Reading Room Document

Establishing a Maximum Entry Age Limit for "Law Enforcement Officer Positions in the Department of Justice"

This opinion evaluates whether the Department of Justice may create a maximum entry age for DOJ law enforcement officers that is consistent with 5 U.S.C. § 3307, which allows agencies to "fix" maximum entry ages for law enforcement professionals, and 29 U.S.C. § 633(a), which prohibits age discrimination in hiring unless the Civil Service Commission determines that it is a bona fide occupational qualification. The opinion concludes that the a Commission determination would not be required, because § 3307 is the more recently enacted statute and the two provisions can be read harmoniously. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/936041/download.

April 3, 1975