Final Filing Date: 7/29/2024.

Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) must be received by the filing date indicated above. Applications postmarked, personally delivered or received via interoffice mail after the filing date will not be accepted.

Who Should Apply:

How To Apply:

Special Testing Arrangements:

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

Education
Equivalent to completion of 60 semester units of college credits; and

AND

Either I

One year of experience in the California state service performing the duties of a classification with a level of responsibility equivalent to Special Agent, Range B.

Or II

Eight years of experience as a peace officer in a California State or local governmental agency. Experience applied toward this pattern must include at least four years of full-time work performing increasingly responsible investigative duties* in an investigative unit, or in a specialized unit or taskforce, and one year of experience performing duties at a level of responsibility comparable to a Special Agent, Range B

Peace Officer Standards

Felony Disqualification: Pursuant to Government Code section 1029, persons convicted of a felony are disqualified from employment as peace officers, except as provided under Welfare and Institutions Code sections 1179, subdivision (c), or 1772, subdivision (b). Except as provided for by these statutes, persons convicted of a felony are not eligible to compete for, or be appointed to, positions in these classifications.

Disqualification: Any person prohibited by State or Federal law from possessing, using or having in their custody any firearm, firearm device, or other weapon or device authorized for use by the Department of Health Care Services is not eligible to compete for, be appointed to, or continue employment in these classifications.

Citizenship Requirement: Pursuant to Government Code section 1031, subdivision (a), in order to be a peace officer, a person must be either a U.S. Citizen or be a permanent resident alien who is eligible for and has applied for U.S. Citizenship.  Permanent resident aliens who are employed as peace officers shall be disqualified from holding that position if their application for citizenship is denied.

Background Investigation: Pursuant to Government Code section 1029.1, persons successful in peace officer examinations shall be required to undergo a thorough background investigation prior to appointment. Persons who have previously undergone a background investigation may be required to undergo only a partial background investigation.

Training Requirements: Pursuant to Penal Code section 832, successful completion of a training course in laws of arrest, search and seizure, and in firearms and chemical agents is a requirement for permanent status in these classifications.

Medical Requirement: Pursuant to Government Code section 1031, persons appointed to a peace officer classification shall undergo a medical examination to determine that they can perform the essential functions of the job safely and effectively.

Psychological Requirement: POST Regulation 1955 requires psychological screening of applicants for these classifications. (California Code of Regulations title 11, section 1955.)

Drug Testing Requirement: Applicants for positions in these classifications are required to pass a drug-screening test. (The drug-screening test will be waived for employees who are currently in a designated "sensitive" classification for which drug testing is required under State Personnel Board Rule 213.) (California Code of Regulations, title 2, section 213.)

All employees must have general qualifications as described by California Code of Regulations, title 2, section 172.

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Components that are due with your application will be scored and will count toward your final examination result. Failure to submit these items may result in disqualification or elimination from the examination.

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

The Training and Experience Evaluation examination is designed to elicit specific information regarding each candidate’s training and experience relative to the testing classification. Responses to the examination will be assessed based on pre-determined rating criteria. In appraising the relative qualifications of candidates, consideration will be given to the extent and type of pertinent training and experience over and above that which is required under “Minimum Qualifications”.

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of:

1. The department's mission, activities, laws, rules, and regulations
2. Provisions of the California Penal Code, Evidence Code, and Code of Civil Procedure
3. Investigative operational plans
4. Gang management
5. Criminal and administrative investigation techniques and procedures
6. Interrogate, interview, information and intelligence gathering processes and procedures
7. Principles, procedures, and recent trends in corrections and parole administration
8. Illegal drugs, controlled substances, paraphernalia, packaging, trafficking, and addiction
9. Laws of arrest
10. Constitutional rights including proper tactics, and use of force in effecting arrests of suspects
11. Search and seizure and the service of legal process, techniques for collecting, securing, and preserving evidence and the rules of evidence, and court procedure
12. Tactical operations
13. Officer safety
14. Training techniques and methods used in creating, modifying, and delivering training
15. principles and techniques of personnel management and supervision
16.  A supervisor's role in Equal Employment Opportunity and the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the workplace
17. Advanced peace officer training techniques and methods
18. Applicable collective bargaining memorandum of understanding and related issues; and disciplinary guidelines and personnel rules.

A Departmental Promotional eligible list for the SENIOR SPECIAL AGENT Classification will be established for:

• Department of Health Care Services

The list(s) will be abolished 12 months after being established, unless the needs of the State and conditions of the list(s) warrant a change in this period.

Veterans' Preference is not granted for promotional examinations.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

Department of Health Care Services is committed to addressing disparities within our organization and in our communities through efforts toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is accomplished, in part, by a commitment toward employing a diverse workforce which reflects the many communities we serve, and by promoting and enforcing equal employment opportunity.

• Department of Health Care Services

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Health Care Services reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.