2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FOUR - Judiciary (§§ 1-3 — 2166) › PART V - Correction and Parole (§§ 1101 — 1646) › Chapter 81 - Corrections Administration (§§ 1101 — 1284) › Subchapter V - Regulation of Personnel (§§ 1131 — 1131a) › § 1131a - Ranks

The Uniform Rank System of the Correctional Officers Corps shall be as follows:
(1) Correctional Cadet. — Member of the Correctional Officers Corps who has not fulfilled the basic training requirement.
(2) Correctional Officer. — Member of the Correctional Officer Corps who satisfactorily passes the Correctional Cadet training established by the Secretary.
(3) Sergeant. — Correctional Officer who has been promoted to Sergeant for service merit or after passing the corresponding examinations and fulfilling the requirements established in the regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(4) Second Lieutenant. — Sergeant who has been promoted to Second Lieutenant for service merit or after passing the corresponding examinations and fulfilling the requirements established in the regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(5) First Lieutenant. — Second Lieutenant who has been promoted to First Lieutenant for merit in service or after passing the corresponding examinations and fulfilling the requirements established in the regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(6) Capitan. — First Lieutenant who has been promoted to Captain for service merit or after passing the corresponding examinations and fulfilling the requirements established in the regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
(7) Lieutenant Colonel. — Person appointed by confidential designation by the Secretary who shall be in charge of the supervision and immediate command of the Correctional Officers Corps in the absence of the Colonel, and who shall perform the duties that are assigned to him/her by the Colonel.
(8) Colonel. — Person appointed by confidential designation by the Secretary who shall be in charge of the supervision and immediate command of the Correctional Officers Corps.
(b) Rank promotions up to the rank of Captain, may be granted by service merit, acts of heroism or after passing an examination. Promotions for heroic acts shall be granted according to the regulations established by the Secretary and shall be restricted to objective circumstances that constitute sufficient cause to recognize the value or social usefulness of such act, according to the judgment of a prudent and reasonable person.
(1) Promotions made due to the passing of an examination may be given when a vacancy arises. The requirements for competing for this position shall be provided through notices for employment. All examinations shall be offered within a term of not less than sixty (60) days or more than ninety (90) days, commencing on the date of the publication of the notice for employment. Once the Correctional Officer has passed the examination and fulfilled all the requirements necessary to be included in the register of eligible candidates, the promotion shall not be denied if the position and the fiscal resources to defray the budgetary effects of the promotion are available. When the number of candidates who have passed the examination and qualify for the promotion within the same rank is greater than the number of positions available, the order of promotion shall be established according to the register of eligible candidates, which shall be established pursuant to the regulations in effect.
(2) To deny the promotion, any grievance or administrative investigation found in the record of the candidate shall be taken into account. Should any grievance or investigation arise after the examination, but before the promotion is formalized, no one shall be appointed to the corresponding rank until the case is resolved. If any candidate’s promotion is denied for any reason, the Secretary shall inform him/her the reasons for the denial along with the notice denying the promotion. If the denial is based upon information received from any person during the investigation, under no circumstances shall the Secretary reveal the identity of such person.
(3) The candidate aspiring to a promotion is affected by the previously described situation shall he/she have up to twenty (20) working days to respond the reasons for the denial. The Secretary, upon receiving the reply shall have an equal term to revoke or reaffirm the denial. If no written reply from the Secretary is produced within the established term, it shall be construed as a reaffirmation of the denial of the promotion request. During the processing of the notification, reply and reaffirmation or revocation, the position or rank to which the candidate aspires shall not be filled. Once the process is completed, the decision of the Secretary shall be final and binding. It is further provided, that all grievances filed shall be peremptorily resolved within ten (10) days, as of the date of request of the promotion. When the number of candidates, who pass the examination and qualify for a promotion within the same rank, is greater than the number of positions available, the order of the promotions shall be established according to the registry of eligible candidates to be established pursuant to the regulations in effect.
(c) Members of the Correctional Officers Corps promoted by service merit shall fulfill the following requirements:
(1) For the Sergeant position, the aspiring candidate shall have served as Correctional Officer for a minimum of five (5) years prior to the date of the promotion.
(2) For the Second Lieutenant position, the aspiring candidate shall have served as Sergeant for a minimum of three (3) years prior to the date of the promotion.
(3) For the First Lieutenant position, the aspiring candidate shall have served as Second Lieutenant for a minimum of three (3) years prior to the date of the promotion.
(4) For the Captain position, the aspiring candidate shall have served as First Lieutenant for a minimum of five (5) years prior to the date of the promotion.
(d) In addition to the previously established requirements to qualify for a promotion, and any other requirement that the Secretary may establish by regulations, correctional officers must comply with the following:
(1) They shall not be subject to any administrative or criminal investigations;
(2) they shall not have violated any provision of §§ 1801 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Ethics in Government Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”, during the five (5) years preceding the date of the promotion, and
(3) they shall not have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor that implies moral depravity.
(e) The positions held by members of the Correctional Officers Corps promoted for service merit or acts of heroism shall be promoted to the new rank by automatic conversion. If said positions are subsequently vacated, such positions shall automatically return to the original rank.
(f) The following equivalencies for the existing Corrections Administration positions are hereby established as a transitory measure until the new Classification and Compensation Plan is approved:
(1) Correctional Officer I. — Shall hold the rank of Correctional Officer.
(2) Correctional Officer II. — Shall hold the rank of Sergeant.
(3) Correctional Officer III. — Shall hold the rank of Second Lieutenant.
(4) Correctional Officer IV. — Shall hold the rank of First Lieutenant.
(5) Correctional Officer V. — Shall hold the rank of Captain.
(g) The Secretary is hereby authorized to continue to use the Classification and Compensation Plan in effect, pursuant to the equivalencies stated above, until the new Classification and Compensation Plan is adopted, which shall be approved by the Central Labor Advisory and Human Resources Administration Office, prior to its implementation.
History —July 22, 1974, No. 116, Part 1, p. 501, added as § 9-A on Sept. 23, 2004, No. 465, § 3.