appointment shall not be cause for removal from an eligible list. #

(g) When the Civil Service Commission has accepted a single application for one or more title areas, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.3(c), an eligible whose name has been removed from the pool of eligibles for one jurisdiction or title area for cause shall be removed from the pool of eligibles for any other jurisdiction or title area. #

(h) When an eligible has received a regular appointment from a certification of a pool of eligibles, the eligible shall be removed from the pool of eligibles for that title area only. #

Your name was removed from the eligible list

Eleven grounds are listed, and the first is a cross-reference rather than a ground of its own: every cause for denying examination eligibility or appointment permits removal from a list as well. The rest are specific. Regular appointment through certification to the title, though appointment to a lower title is not cause. Inability, unavailability or refusal to accept appointment. A criminal record that adversely relates to the employment sought. Notice from the postal authorities that they cannot locate or deliver mail to you. Non-compliance with the instructions on the notice of certification. Ending your residence in a jurisdiction an examination was limited to, or in a title requiring continuous residency. Leaving the unit scope a promotional examination was limited to. Failure to maintain interest in a geographical area or choice. And other valid reasons as determined by the Chairperson.

One of the eleven is not a ground at all. Item nine says employees who are involuntarily transferred shall be retained on a promotional list until they have had the opportunity to take a promotional examination in the new unit scope or have been appointed from the list. It sits in a list of reasons for removal and it does the opposite of the other ten.

The criminal record ground is the one most often argued, and it is a test rather than a fact. Five factors decide whether a record adversely relates to the employment sought: the nature and seriousness of the crime, the circumstances in which it occurred, the date of the crime and your age at the time, whether it was an isolated event, and evidence of rehabilitation. Presenting a pardon or an expungement prohibits removal outright, except for law enforcement, correction officer, correctional police officer, juvenile detention officer, firefighter and judiciary titles, and any other titles the Chairperson determines. For those titles the pardon or expungement does not close the question.

The appointing authority carries obligations of its own, and they are enforceable. It must submit every document and argument supporting the removal request to a Commission representative no later than the date for disposition of the certification. On your request, or on your appeal, it must give you copies of everything it sent. Failure to provide either the Commission representative or you with those materials may result in the request being denied. A Commission representative then decides whether the grounds are sufficient, notifies both sides, and has to advise you of your appeal rights.

The appeal runs through the examination and selection procedures, where the burden of proof is on you, and filing it does not stop the list being promulgated, a certification being issued or somebody else being appointed. The 20-day filing period and the requirement to file with the representative named on the notice sit in a different section again. A removal sought for medical or psychological reasons goes somewhere else entirely, with its own 20-day appeal, a 90-day window to submit a report from a professional of your own choosing, and the burden of proof on the appointing authority instead.

Three things are not removal, and they are worth separating from it. Accepting or refusing a temporary or interim appointment is expressly not cause. An eligible who declines an appointment may ask in writing to have their name withheld from future certifications until available rather than taken off. And somebody removed for leaving a promotional unit scope may ask in writing for restoration on returning to it within current continuous service. Two mechanical consequences follow any removal: every name below yours moves up a rank, and where the Commission accepted a single application covering more than one jurisdiction or title area, removal for cause from one pool removes you from all of them.

Related on this site: /nj-civil-service-certification-disposition, /eligibility-lists

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team. Every statement here traces to the rules cited on this page. It is not legal advice, and a collective agreement may change how these rules apply to you.

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 9 recorded changes.

  1. AmendedR.2019 d.072
    51 N.J.R. 191(b); 51 N.J.R. 1115(a)
  2. AmendedR.2017 d.142
    49 N.J.R. 492(a); 49 N.J.R. 2239(a)
  3. AmendedR.2012 d.032
    43 N.J.R. 2639(a); 44 N.J.R. 226(a)
  4. AmendedR.2006 d.104
    37 N.J.R. 4351(a); 38 N.J.R. 1425(a)
  5. AmendedR.1998 d.291
    30 N.J.R. 890(a); 30 N.J.R. 1975(a)
  6. AmendedR.1997 d.482
    29 N.J.R. 3385(a); 29 N.J.R. 4864(b)
  7. AmendedR.1993 d.270
    25 N.J.R. 1085(b); 25 N.J.R. 2509(a)
  8. date not statedPetition for rulemaking
    37 N.J.R. 675(a)
  9. date not statedPetition for rulemaking
    51 N.J.R. 367(b)

How this rule has been applied

388 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:4-4.7. 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.

Superior Court (1)
  • Pollinger v. Loigman256 N.J.Super. 257; 606 A.2d 1113
Civil Service Commission final determinations (385)
Office of Administrative Law initial decisions (1)
  • In re EarpDocket CSV 13383-12cites (a)1
Other decisions (1)
  • Removal, by the Department of Corrections (DOC), of a candidate's name from the Correction Officer Recruit (S9987M), DOC eligible list on the basis that she had falsified her employment application was authorized by N.J.A.C. 4A:4-4.7(a)1 and N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6.1(a)6, which together allowed a candidate's name to be removed from an employment list for making a false statement of any material fact or attempting any deception of fraud in any part of the selection or appointment process because the candidate failed to include, in the list of criminal charges that had been filed against her, a charge that she had received stolen property, and then claimed both to have forgotten about the offense and to not have known that it was ever filed. Because the candidate withheld material information, thereby failing to present and complete and accurate picture of her background, the DOC had a sufficient basis for its decision to remove her name from the eligible list and her appeal was properly denied. In re Anrea Darby, Correction Officer Recruit (S9987M), Department of Corrections, CSC Dkt. No. 2013-948, Final Decision (February 21cites (a)1

Commission decisions citing 4A:4-4.7

444 decisions of the Civil Service Commission since January 16, 2019 cite this section (denied 262, granted 164, granted in part 13, as the minutes record the outcome). The newest:

All 444 decisions

This rule points to

Rules that point here

Elsewhere in Certification From Eligible Lists