¶1concurring. Although I concur in the denial of appellee’s petition for rehearing, I think one point in the majority opinion warrants mention.
¶2The majority opinion is misleading in that it states Ark. Stat. Ann. § 19-1603 (Repl. 1980), specifically provides that promotion shall be made on the basis of “the examination” and not on any other criterion. In this instance the appellant was given a written examination.
¶3By these findings the court suggests one written examination is given, when in fact, Ark. Stat. Ann. § 19-1603 provides for “promotion based upon open competitive examinations of efficiency, character and conduct.” (emphasis added). Obviously seniority does not fall within these criteria, however, it is equally obvious that this statute does not limit promotion to a written examination as suggested by the majority opinion.
¶4The court is correct in its findings in this instance, that the promotion should be based upon the written examination, since it was the only examination conducted. Nevertheless, the statutory language is equally clear that other types of examinations may be given as long as they fall within statutory criteria. Any request for further clarification as to what types of examinations are authorized should be addressed to the legislature, since the statute is vague in this respect.
¶5dissenting. The petition for rehearing and the comments of Chief Justice Holt demonstrate that we were mistaken in applying a narrow interpretation to Ark. Stat. Ann. § 19-1603 (Repl. 1980). The fact that the Civil Service Act simply refers to “open, competitive examinations”, need not be taken to mean that the qualities being sought, i.e. “efficiency, character and conduct,” can only be measured by an examination. Nothing in the act suggests that the legislature intended that such qualities be discerned entirely by examination and we should not read that questionable premise into the act. The trial court ruled that inasmuch as the Civil Service Act does not specifically prohibit reasonable credits based on seniority, the procedures adopted by the North Little Rock Civil Service Commission were not unlawful. I believe that interpretation was correct and should be adopted on rehearing.