Section 15. Positions in the competitive class may be filled without competition, only as follows:--
First.--Wherever there are urgent reasons for filling a vacancy in any position in the competitive class, and there is no list of persons eligible for appointment after a competitive examination, the appointing officer may nominate a person to the Civil Service Commission for non-competitive examination; and if such nominee shall be certified by the said commission as qualified, after such non-competitive examination, he may be appointed provisionally, to fill such vacancy until a selection and appointment can be made after competitive examination, in the manner prescribed in section fourteen; but such provisional appointment shall not continue for a longer period than three months, nor shall successive provisional appointments be made to the same position, under this provision.
Second.--In case of a vacancy in a position in the competitive class, where peculiar and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, professional, or educational character are required, and upon satisfactory evidence that, for specified reasons, competition in such special case is impracticable, and that the position can be best filled by the selection of some designated person of high and recognized attainments in such qualities, the said commission may suspend the provisions of the statute requiring competition in such case; but each such suspension shall relate to only a single appointment, and shall not be general in its application to the position, and all such cases of suspension shall be reported in detail in the annual reports of the commission, with the reasons for the same.
Third.--When the services to be rendered are of a temporary character and for a limited period, not to exceed six months, the appointing officer shall advise the commission, stating the duration of such period, the rate of compensation, and other conditions of employment, and may thereupon select for such temporary employment one of the first three persons on the appropriate eligible list who have expressed a willingness to accept a temporary appointment. Successive temporary appointments shall not be made under this clause; nor shall any person be eligible to temporary appointment if he has served under either a temporary or a provisional appointment, in the same office or department, within the previous six months. The acceptance or refusal, by an eligible, of a temporary appointment shall not affect his standing on the register for permanent employment, nor shall the period of temporary service be counted as a part of the probationary service in case of subsequent appointment to a permanent position. The acceptance of a temporary appointment shall not confer upon the eligible any of the rights of promotion, transfer, or reinstatement.