______________________________________ 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
 State of California
 

DANIEL E. LUNGREN
 Attorney General
 

OPINION : 

: No. 92-313 

of : 

: OCTOBER 21, 1992 

DANIEL E. LUNGREN : 

Attorney General : 

: 

ANTHONY DA VIGO : 

Deputy Attorney General : 

: 

THE HONORABLE WILLIE L. BROWN, JR., SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, 

has requested an opinion on the following question: 

Are employees serving in the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community

Colleges under the interjurisdictional exchange program eligible to serve on qualifications appraisal

panels for the hiring and promotion of state civil service employees? 

CONCLUSION 

Employees serving in the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community

Colleges under the interjurisdictional exchange program are eligible to serve on qualifications

appraisal panels for hiring and promotion of state civil service employees. 

ANALYSIS 

The Legislature has established an interjurisdictional exchange program providing

for the temporary assignment or loan of employees between agencies or jurisdictions. (Gov. Code,

§ 19050.8.)1/ The program is part of the State Civil Service Act (§§ 18500-19799) administered by

the State Personnel Board (hereafter "Board"). (See Cal. Const., art. VII, §§ 2-3; § 18521.) Section 

19050.8 provides in part: 

"The board may prescribe rules governing the temporary assignment or loan

of employees within an agency or between agencies for not to exceed two years or

between jurisdictions for not to exceed four years for any of the following purposes: 

1. Unidentified section references herein are to the Government Code. 
"(a) To provide training to employees. 

"(b) To enable an agency to obtain expertise needed to meet a compelling

program or management need. 

"(c) To facilitate the return of injured employees to work. 

"These temporary assignments or loans shall be deemed to be in accord with

this part limiting employees to duties consistent with their class and may be used to

meet minimum requirements for promotional as well as open examinations. . . . 

". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

"For purposes of this section, a temporary assignment or loan between

educational agencies shall be extended for up to two additional years upon a finding

by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Chancellor of the California

Community Colleges, and with the approval of the Executive Officer of the State

Personnel Board, that the extension is necessary in order to substantially complete

work on an educational improvement project. Public and private colleges and

universities shall be considered educational jurisdictions within the meaning of this

section." 

The Board is authorized to prescribe, amend, and repeal rules for the administration

and enforcement of the State Civil Service Act. (§ 18701.) Pursuant to this authority and the

express provisions of section 19050.8, the Board has promulgated rules relating to the interagency

and interjurisdictional exchange of employees. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, §§ 426, 427.)2/ 

We are asked whether employees serving in the Office of the Chancellor of the

California Community Colleges under the interjurisdictional exchange program are eligible to serve

on qualifications appraisal panels for the hiring and promotion of state civil service employees.

Typically, these employees are administrators from local community college districts and serve in

the Chancellor's Office in a variety of managerial and supervisory positions. We conclude that such 

employees may serve on the panels in question. 

In examining the language of section 19050.8 and the administrative rules implement

it, we are mindful of several principles of statutory construction. "The words of the statute must be 

construed in context, keeping in mind the statutory purpose, and statutes or statutory sections

relating to the same subject must be harmonized, both internally and with each other, to the extent

possible." (Dyra-Med, Inc. v. Fair Employment & Housing Com. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1379, 1387.)

"Unless unreasonable or clearly contrary to the statutory language or purpose, the consistent

construction of a statute by an agency charged with responsibility for its implementation is entitled

to great deference." (Dix v. Superior Court, supra, Cal.3d 442, 460; see Board of Supervisors v. 

Lonergan (1980) 27 Cal.3d 855, 866.) "[W]hen the construction of an administrative regulation is

in issue, the administrative construction is accorded even greater deference." (Westfall v. Swoap

(1976) 58 Cal.3d 109, 114; see Industrial Indemnity Co. v. City and County of San Francisco 

(1990) 218 Cal.3d 999, 1009; American Hospital Supply Corp. v. State Bd. of Equalization (1985) 

2. "Rule" references herein are to regulations contained in title 2 of the California Code

of Regulations. 

