Civil Service List and Procedure Change for Police and FireCity of Dubuque
City Council
ACTION ITEMS # 9.
Copyrighted
August 18, 2025
ITEM TITLE: Civil Service List and Procedure Change for Police and Fire
SUMMARY: City Manager recommending City Council adopt the change
to forego the Civil Service Approval process under Iowa Code
§400.12A and authorize the creation of a police officer hiring
eligibility list of up to 40 police officer candidates and a
firefighter eligibility list of up to 40 firefighter candidates which
is outside the Civil Service Commission approval.
SUGGUESTED Receive and File; Approve
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
1. MVM Memo
2. Memo to MVM Civil Service List and Procedure Change for Police and Fire 081325
Page 508 of 579
THE CITY OF
DUBE
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Civil Service List and Procedure Change for Police and Fire
DATE: August 14, 2025
Dubuque
AI WIN av
2007-2012.2013
2017*2019
Chief of Police Jeremy Jensen and Fire Chief Amy Scheller are recommending City
Council adopt the change to forego the Civil Service Approval process under Iowa Code
§400.12A and authorize the creation of a police officer hiring eligibility list of up to 40
police officer candidates and a firefighter eligibility list of up to 40 firefighter candidates
which is outside the Civil Service Commission approval. This approval will be from the
time of adoption until January 5, 2026, when the City Council will be presented with the
request to establish the 2026 list.
The recommendation was presented to the Civil Service Commission on August 13,
2025. The Commission was in agreement the current process and the Commission
process was a mere formality due to the hiring requirements already in place. The
commissioners did ask for frequent reports as to the hiring process, number of
candidates and number of hires. This will be provided at the monthy Civil Service
Commission meeting.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Y
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:sv
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Jeremy Jensen, Chief of Police
Amy Scheller, Fire Chief
Shelley Stickfort, Chief of Human Resources
Page 509 of 579
Dubuque
THE CITY OF
Ali-Amerin My
N.111K 1_ 111 11 A 1
U B E ' 11'
2007*2012*2013
Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2017*2019
TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Jeremy Jensen, Chief of Police
Amy Scheller, Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Civil Service List and Procedure Change for Police and Fire
DATE: August 13, 2025
Introduction:
This memo recommends that the City Council authorize the establishment of a civil
service eligibility list of up to 40 candidates for the Police Department and Fire
Department in place of the current civil service process for new Police Officer and
Firefighter candidates, as pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 400. These will be separate
lists, one for police and one for fire.
Background/Discussion:
Iowa Code Chapter 400 governs the procedures for hiring civil service employees in
cities, including the administration of competitive examinations by the Civil Service
Commission. Specifically, Chapter 400.11 outlines the requirements for creating and
certifying eligible lists based on these exams.
However, Iowa Code §400.12A permits the City Council to adopt an alternative process
for establishing an eligibility list when doing so is in the best interest of public service
and efficiency.
Currently, the hiring process consists of the Police Department and Fire Department
making a written request to the Civil Service Commission to get approval to conduct
testing to establish a hiring list of up to 40 applicants. The Commission must approve
dates for any new officer testing. Police testing consists of the written test and the
physical fitness test as required by Iowa code. The Clerk's office then scores the
testing and provides it to the Civil Service Commission to add to the certified list. The
Page 510 of 579
Police Department nor Fire Department cannot hire anyone nor give conditional job
offers until they are on the certified list. Currently, for police, we do not get to know if a
person passed the written test until it is scored by the City Clerk's office (this is within a
couple of days). Until recently, we did not get to know who passed until they were on
the certified list. Because we do not know who passed, we cannot conduct interviews.
In a perfect world, the testing, scoring and approval to add individuals to a certified list
can be done within a week, but due to the schedules of Civil Service commissioners, it
has happened that we had to wait for the Commission to certify the candidates at their
next regularly scheduled monthly meeting. Once we decide if we want to give a
conditional offer, this request is then forwarded to the Human Resources Department
for review and for the o.k. to give the conditional job offer. This generally only takes 1 to
2 days. The process is similar for the fire department.
Days matter in the current public safety hiring environment. Any delays beyond the first
week often puts us behind in hiring. For the Police Department, we have very tight
schedules to get all of the State of Iowa requirements completed before a person can
attend the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. These requirements include the
psychological test, polygraph examination, medical examination, and background
checks. All of these must be done and all the paperwork submitted 30 days prior to the
start of the academy. The psychological test and medical examination are conducted by
third parties. This requires us to get appointments which can be 4-6 weeks out. If we
are delayed getting the conditional job offers to candidates, we will miss the academy
deadline. If we miss the academy deadline, we will most likely have to wait at least 4
months until the next academy starts. While it is possible to train officers before the
academy, we do believe this is a bit of a gamble, as the officer is not certified to do
certain things, thus limiting their abilities and would require us to teach the same thing
the academy teaches, then send them to the academy to get the training again for their
certification.
Additionally, it is a competitive market. A candidate does not need to wait for the Police
or Fire Dept. Again, days matter as the longer the process drags out the likelihood of
losing the candidate to another department increases.
Under Iowa Code §400.12A, the City Council may forego the standard approval process
which puts the approval on the Civil Service Commission. The Council may approve an
alternative method to establish an eligibility list for appointments. For police, applicants
will still be required to take the written test, the physical fitness test and pass both to be
eligible to be on the list (as required by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy). The
certified list can only have up to 40 applicants, per the established period. Right now
this period is one year, unless the list is expired or vacated. The list will still be sent to
the City Clerk's Office and the Civil Service Commission as documentation and
information only.
This request is not being made due to anything the Civil Service Commission has or has
not done, as they have been great to work with. This request is simply for operational
efficiency by enabling the following:
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Allowing the Police Department, Fire Department, and City to conduct
testing, interviews, and potentially extend conditional offers within the
same week, significantly expediting the hiring process. Also, this allows us
some control over timing to what we can control and thus reduce the
likelihood of missing an academy cut-off date. The members of the
training office of the Police Department have been trained in scoring the
written test.
Provides the flexibility to conduct "one-off" testing outside of traditional
testing cycles if strong candidates present themselves, ensuring no
opportunity is lost due to scheduling limitations. This would be outside of
the formal testing dates.
Supports better workforce planning and helps address vacancies or
anticipated retirements more swiftly.
Nothing in this proposal precludes any Federal, State, or City laws, ordinances or
procedures for standardized hiring. The Police Department, Fire Department, and the
City are committed to fair procedures that are documented and defensible to ensure
compliance with public employment standards. This proposal only applies to the new
hire process and not to the promotional process.
Adrienne Breitfelder (City Clerk), Shelley Stickfort (Chief Human Resources Officer),
and Crenna Brumwell (City Attorney) have been part of this discussion and are in
agreement with the proposed process pending City Council approval.
Additionally, this recommendation was presented to the Civil Service Commission on
August 13, 2025. The Commission was in agreement the current process and the
Commission process was a mere formality due to the hiring requirements already in
place. The commissioners did ask for frequent reports as to the hiring process, number
of candidates and number of hires. This will be provided at the monthy Civil Service
Commission meeting.
Recommendation:
I am recommending that the City Council adopt the change to forego the Civil Service
Approval process under Iowa Code §400.12A and authorize the creation of a police
officer hiring eligibility list of up to 40 police officer candidates and a firefighter eligibility
list of up to 40 firefighter candidates which is outside the Civil Service Commission
approval. This approval will be from the time of adoption until January 5, 2026, when
the City Council will be presented with the request to establish the 2026 list.
cc: Crenna Brumwell
Adrienne Breitfelder
Shelley Stickfort
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