(a) An appointee to the Excepted Service shall be domiciled in the District of Columbia at the time of his or her appointment or within 180 days of their appointment and shall remain domiciled in the District of Columbia during the period of the appointment, to be considered a bona fide resident. The failure to become a District of Columbia domiciliary or to maintain a District of Columbia domicile shall result in the forfeiture of the position to which the person has been appointed.
(b) Domicile shall be proven by affirmative acts by an employee who is not a District of Columbia domiciliary and does not maintain a principal place of residence in the District of Columbia at the time of his or her appointment with the District government.
(c)(1) Proof of domicile within the District of Columbia shall be established by meeting the requirements of subsection (d) of this section.
(2) An employee shall fulfill the requirements of subsection (d) of this section by filing a sworn affidavit with the Office of Personnel or other appropriate personnel authority, that affirms the employee has undertaken affirmative acts to comply with each requirement and, if a requirement is inapplicable, the reasons why the requirement does not apply.
(d) An Excepted Service appointee shall establish and certify that the District of Columbia is his or her domicile and principal place of residence as follows:
(1) When providing proof of District of Columbia domicile, the employee shall have the burden of proof of establishing that the District of Columbia is his or her principal place of residence.
(2) When the employee is not a domiciliary of the District of Columbia, and does not maintain his or her principal place of residence in the District of Columbia, domicile may be established by the employee providing evidence of the intent to change his or her domicile and acquiring a principal place of residence in the District of Columbia.
(3) Proof of the intent to change his or her domicile to the District of Columbia and acquire a principal place of residence in the District of Columbia shall include the following documents in addition to the requirements in section 305.3 of the District of Columbia Personnel Regulations:
(A) A copy of a change of address form filed with the United States Postal Service containing the address of the employee's principal place of residence in the District of Columbia;
(B)(i) A copy of an executed contract of sale for the real property that was the employee's principal place of residence at the time of accepting the appointment, if the employee owns a principal place of residence outside of the District of Columbia; or
(ii) A change in the public records of the state where the employee was domiciled to show that the residence outside of the District of Columbia is no longer the employee's principal place of residence;
(C) Utility bills, including electric, gas, telephone, cable, water, or other residency related bills associated with occupying real property in the District of Columbia, where the billing and mailing address are the same as the principal place of residence in the District of Columbia of the employee;
(D) A bank account in the District of Columbia in the name of the employee;
(E) District of Columbia and federal income tax returns that use the District of Columbia address which is the employee's principal place of residence;
(F) Professional dues statements mailed to the employee's principal place of residence in the District of Columbia;
(G) A sworn affidavit from the employee that the administration of the employee's estate is subject to District of Columbia probate and estate taxes;
(H) Credit card or brokerage account statements mailed to the employee's principal place of residence in the District of Columbia;
(I) Automobile, health, and life insurance contracts for the employee based upon the employees principal place of residence in the District of Columbia;
(J) Mortgage statements for the employee's principal place of residence in the District of Columbia, or an executed lease for the employee's principal place of residence in the District of Columbia; and
(K) A sworn affidavit from the employee that the employee's income, from any source, is subject to District of Columbia withholding tax and taxation.
(e) A person hired in the Excepted Service prior to March 16, 1989, who was required to be or become a District of Columbia resident within 180 days of appointment and maintain that residency or forfeit employment, shall continue to be bound by this domicile requirement after March 16, 1989.
(f) Repealed.
(g)(1) Pursuant to rules and regulations which the personnel authority shall prescribe, the personnel authority may grant waivers of the domicile requirements in subsections (a) through (e) of this section for appointees to positions in the Excepted Service presenting exceptional circumstances or for appointees to hard to fill positions.
(2) The Mayor shall transmit the rules and regulations specifying how waivers shall be implemented for employees presenting exceptional circumstances or for employees appointed to hard to fill positions to the Council for a 45-day period of review, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and days of Council recess. If the Council does not act within the specified 45-day period, the rules and regulations shall be deemed approved.
(h) A person hired in the Excepted or Executive Service prior to October 1, 2002, who was required to be or become a District of Columbia resident within 180 days of appointment and maintain that residency or forfeit employment, shall continue to be bound by the terms of the residency requirement in effect at the time of hiring, and any waivers of the residency requirement previously granted to the person shall continue in effect. The requirements of D.C. Law 14-185, shall only apply to persons hired after October 1, 2002.
(i)(1) The Office of the Inspector General shall meet the definitions of “hard to fill” position or “exceptional circumstances” to receive a waiver of the District of Columbia's residency and domicile laws for new hires.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the term:
(A) “Hard to fill position” means a position so designated by the personnel authority on the basis of demonstrated recruitment and retention problems inherent in the position due to the uniqueness of the duties and responsibilities and the unusual combination of highly specialized qualification requirements for the position.
(B) “Exceptional circumstances” means conditions or facts that are uncommon, deviate from or do not conform to the norm, or are beyond willful control, which are presented to the personnel authority by the Inspector General when hiring an individual to fill a position in the Excepted or Executive Services, and which shall be considered by the personnel authority in determining the reasonableness of granting a waiver of the domicile requirement pursuant to this section and § 1-610.59.
