# Division 6. Competitive Examinations Codified through Bill No. CB-018-2026, adopted May 12, 2026, effective July 24, 2026. Source: Municode, Supplement 2026 Update 2. Editorial notes and legislative history omitted. ## Division 6. Competitive Examinations ### Sec. 16-151. Promotion and recruitment policy Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-151 (2026) (a) In order to provide quality public service, it shall be the policy of Prince George's County to make employment with Prince George's County attractive as a career. To that end, the County will seek to recruit applicants dedicated to providing outstanding service and possessing the potential for future growth and development, and to offer promotional opportunities to employees who have demonstrated commitment, skills, and abilities. (b) In order to provide appointing authorities with better capability to review and assess the performance of employees whom they have promoted into vacant positions under their jurisdictions, and at the same time to better protect the career progress of such employees at the time of such promotions, appointing authorities shall be authorized, at their discretion, to competitively or noncompetitively promote employees to vacant positions under their jurisdictions on a limited-term basis for a period not to exceed six (6) calendar months. Any employee, so promoted, shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges as afforded other limited-term promotions. (c) Appointing authorities will be given the flexibility to develop job-related qualifications and interview requirements in order to effectively select the best qualified candidate, subject to the approval of the Director of Human Resources Management. ### Sec. 16-152. Announcement of promotional and recruitment examinations Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-152 (2026) The Director of Human Resources Management shall determine the appropriate method of announcing vacant positions in accordance with Sections 16-147 and 16-148 and in consultation with appropriate appointing authorities or their designees. ### Sec. 16-153. Reserved Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-153 (2026) ### Sec. 16-154. Contents and distribution of promotional and recruitment examination announcements Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-154 (2026) (a) Contents. In addition to such information as the Director of Human Resources Management may deem as necessary or appropriate, each announcement of a competitive promotional or recruitment examination, as provided above, shall include the following information: (1) An identification of the class of work and the number of existing and/or projected vacant positions for which the examination has been announced; (2) A description of required duties, tasks, and responsibilities and the minimum qualification requirements to be eligible for promotion or appointment; (3) An identification of the grade and the salary range or entry salary rate applicable to the class of work; (4) An identification of where, when, and in what format an applicant must respond to said announcement. The closing date for applicant submissions shall be in accordance with established personnel procedures; and (5) The date of merger on and the duration of, the eligibility register as derived from the examination. (b) Distribution. (1) The Director of Human Resources Management shall distribute copies of each competitive promotional examination announcement to all appointing authorities within County government on a timely basis coincidental with the effective date of the issuance of such announcements. All appointing authorities shall be responsible for insuring that copies of such announcements, upon receipt thereof from the Director of Human Resources Management, are posted at conspicuous places and locations within their departments, agencies, or offices which are readily accessible to their employees. (2) The Director of Human Resources Management shall provide for the distribution of each competitive recruitment examination announcement through the posting of said announcements at conspicuous locations and places within each County department, agency, and office which are readily accessible to employees and at other conspicuous locations which are readily accessible to the general public. The Director of Human Resources Management may also provide for the distribution of said announcement through other appropriate means, including advertisement in newspapers, journals, and on-line publications. ### Sec. 16-155. Special examination announcements Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-155 (2026) (a) Where the Director of Human Resources Management determines that a particular vacant classified service position within a class of work has characteristics which make it unique to or unrepresentative of, all other positions allocated to said class of work, the Director of Human Resources Management may announce a special competitive promotional or recruitment examination, whichever is required as provided in Section 16-152, above, applicable only to the particular vacant position. (b) In the event any such special competitive promotional or recruitment examination is announced, the provisions of Section 16-154, above, shall apply to such announcement with respect to its contents and distribution, except that the announcement may cite the position title and position description in lieu of the class title and class standard for the particular vacant position. (c) As used in this Section, a position is unique to or unrepresentative of, other positions within the same class of work if, on the basis of the location of the position within a given department, agency, or office, the position should be most appropriately occupied by an eligible who can accommodate atypical or unusual working conditions and/or by an eligible who possesses specialized knowledge, skills, or abilities if said knowledge, skills or abilities are consistent with the qualification requirements applicable to the particular position. ### Sec. 16-156. Qualification requirements Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-156 (2026) (a) The Director of Human Resources Management shall be responsible for developing, in consultation with appointing authorities, where appropriate, a qualification requirements statement for each established class of work which specifies the minimum qualifications requisite for any person to initially occupy and continue to occupy any position allocated to a particular class of work. (b) The Director of Human Resources Management shall insure that each such qualification requirements statement, as developed, is limited in its contents to include only those occupational requirements which are realistic and job-related in nature and, as such: (1) Measure and predict only a person's aptitude or ability to satisfactorily perform the duties, tasks, and responsibilities required to occupy and continue to occupy any position in an established class of work; and, (2) Eliminate artificial, arbitrary, and unnecessary barriers to employment and/or continued employment. (c) The Director of Human Resources Management shall periodically evaluate the qualification requirements statement for each class of work established in the Classification Plan in accordance with established personnel procedures. ### Sec. 16-157. Examination contents and