Since 1883, the United States has had civil service laws in place to prevent cronyism and insulate public employees from political influence. Critics argue that such laws impose an undue burden on managers with regard to hiring and dismissing employees. Given that governmental public health agencies have experienced longstanding challenges in recruiting individuals at the state and local level, understanding civil service laws as they relate to the hiring processes is an important component of increasing public health workforce capacity.

This article presents state hiring laws and regulations governing the public health government workforce to inform related policy changes to support workforce development.