2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 1 - Government Organization › Chapter 6 - Merit Personnel System › Subchapter IX - Excepted Service › § 1–609.03. Number of Excepted Service employees; redelegation of authority to appoint; publication requirement

§ 1–609.03. Number of Excepted Service employees; redelegation of authority to appoint; publication requirement.
(a) Under qualifications issued pursuant to § 1-609.01, each appropriate personnel authority may appoint persons to the Excepted Service as follows:
(1) The Mayor may appoint no more than 220 persons;
(2) The Members of the Council of the District of Columbia may appoint persons to their staffs, except those permanent technical and clerical employees appointed by the Secretary or General Counsel and those in the Legal Service;
(2A) The Attorney General may appoint no more than 30 persons;
(3) The Inspector General may appoint no more than 15 persons;
(4) The District of Columbia Auditor may appoint no more than 5 persons;
(5) The Chief of Police may appoint no more than 6 persons;
(6) The Chief of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department may appoint no more than 6 persons;
(7) The Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia may appoint officers of the University, persons who report directly to the President, persons who head major units of the University, academic administrators, and persons in a confidential relationship to the foregoing, exclusive of those listed in the definition of the Educational Service; provided, that the total number of persons appointed by the University to the Excepted Service shall not exceed 20;
(8) The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council may appoint no more than 9 persons;
(9) The District of Columbia Sentencing Commission may appoint no more than 11 persons;
(10) The State Board of Education may appoint staff to serve an administrative role for the elected members of the Board; provided, that funding is available and that at least 3 full-time equivalent employees are appointed to the Office of Ombudsman for Public Education.
(11) Each other personnel authority not expressly designated in paragraphs (1) through (10) of this subsection may appoint 2 persons.
(b) The authority to appoint persons to the Excepted Service, which is vested in subsection (a) of this section, may be redelegated, in whole or in part.
(c) Within 45 days of actual appointment and within 45 days of any change in such appointment, the names, position titles, and agency placements of all persons appointed to Excepted Service positions under the authority of this section shall be:
(1) Published in the District of Columbia Register; and
(2) Posted online on a website accessible to the public.
(d) At the discretion of the personnel authority, an individual appointed to the Excepted Service at grade level DS-11 or above pursuant to this section:
(1) May be paid in accordance with the pay schedule for the Management Supervisory Service as provided in § 1-609.56; and
(2) May be placed in any step of the appropriate grade of that schedule.
(e) The personnel authority may authorize performance incentives for exceptional service for individuals appointed pursuant to this section not to exceed 10% of the rate of basic pay in any year. Such exceptional service incentives may be paid only when the Excepted Service employee is bound by a performance contract that clearly identifies measurable goals and outcomes and the employee has exceeded contractual expectations in the year for which the incentive is paid.
(f) An individual appointed to the Excepted Service pursuant to this section or § 1-609.08 may be paid severance pay upon separation for non-disciplinary reasons according to the length of the individual’s employment with the District government as follows:
Length of Employment
Maximum Severance
Up to 6 months
2 weeks of the employee’s basic pay
6 months to 1 year
4 weeks of the employee’s basic pay
1 to 3 years
8 weeks of the employee’s basic pay
More than 3 years
10 weeks of the employee’s basic pay.
(g)(1) Pursuant to regulations as the Mayor may prescribe, the following expenses may be paid to an individual being interviewed for, or an appointee to, a hard-to-fill Excepted Service position at a DS-11 or above:
(A) Reasonable pre-employment travel expenses;
(B) Reasonable relocation expenses for the Excepted Service selectee or appointee and his or her immediate family if they relocate to the District of Columbia from outside the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area; and
(C) A reasonable temporary housing allowance, for a period not to exceed 60 days, for the Excepted Service selectee or appointee and his or her immediate family.
(2) In no event shall the sum of pre-employment travel expenses, relocation expenses, and temporary housing allowance exceed $10,000 or 10% of the appointee’s salary, whichever is less.
(h) Within 90 days of September 10, 1999, and notwithstanding any other law or regulation, the Mayor shall submit to the Council for approval under the provisions of § 1-611.06, regulations establishing the Metropolitan Police Department Excepted Service Sworn Employees” Compensation System. Such regulations shall establish policies and procedures governing the compensation, promotion, transfer, and demotion of Metropolitan Police Department excepted service sworn employees appointed pursuant to section § 1-609.03(a)(2).
