AN ACT INCREASING THE MINIMUM AGE FOR APPOINTMENT AS A POLICE OFFICER.
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to increase the minimum age for appointment of police officers, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 10 of chapter 22C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 26, the word "nineteenth" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- twenty-first.
SECTION 2. Section 58 of chapter 31 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 18 and 19, the words "or police officer".
SECTION 3. The second paragraph of said section 58 of said chapter 31, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- No person shall be eligible to take an examination for orignal appointment to the position of police officer in any city or town if he will not have reached his twenty-first birthday on or before the final date for the filing of applications for such examination, as so stated.
SECTION 4. Section 64 of said chapter 31, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 14, the word "nineteenth" and inserting in the place thereof the following figure:- twenty-first.
SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no person who has not reached his twenty-first birthday shall be appointed for the first time as a public safety officer in the division of law enforcement of the department of fisheries, wildlife and recreational vehicles or a campus police officer at a state or community college. The minimum age restriction for original appointment to said positions in effect before the effective date of this act shall apply to persons who have completed a competitive examination for said position before the effective date of this act.
SECTION 6. Section 10 of chapter 22C of the General Laws in effect before the effective date of this act shall apply to any person who has completed a competitive examination for appointment to the state police before the effective date of this act.