The civil service of the state of Kansas is hereby divided into the unclassified and the classified services.

(1) The unclassified service comprises positions held by state officers or employees who are:

(a) Chosen by election or appointment to fill an elective office;

(b) members of boards and commissions, heads of departments required by law to be appointed by the governor or by other elective officers, and the executive or administrative heads of offices, departments, divisions and institutions specifically established by law;

(c) except as otherwise provided under this section, one personal secretary to each elective officer of this state, and in addition thereto, 10 deputies, clerks or employees designated by such elective officer;

(d) all employees in the office of the governor;

(e) officers and employees of the senate and house of representatives of the legislature and of the legislative coordinating council and all officers and employees of the office of revisor of statutes, of the legislative research department, of the division of legislative administrative services, of the division of post audit and the legislative counsel;

(f) chancellor, president, deans, administrative officers, student health service physicians, pharmacists, teaching and research personnel, health care employees and student employees in the institutions under the state board of regents, the executive officer of the board of regents and the executive officer’s employees other than clerical employees, and, at the discretion of the state board of regents, directors or administrative officers of departments and divisions of the institution and county extension agents, except that this subsection shall not be construed to include the custodial, clerical or maintenance employees, or any employees performing duties in connection with the business operations of any such institution, except administrative officers and directors. As used in this subsection, “health care employees” means employees of the university of Kansas medical center who provide health care services at the university of Kansas medical center and who are medical technicians or technologists or respiratory therapists, who are licensed professional nurses or licensed practical nurses, or who are in job classes that are designated for this purpose by the chancellor of the university of Kansas upon a finding by the chancellor that such designation is required for the university of Kansas medical center to recruit or retain personnel for positions in the designated job classes; and employees of any institution under the state board of regents who are medical technologists;

(g) operations, maintenance and security personnel employed to implement agreements entered into by the adjutant general and the federal national guard bureau, and officers and enlisted persons in the national guard and the naval militia;

(h) persons engaged in public work for the state but employed by contractors when the performance of such contract is authorized by the legislature or other competent authority;

(i) persons temporarily employed or designated by the legislature or by a legislative committee or commission or other competent authority to make or conduct a special inquiry, investigation, examination or installation;

(j) officers and employees in the office of the attorney general and special counsel to state departments appointed by the attorney general, except that officers and employees of the division of the Kansas bureau of investigation shall be in the classified or unclassified service as provided in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-711, and amendments thereto;

(k) all employees of courts;

(l) client, patient and inmate help in any state facility or institution;

(m) all attorneys for boards, commissions and departments;

(n) the secretary and assistant secretary of the Kansas state historical society;

(o) physician specialists, dentists, dental hygienists, pharmacists, medical technologists and long term care workers employed by the Kansas department for aging and disability services;

(p) physician specialists, dentists and medical technologists employed by any board, commission or department or by any institution under the jurisdiction thereof;

(q) student employees enrolled in public institutions of higher learning;

(r) administrative officers, directors and teaching personnel of the state board of education and the state department of education and of any institution under the supervision and control of the state board of education, except that this subsection shall not be construed to include the custodial, clerical or maintenance employees, or any employees performing duties in connection with the business operations of any such institution, except administrative officers and directors;

(s) all officers and employees in the office of the secretary of state;

(t) one personal secretary and one special assistant to the following: The secretary of administration, the secretary for aging and disability services, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of commerce, the secretary of corrections, the secretary of health and environment, the superintendent of the Kansas highway patrol, the secretary of labor, the secretary of revenue, the secretary for children and families, the secretary of transportation and the secretary of wildlife and parks;

(u) one personal secretary and one special assistant to the chancellor and presidents of institutions under the state board of regents;

(v) one personal secretary and one special assistant to the executive vice chancellor of the university of Kansas medical center;

(w) one public information officer and one chief attorney for the following: The department of administration, the Kansas department for aging and disability services, the department of agriculture, the department of commerce, the department of corrections, the department of health and environment, the department of labor, the department of revenue, the Kansas department for children and families, the department of transportation and the Kansas department of wildlife and parks;

(x) if designated by the appointing authority, persons in newly hired positions, including any employee who is rehired into such position and any current state employee who voluntarily transfers into, or is voluntarily promoted or demoted into such position, on and after July 1, 2015, in any state agency;

(y) one executive director, one general counsel and one director of public affairs and consumer protection in the office of the state corporation commission;

(z) specifically designated by law as being in the unclassified service;

(aa) any position that is classified as a position in the information resource manager job class series, that is the chief position responsible for all information resources management for a state agency, and that becomes vacant on or after the effective date of this act. Nothing in this section shall affect the classified status of any employee in the classified service who is employed on the date immediately preceding the effective date of this act in any position that is a classified position in the information resource manager job class series and the unclassified status as prescribed by this subsection shall apply only to a person appointed to any such position on or after the effective date of this act that is the chief position responsible for all information resources management for a state agency;

(bb) positions at state institutions of higher education that have been converted to unclassified positions pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 76-715a, and amendments thereto; and

(cc) notwithstanding the provisions of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22-4524, 32-802, 39-1911, 44-510g, 44-551, 44-552, 48-205, 48-919, 49-402e, 58-4105, 58-4503, 65-2878, 65-6103, 73-1210a, 73-1234, 74-515b, 74-561, 74-569, 74-631, 74-1106, 74-1704, 74-1806, 74-2435, 74-2614, 74-2702, 74-2906a, 74-5014, 74-5210, 74-6707, 74-6901, 74-6904, 74-7008, 74-7501, 74-8704, 74-8805, 74-9804, 75-118, 75-1202d, 75-2537, 75-2944, 75-3148, 75-3702c, 75-4222, 75-5005, 75-5015, 75-5016, 75-5122, 75-5157, 75-5309, 75-5310, 75-5378, 75-5610, 75-5702, 75-5708, 75-5733, 75-5910, 75-7028, 75-7054, 75-7304, 76-1002a, 76-1116, 76-12a04, 76-12a05, 76-12a08, 76-12a16, 76-3202 and 82a-1205, and amendments thereto, any vacant position within the classified service may be converted by the appointing authority to an unclassified position.

(2) The classified service comprises all positions now existing or hereafter created that are not included in the unclassified service. Appointments in the classified service shall be made according to merit and fitness from eligible pools that so far as practicable shall be competitive. No person shall be appointed, promoted, reduced or discharged as an officer, clerk, employee or laborer in the classified service in any manner or by any means other than those prescribed in the Kansas civil service act and the rules adopted in accordance therewith.

(3) For positions involving unskilled, or semiskilled duties, the secretary of administration, as provided by law, shall establish rules and regulations concerning certifications, appointments, layoffs and reemployment that may be different from the rules and regulations established concerning these processes for other positions in the classified service.

(4) Officers authorized by law to make appointments to positions in the unclassified service, and appointing officers of departments or institutions whose employees are exempt from the provisions of the Kansas civil service act because of the constitutional status of such departments or institutions shall be permitted to make appointments from appropriate pools of eligibles maintained by the division of personnel services.

(5) On and after the effective date of this act, any state agency that has positions in the classified service within the Kansas civil service act to satisfy any requirement of maintaining personnel standards on a merit basis pursuant to federal law or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the federal government or any agency thereof, shall adopt a binding statement of agency policy pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 77-415, and amendments thereto, to satisfy such requirements if the appointing authority has made any such position unclassified.