(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-139, § 903, 25 DCR 5740; Aug. 2, 1983, D.C. Law 5-24, § 12(b), 30 DCR 3341; Feb. 24, 1987, D.C. Law 6-177, § 3(i), 33 DCR 7241; Feb. 28, 1987, D.C. Law 6-205, § 2(b), 34 DCR 670; Aug. 1, 1996, D.C. Law 11-152, § 302(h), 43 DCR 2978; June 10, 1998, D.C. Law 12-124, § 101(h), 45 DCR 2464; Mar. 26, 1999, D.C. Law 12-175, § 302, 45 DCR 7193; Sept. 10, 1999, D.C. Law 13-27, § 2(a), 46 DCR 5315; Mar. 7, 2000, D.C. Law 13-52, § 2, 46 DCR 9911; Oct. 19, 2000, D.C. Law 13-172, § 2402(a), 47 DCR 6308; Oct. 3, 2001, D.C. Law 14-28, §§ 1002, 1507(a)(2), 3803(b), 48 DCR 6981; Sept. 30, 2004, D.C. Law 15-190, § 3(b), 51 DCR 6737; Apr. 7, 2006, D.C. Law 16-91, § 110(c), 52 DCR 10637; June 16, 2006, D.C. Law 16-126, § 3(b), 53 DCR 4709; Mar. 20, 2008, D.C. Law 17-122, § 2(b), 55 DCR 1506; Mar. 14, 2012, D.C. Law 19-115, § 2(d), 59 DCR 461; Apr. 27, 2013, D.C. Law 19-284, § 2(b), 60 DCR 2312; Dec. 24, 2013, D.C. Law 20-61, §§ 1072(a), 4062, 60 DCR 12472; May 2, 2015, D.C. Law 20-267, § 2(b), 62 DCR 1543; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, §§ 1033(d), 3032, 62 DCR 10905; Apr. 21, 2023, D.C. Law 24-345, § 139, 70 DCR 7904; Sept. 6, 2023, D.C. Law 25-50, § 8002(h), 70 DCR 10366.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 1-610.3.
1973 Ed., § 1-339.3.
Section References
This section is referenced in § 1-604.06, § 1-608.01a, § 1-609.02, § 1-609.58, § 1-611.11, and § 1-1161.01.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 13-27 added subsec. (h).
D.C. Law 13-52, in subsec. (f), added “provided that, the individual has been a District government employee for at least one year prior to the separation; otherwise the separation pay shall not exceed 4 weeks of the agency head’s basic pay”.
D.C. Law 13-172, in subsec. (a), inserted par. (3A).
D.C. Law 14-28, in subsec. (a)(2), substituted a period for a semicolon at the end of the third sentence and inserted “In addition to the 220 Excepted Service positions, and notwithstanding any other law or regulation, the Chief of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department may designate up to 11 positions as Excepted Service policy positions, no more than 4 of which may be filled by sworn members;”; and added subsecs. (a)(6B) and (6C).
D.C. Law 15-190, in par. (6C) of subsec. (a), substituted “District of Columbia Sentencing Commission” for “Advisory Commission on Sentencing”.
D.C. Law 16-91, in subsec. (a)(3), substituted “General Counsel and those in the Legal Service” for “General Counsel”; and repealed subsec. (a)(6), which had read as follows: “(6) The District of Columbia General Hospital Commission may appoint 10 persons;”
D.C. Law 16-126, in subsec. (a)(6C), substituted “Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission” for “Sentencing Commission”.
D.C. Law 17-122 rewrote subsec. (a)(4), which had read as follows: “(4) The District of Columbia Board of Education may appoint 25 persons;”
D.C. Law 19-115 rewrote subsecs. (a), (c), (f), and (g).
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-284 added (a)(10); redesignated former (a)(10) as (a)(11); and substituted “paragraphs (1) through (10)” for “paragraphs (1) through (9)” in (a)(11).
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 20-61, § 1072(a), deleted “no more than 2 of whom may be appointed or detailed to a single agency, other than the Executive Office of the Mayor or the Office of the City Administrator” following “persons” in (a)(1); and substituted “10 persons” for “6 persons” in (a)(9).
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 20-61, § 4062, rewrote (a)(10).
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 20-267 substituted “220 persons for “160 persons” in (a)(1).
The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 added (a)(2A); and substituted “11 persons” for “10 persons” in (a)(9).
Cross References
D.C. Law 19-284 is published at 20 DCSTAT 927.
D.C. Law 20-61 is published at 20 DCSTAT 2229.
Applicability
Section 7097 of D.C. Law 25-50 amended section 301(a)(1) of D.C. Law 24-345 removing the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by section 139 of Law 24-345 has been implemented.
Applicability of D.C. Law 24-345: § 301 of D.C. Law 24-345 provided that the change made to this section by § 139 of D.C. Law 24-345 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
Emergency Legislation
For the temporary repeal of the Excepted Services Designation Temporary Amendment Act of 1996 (D.C. Law 11-156, September 20, 1996), see § 3 of the Designation of Excepted Service Positions Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Act 12-50, March 31, 1997, 44 DCR 2199).
