Except as otherwise provided in this chapter for appointments by division chiefs and managing officers, the director of rehabilitation and correction shall appoint employees who are necessary for the efficient conduct of the department of rehabilitation and correction and prescribe their titles and duties. A person who is appointed to an unclassified position from a permanent, classified position within the department shall retain the right to resume the position and status that the person held in the classified service immediately prior to the person’s appointment to the position in the unclassified service, regardless of the number of positions the person held in the unclassified service. An employee’s right to resume a position in the classified service may be exercised only when an appointing authority demotes the employee to a pay range lower than the employee’s current pay range or revokes the employee’s appointment to the unclassified service. An employee who holds a position in the classified service and who is appointed to a position in the unclassified service on or after January 1, 2016, shall have the right to resume a position in the classified service under this section only within five years after the effective date of the person’s appointment in the unclassified service. An employee forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when the employee is removed from the position in the unclassified service due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, a violation of this chapter or the rules of the department or the director of administrative services, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of or plea of guilty to a felony while employed in the civil service. An employee also forfeits the right to resume the prior position in the classified service upon transfer to a different agency. Reinstatement to a position in the classified service shall be to a position substantially equal to the position in the classified service that the person previously held, as certified by the director of rehabilitation and correction and approved by the director of administrative services. If the position the person previously held in the classified service has been placed in the unclassified service or is otherwise unavailable, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service within the department that the director of administrative services certifies is comparable in compensation to the position the person previously held in the classified service. Service in the position in the unclassified service shall be counted as service in the position in the classified service that the person held immediately preceding the person’s appointment to the position in the unclassified service. When a person is reinstated to a position in the classified service as provided in this section, the person is entitled to all rights and benefits and any status accruing to the position in the classified service during the time of the person’s service in the position in the unclassified service.

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