(3) The Office of Personnel shall have the authority to grant the Office of the Inspector General waivers of the domicile requirement for new positions or hires in the Office of the Inspector General when those positions or hires present exceptional circumstances or for appointees or hires in hard to fill positions.
CREDIT(S)
(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-139, § 906, 25 DCR 5740; Mar. 16, 1989, D.C. Law 7-203, § 2(c), 36 DCR 450; Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 2237, Pub. L. 101-518, § 136(a); Mar. 27, 1997, 111 Stat. 14, Pub. L. 105-7, § 2; June 10, 1998, D.C. Law 12-124, § 101(i), 45 DCR 2464; July 24, 1998, D.C. Law 12-138, § 2(d), 45 DCR 2972; Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681-146, Pub. L. 105-277, § 153; Apr. 12, 2000. D.C. Law 13-91, § 158(a), 47 DCR 520; Oct. 1, 2002, D.C. Law 14-185, § 2(b), 49 DCR 6073; Oct. 1, 2002, D.C. Law 14-190, § 4002, 49 DCR 6968; Oct. 19, 2002, D.C. Law 14-213, § 43, 49 DCR 8140; Mar. 25, 2009, D.C. Law 17-353, § 314, 56 DCR 1117; Mar. 14, 2012, D.C. Law 19-115, § 2(e), 59 DCR 461.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 1-610.6.
1973 Ed., § 1-339.6.
Effect of Amendments
Pub.L. 105-277, Div. A, § 101(c) [§ 153], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681-146, repealed D.C. Law 12-138, which had repealed subsec. (c) of this section.
D.C. Law 13-91, in subsec. (a), in the first sentence, substituted “subsection (c), subsection (d), or subsection (e) of this section” for “subsection (c) or subsection (d)”.
D.C. Law 14-185 rewrote the section which had read as follows:
“(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), subsection (d), or subsection (e) of this section and notwithstanding any provision of § 2-1401.01 et seq., any person who applies for a position in the Excepted Service and who accepts appointment or is hired to fill a position in the Excepted Service shall become a bona fide resident of the District within 180 days of the effective date of the appointment, and shall maintain this residence for the duration of the employment. Failure to become a District resident or to maintain District residency, shall result in forfeiture of the position to which the person has been appointed.
“(b) A person hired in the Excepted Service prior to March 16, 1989, who was required to be or become a District resident within 180 days of appointment and maintain that residency or forfeit employment, shall continue to be bound by the residency requirement after March 16, 1989.
“(c) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any person applying for or accepting any position in the Excepted Service as an attorney, and such person shall be covered by the provisions of § 1-608.01(e).
“(d) At the request of the Inspector General (as described in § 2-302.08(a)), the Director of Personnel may waive the application of subsections (a) and (b) to employees of the Office of the Inspector General.
“(e) The Director of Personnel may waive the residency requirement in subsection (a) of this section for any individual appointed to a hard-to-fill position under § 1-609.03(a)(1) or (2).”
D.C. Law 14-190 added subsec. (i).
D.C. Law 14-213, in subsec. (c)(2), substituted “Office of Personnel or other appropriate personnel authority” for “Office of Personnel, or its designee”; in subsec. (g)(2), substituted “The Mayor shall transmit” for “The Office of Personnel shall transmit”.
D.C. Law 17-353, in subsec. (f), inserted “prior to March 25, 2009” in the first sentence.
D.C. Law 19-115 repealed subsec. (f), which formerly read:
“(f) Subsections (a) through (e) of this section shall not apply to any person applying for, or accepting, a position in the Excepted Service as an attorney prior to March 25, 2009. The person shall be covered by the provisions of § 1-608.01(e).”
Emergency Act Amendments
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3902 of Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-453, July 23, 2002, 49 DCR 8026).
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 2-139, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-601.01.
For legislative history of D.C. Law 7-203, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-608.01.
For legislative history of D.C. Law 12-124, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-603.01.
For legislative history of D.C. Law 12-138, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-608.01.
For Law 13-91, see notes following § 1-602.03.
For Law 14-185, see notes following § 1-603.01.
For Law 14-190, see notes following § 1-301.131.
For Law 14-213, see notes following § 1-603.01.
For Law 17-353, see notes following § 1-129.05.
For history of Law 19-115, see notes under § 1-608.01.
Effective Dates
Section 136(b) of Public Law 101-518, the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1991, provided that the amendments made by § 136(a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the Residency Preference Amendment Act of 1988 (D.C. Law 7-203, March 16, 1989).
References in Text
Section 2(b) of D.C. Law 14-185, referred to in subsec. (h), is the Excepted and Executive Service Domicile Requirement Amendment Act of 2002, effective October 1, 2002 (49 DCR 6073).
Miscellaneous Notes
Repeal of Law 12-138: Section 153 of Pub. L. 105-277 repealed D.C. Law 12-138.
District of Columbia Inspector General Improvement Act of 1997: Section 1 of Pub. L. 105-7, 111 Stat. 14, provided that the act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Inspector General Improvement Act of 1997.”
Short title of title XL of Law 14-190: Section 4001 of D.C. Law 14-190 provided that title XL of the act may be cited as the Office of Inspector General Domiciliary Amendment Act of 2002.