Consulting Engineers & Land Surveyors of California v. Department of Transportation

Opinion

SCOTLAND, P. J.

Article VII of California’s Constitution (hereafter Article VII) defines “civil service” as the workforce of state government hired and promoted “under a general system based on merit ascertained by competitive examination.” (Art. VII, § 1.) It applies to every officer and employee of state government, other than the positions listed in section 4 of Article VII.

Courts have held, with certain exceptions, that Article VII impliedly forbids the state from contracting for private companies to perform the kind of services that persons selected through the civil service system…