19:32-2 Appointment of staff; civil service; salaries; expenses.

19:32-2. a. Except as provided in section 2 of P.L.1982, c.46 (C.19:32-1.2), each superintendent may appoint a chief deputy, a chief clerk, a secretary, such personnel as is authorized under R.S.19:48-6, and any other assistants he considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this Title, and, except as hereinafter provided, may remove the same whenever he deems it necessary and all persons so appointed, by superintendents of elections in counties of the first class having more than 850,000 inhabitants, according to the latest federal census taken in a year ending in zero, to serve for terms of more than six months in any one year, shall be in the classified service of the civil service and shall be appointed in accordance with and shall be subject to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, but all other persons so appointed shall not be subject to any of the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, but shall be in the unclassified service. All persons appointed by the commissioner of registration in counties of the first class having more than 600,000, but less than 850,000 inhabitants, according to the latest federal census taken in a year ending in zero, to serve for terms of more than six months in any one year, other than the chief deputy and chief clerk and confidential secretary and chief custodian, shall be in the classified service of the civil service and shall be appointed, and hold their position, in accordance with the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, but all other persons so appointed shall not be subject to any of the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, but shall be in the unclassified service. Subject to the provisions of subsection b. of this section, the salaries of the persons so appointed shall be fixed and such salaries certified to and approved under his hand shall be paid semimonthly by the county treasurer of the county in which such persons are so engaged. All other necessary expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Title, when certified to and approved by the superintendent, shall be paid by the county treasurer of the county in which the superintendent shall maintain his office; provided, however, that all necessary expenses incurred by the commissioner of registration, the superintendent of elections, and the custodian of voting machines in the counties of the first class for the proper performance of all of his duties of all his offices as set forth in Title 19, shall not exceed, in the aggregate, the sum of $2,000,000.00 for the year 1998 or that sum, as adjusted, for each year thereafter. The governing body of the county may increase the sum but the increase shall not exceed 5% or the index rate, whichever is less, over the previous year's sum. As used in this section, "index rate" means the rate of annual percentage increase, rounded to the nearest half-percent, in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services, computed and published quarterly by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, which annual increase shall be calculated on the basis of the second quarter which occurred in the next preceding local budget year. The Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall promulgate annually, on or before October 1, the index rate to apply in the next following local budget year.

b. The superintendent shall determine the amount of the salary to be paid to each person appointed by the superintendent, and shall submit the proposed salaries to the governing body for review and approval. Following the review and approval of the governing body, the salaries shall be fixed and shall be paid to those persons pursuant to the provisions of subsection a. of this section.

amended 1940, c.165, s.3; 1945, c.56, s.11; 1945, c.304; 1952, c.290, s.2; 1953, c.348, s.2; 1963, c.138, s.2; 1972, c.32; 1975, c.204, s.2; 1976, c.69; 1981, c.263, s.1; 1981, c.462, ss.25,58; 1982, c.46, s.4; 1989, c.160, s.2; 1998, c.91, s.2; 2015, c.250, s.3.