§10–117.

    (a)    A county or circuit court with a local support enforcement office may request that the responsibility for support enforcement be transferred to the Administration.

    (b)    A request for transfer of responsibility under this section must be made to the Department of Human Services by September 1 of the year preceding the fiscal year for which responsibility will be transferred.

    (c)    Any personnel of the local support enforcement office involved in a transfer under this section shall be in the State Personnel Management System and shall be placed in the position that is comparable to or most closely compares to their former position, without further examination or qualification. These employees shall be credited with the years of service with the jurisdiction for purposes of seniority, including the determination of leave accumulation and the determination of layoff rights under Title 11, Subtitle 2 of the State Personnel and Pensions Article, and shall remain members of the Employees’ Pension System of the State of Maryland. These employees shall receive no diminution in compensation or accumulated leave solely as a result of the transfer. The salary grade of these employees shall be determined using a salary based on the same hourly rate of salary of the employee at the time of transfer. Annual leave in excess of that which may be retained annually in the State Personnel Management System may be retained at the time of transfer if that accumulation was permitted by the former employer.