methodology Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-157 (2026) (a) The Director of Human Resources Management shall be responsible for the development of competitive promotional and recruitment examinations which shall be based on the qualification requirements applicable to the vacant position or positions for which such examinations are announced by the Director of Human Resources Management. The Director of Human Resources Management may consult with appointing authorities in the development of such qualification requirements. (b) Any such examination shall include, but not be limited to, any of the following types of tests: (1) Written, oral, and/or performance tests; (2) Measurements of education and/or training and experience; or (3) Any appropriate combination of the foregoing tests and measurements. (c) The Director of Human Resources Management shall also be responsible for routinely assessing the accuracy, validity, predictability, and utility of such examinations. ### Sec. 16-158. Examination administration Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-158 (2026) (a) The Director of Human Resources Management shall be responsible for insuring that examination administration procedures, including, but not limited to, testing facilities, equipment, examination directions and instructions, and oral interview methods, are conducive to the equitable and reliable assessment of each promotional or recruitment applicant's abilities and aptitudes. (b) Whenever the Director of Human Resources Management has reason to believe that standardized examination procedures would tend to cause an unreasonable impediment to, or an inaccurate measurement of, the ability or aptitude of a promotional or recruitment applicant who has a demonstrated disability, the Director of Human Resources Management shall, where feasible, provide a reasonable alternative or accommodation to such standardized procedures in order to provide for a more accurate measurement of any such applicant's ability or aptitude. ### Sec. 16-159. Examination ratings Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-159 (2026) The Director of Human Resources Management shall apply the same rating system to all applicants who are determined to be eligible for competitive promotion or appointment to vacant positions in a particular class of work. The Director of Human Resources Management shall determine the appropriate use of nominal, ordinal, and numerical ratings and shall ensure sufficiency of the rating process. Where appropriate, the Director of Human Resources Management may apply an alternative rating system for particular positions in a class of work, including rating by minimum qualifications. Such determination must include a consideration of the critical nature of the vacancy(ies) and the appropriateness and uniformity of the criteria. ### Sec. 16-160. Notification of eligibility, rating, and standing on register Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-160 (2026) (a) Any person who has taken a competitive examination for promotion or appointment to a vacant position or positions within a given class of work shall, thereafter, be notified, in writing, by the Director of Human Resources Management of the person's eligibility or ineligibility for promotion or appointment, as appropriate. (b) If any such person is determined to be ineligible, the written notification shall state the reasons for such determination of ineligibility, and: (1) Where said person is an applicant for competitive promotion, the notice shall also describe the employee's right to initiate a grievance with respect to such determination in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-200; (2) The notice shall also state the person's right to inspect all applicable examination documents and materials as provided in Section 16-161; and (3) The notice shall also advise any such ineligible of any procedures governing retesting. (c) If any such person is determined to be eligible, the written notification shall state: (1) The person's examination rating; (2) The person's order or standing on the eligibility register as of a specified date; (3) The person's right to inspect all applicable examination documents and materials, as provided in Section 16-161; (4) The duration of the person's eligibility on the applicable eligibility register and the person's rights to reestablish eligibility, as provided in Section 16-164, below; (5) The anticipated date or dates of certification from the eligibility register and the procedures for consideration by the appointing authority if the person's name is on the certification list; (6) The person's right to initiate a grievance with respect to such rating in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-200 if the person is an eligible seeking competitive promotion; and (7) Any other information the Director of Human Resources Management deems as necessary or appropriate. ### Sec. 16-161. Maintenance and inspection of examination papers Prince George's County, Md., Code § 16-161 (2026) (a) The Director of Human Resources Management shall maintain on file all the examination documents and materials, including any performance evaluations, of each person who has taken a competitive examination for promotion or appointment to any vacant position or positions with a given class of work. Unless longer retention periods are otherwise required by law or statute, said examination documents and materials shall be maintained for a period of three (3) calendar years from the date the Director of Human Resources Management issues the required written notification of eligibility, examination rating, and standing on the register to the person or for the period of the duration of the person's eligibility on the eligibility register, whichever is longer. (b) Any such person shall have the right to inspect said person's examination documents and materials during the period of retention and maintenance thereof by the Director of Human Resources Management. When a competitive examination involves ratings derived from the judgments of subject matter experts, the individual ratings assigned by such experts shall not be available for inspection by the person in interest. However, a composite rating for each part of the examination which is judged by such experts shall be made available to the person in interest. (c) Each person's examination documents and materials shall be deemed to be confidential information and, as such, shall not be made available by the Director of Human Resources Management to the general public for inspection; except that the following persons shall be entitled to inspect any person's examination documents and materials, in addition to the person in interest: (1) Any person to whom the person in interest has given prior written authorization; and (2) An appointing authority where the name of the person in interest appears as an eligible on a certification list referred to such appointing authority by the Director of Human Resources Management. (d) The Director of Human Resources Management shall develop personnel procedures delineating those examination documents available for inspection to those parties identified under Subsection (c), above. Said procedures shall provide any of said parties reasonable access to test materials while at the same time providing for the security and integrity of the examination materials.