144                              Laws of Maryland                         Ch. 98

11.

It shall be the duty of the [Commissioner] Secretary to carry
out the provisions of this article, and to make [, with the approval
of the Governor,] such rules as he deems necessary or proper to
that end. Such rules may [, with the approval of the Governor,]
be abolished, added to, changed or amended, and all such rules shall
have the force and effect of law.

12.

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, except as
herein provided, the [Commissioner] Secretary shall not hereafter
prohibit, prevent, disqualify or discriminate against any person who
is physically and mentally qualified from competing, registering for
or participating in a competitive or promotional examination held
under the provisions of this article or from qualifying for a position
in the classified service by reason of his or her age and/or on account
of any physical defect or impairment, providing such physically
impaired person shall produce a certificate from a competent medical
doctor certifying that the said physically impaired person is not
suffering from any physical defect or impairment which is of such
a character that would interfere with the physically impaired person
performing the duties of the position which the said physically
impaired person is seeking.

Whenever the [Commissioner] Secretary shall have certified to
the appointing authority a list of eligibles in conformity with the
provisions of Section 17 of this article and such list shall contain
the name of a physically impaired person, such physically impaired
person shall not be rejected by the said appointing authority because
of said physical impairment alone, provided said physically handi-
capped person is qualified to perform the duties of the position
involved.

Nothing herein contained, however, shall prevent the [Commis-
sioner] Secretary from adopting reasonable minimum and/or max-
imum age requirements for positions such as policemen, firemen,
prison guard, or other positions which require extraordinary physi-
cal effort, except where age limits for such positions are already
prescribed by law.

13.

The [Commissioner] Secretary of Personnel is authorized and
empowered to prepare, without examination, special lists of eligibles
of persons certified by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of
the State Department of Education to be physically capable and
adequately trained to qualify for a position in the classified service.
The use of such special lists of eligibles shall be optional with the
appointing authority; provided that the [Commissioner], Secretary
in his discretion, may fix the maximum number of persons who may
be appointed from such special lists of eligibles by any appointing
authority.

14.

It shall be the duty of all officers and employees of this State,
at the request of the [Commissioner] Secretary of Personnel to aid
the [Commissioner] Secretary in all proper ways in carrying out