§ 3-308. Certification and appointments generally.

Whenever a vacancy is to be filled by regular appointment, the appointing authority shall submit to the Director a statement of the duties of the position and a request that the Director certify to him the names of persons eligible for appointment to the position. The Director shall immediately certify to the appointing authority the names of the three (3) persons standing highest on the register of such a class in which the position is established and, if more than one (1) vacancy is to be filled, the name of one (1) additional person eligible for each additional vacancy, or all the names on the register, if there be less than three (3). If it should prove impossible to locate any of the persons so certified or should it become known to the Director that any person is not willing to accept the position, the appointing authority may request that additional names be certified until three (3) persons eligible and available for appointment have been certified, if there are as many as three (3) on the register. The appointing authority shall then appoint one (1) of the persons so certified to the position, except that, in the event that he has less than three (3) persons from which to make his selection, he may choose from the remaining certified names or may elect to make a temporary appointment of some other person. In the event that there does not exist any eligible register which the Director deems to be appropriate for the class in which the position is established, he shall proceed to prepare such an eligible register as soon as possible, after the receipt of the request of the appointing authority that eligibles be certified. Whenever an eligible has been certified to and rejected by appointing authorities three (3) times, the Director, after investigation, may, with the approval of the Board, remove the name of such person from the eligible register. All regular appointments to the classified service covered by this chapter shall be for a probationary period of six months except for police and fire department uniformed personnel, who shall serve a one-year probational period. If, during this probationary period, the conduct or capacity of the probationer has not been satisfactory to the appointing authority, the probationer and the director shall be notified in writing that he will not receive permanent appointment, otherwise retention in the service longer than for the probationary period of any employee shall constitute permanent appointment.

(1956 Ga. Laws, page 2068, § 4)