For temporary amendment of section, see § 2 of the Designation of Excepted Service Positions Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Act 12-50, March 31, 1997, 44 DCR 2199), and see § 2 of the Designation of Excepted Service Positions Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-348, May 6, 1998, 45 DCR 2999).
For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(a) of the Career and Excepted Services Nonunion Metropolitan Police Officers Salary Change and Excepted Service Positions Authorization Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-381, June 22, 1998, 45 DCR 4474).
For temporary amendment of section, see § 102 of the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Support Emergency Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-401, July 13, 1998, 45 DCR 4794), and § 102 of the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-564, January 12, 1999, 46 DCR 669).
For the temporary repeal of § 2(a) of the Career and Excepted Services Nonunion Metropolitan Police Officers Salary Change and Excepted Service Positions Authorization Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (Enrolled Bill 12-653), see § 103 of the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Support Emergency Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-401, July 13, 1998, 45 DCR 4794), and § 103 of the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-564, January 12, 1999, 46 DCR 669).
For temporary (90-day) amendment of section, see § 102 of the Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 1999 (D.C. Act 13-41, March 31, 1999, 46 DCR 3446).
For temporary (90-day) amendment of section, see § 2402(a) of the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-376, July 24, 2000, 47 DCR 6574).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2402(a) of the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-438, October 20, 2000, 47 DCR 8740).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of the Fire/EMS Excepted Service Designation Emergency Amendment Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-584, January 31, 2001, 48 DCR 1927).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see §§ 902, 1407(a)(2), and 3403(b) of Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-124, August 3, 2001, 48 DCR 7861).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(b) of Advisory Commission on Sentencing Structured Sentencing System Pilot Program Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-437, May 21, 2004, 51 DCR 5957).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(b) of Advisory Commission on Sentencing Structured Sentencing System Pilot Program Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-510, August 2, 2004, 51 DCR 8967).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Public Education Personnel Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-241, January 22, 2008, 55 DCR 983).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of Severance Pay Limitation Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-666, December 29, 2010, 58 DCR 93).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 1092(b) of Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-383, June 19, 2012, 59 DCR 7764).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 1092(b) of Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-413, July 25, 2012, 59 DCR 9290).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(b) of the State Board of Education Personnel Authority Amendment of this section Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-46, March 27, 2013, 60 DCR 5453, 20 DCSTAT 545).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 1072(a) and 4062 of the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-130, July 30, 2013, 60 DCR 11384, 20 DCSTAT 1827).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 1072(a) and 4062 of the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-204, October 17, 2013, 60 DCR 15341, 20 DCSTAT 2311).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§  1033(d) and 3032 of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).
Temporary Legislation
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section and repeal of Law 11-156, see § 2 of Designation of Excepted Services Positions Temporary Amendment Act of 1996 (D.C. Law 11-263, April 25, 1997, law notification 44 DCR 2861).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of Designation of Excepted Services Positions Temporary Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-148, September 18, 1997, law notification 45 DCR 6945).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of Fire/EMS Excepted Service Designation Temporary Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Law 13-290, April 27, 2001, law notification 48 DCR 4071).
Short Title
Section 1071 of D.C. Law 20-61 provided that Subtitle H of Title I of the act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Amendment Act of 2013”.
Section 4061 of D.C. Law 20-61 provided that Subtitle F of Title IV of the act may be cited as the “State Board Personnel Amendment Act of 2013”.
Editor's Notes
Repeal of § 3 of Law 6-177: Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 6-177 provided that the provisions of § 3 are repealed on the 1st day following the 36-month period after February 24, 1987.
Repeal of § 3 of Law 6-177: Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 6-177 provided that the provisions of § 3 are repealed on the 1st day following the 36-month period after February 24, 1987.
Repeal of § 4(b) of Law 6-177: Section 3(b) of D.C. Law 8-74, effective March 15, 1990, provided that § 4(b) of D.C. Law 6-177 is repealed.
Applicability of § 101(h) of D.C. Law 12-124: Section 401(c) of D.C. Law 12-124, as amended by § 60 of D.C. Law 12-264, provided that § 101(h), (l), (m), (n), (o)(2) through (5), (q), (r), (t), (u), (w), and (y) of the act shall apply as of October 21, 1998.
Applicability: Section 4 of D.C. Law 16-126 provided: “This act shall apply as of January 1, 2007.”
Section 4 of D.C. Law 19-115 provided: “Sec. 4. Applicability. Section 2(d) shall apply as of January 1, 2013.”
Applicability of D.C. Law 20-61: Section 11001 of D.C. Law 20-61 provided that, except as otherwise provided, the act shall apply as of October 1, 2013.