2. 92-313 
169 Cal.3d 1088, 1092; Herrick v. State of California (1983) 149 Cal.3d 156, 165.) Normally, "the

same rules of construction and interpretation which apply to statutes govern the construction and

interpretation of rules and regulations of administrative agencies." (Cal. Drive-In Restaurant Assn. 

v. Clark (1943) 22 Cal.2d 287, 292; accord, Industrial Indemnity Co. v. City and County of San

Francisco, supra (1990) 218 Cal.3d 999, 1008; Guardians of Turlock's Integrity v. Turlock City

Council (1983) 149 Cal.3d 584, 595.) Finally, the failure of the Legislature to amend an existing

statute may have some interpretive value. (Title Ins. & Trust Co. v. County of Riverside (1989) 48

Cal.3d 84, 96-97; Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson (1982) 30 Cal.3d 721, 735, fn. 7; Nestle v. City

of Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 935-936.) 

It is the purpose of the State Civil Service Act, inter alia, to provide a comprehensive

personnel system for the state civil service in which appointments are based on merit and fitness

ascertained through practical and competitive examination. (§ 18500, subd. (c)(2).) Examinations 

may be written or oral, but of such character as fairly to test and determine the qualifications, fitness,

and ability of competitors actually to perform the duties of the class of position for which they seek

appointment. (§ 18930.) 

Qualifications appraisal interviews for competitive oral examinations are typically

conducted by qualifications appraisal panels. (Rule 195.) Rule 196 prescribes the composition of 

such panels: 

"Each qualifications panel shall include a representative of the State

Personnel Board who shall be chairman and, except when the executive officer finds

that the state's interest will not benefit therefrom: 

"(a) One or more persons within the state service, preferably from the agency

or agencies for which the employment list is being established, who are familiar with

the job requirements of the class for which the examination is being held; and 

"(b) One or more citizens not in the state service." 

The primary issue to be addressed herein is whether a temporary employee under the

interjurisdictional exchange program is a person "within the state service" for purposes of Rule 196,

subdivision (a). It is assumed that the second qualification, i.e., familiarity with the job requirements

of the class for which the examination is being held, shall have been satisfied. 

A temporary employee is similarly situated in virtually all respects with state civil

service employees, works under the same direction and supervision, on the same projects, performs

essentially the same duties, and has the same responsibilities and expectations as other state

employees. A temporary employee's duties must be consistent with the employee's classification,

and such as to meet minimum requirements for promotional as well as open examinations. (§

19050.8.) 

On the other hand, it may be pointed out that the Board's rules governing temporary

transfers provide in part that a temporary employee ". . . shall be considered for all purposes of the

Government Code and rules as an employee of the agency from which loaned or assigned except

that the employee's salary may be paid in any proper manner agreed upon by the participating

agencies." (Rule 426.) In our view, Rule 426 refers to the salary and benefits of an assigned

employee. 

3. 92-313
 
 

 

Rule 196, subdivision (a), on the other hand, requires only that the employee in

question, whether that of the assigning agency or that of the agency to which assigned, be a person

"within the state service," a significantly broader term. 

Rule 196 thus does not require that the person designated to serve on a panel be a

member of the "state civil service."3/ Rather, the plain meaning of "within the state service" simply

connotes a person who is in the service of the state. Consequently, an individual assigned from

another jurisdiction,4/ while not a civil service employee of the State of California, is nevertheless

". . . subject to the direction of the [state]" (Rule 427) and plainly within its service. The Board has

interpreted Rule 196 as including "within the state service" those who are specifically exempt from

civil service and those on temporary assignment under the interjurisdictional exchange program.

We believe that the Board's interpretation of its own rule is reasonable. 

Finally, we note that the Legislature recently failed in its attempt to amend section

19050.8 to prohibit interjurisdictional employees from being "assigned . . . personnel duties and

functions" (Assem. Bill No. 1569 (1991-1992 Reg. Sess.), when the Governor vetoed the bill.

Under these circumstances, and given the Board's interpretation of Rule 196, this legislative history

is consistent with our conclusion. 

It is concluded that an employee serving in the Chancellor's Office under the

interjurisdictional exchange program is eligible to serve on qualifications appraisal panels for the

hiring and promotion of state civil service employees. 

* * * * * 

3

The state civil service includes every officer and employee of the state except as otherwise

provided in the Constitution. (Cal. Const., art. VII, § 1, subd. (a).) Temporary employees from 

other jurisdictions gain no status in the state civil service. (Rule 427.) 

4

Section 19050.8 provides that public and private colleges and universities shall be considered

educational jurisdictions for purposes of the interjurisdictional exchange program. 

4. 92-313