Harus
A harus is a keeper of the peace typically taken to be the equivalent of a guard captain in the southeastern regions of the Pāll-tanír.
Qualifications
An aspiring harus must demonstrate combat, leadership, and civics aptitude in a four-year academic course, undergo a year's apprenticeship, and successfully complete a comprehensive test to obtain an Officer of the Law certification from the Dominion before being able to fully serve in the capacity of a harus.
Requirements
While aspiring haruses can begin their education prior, no active-duty harus must be below the age of majority for their race and must demonstrate sound mind and body. A clean criminal record is not required, but the aspiring harus must not have any active convictions, nor any prior convictions for egregious crimes like rape, murder, or gross profiteering.
Appointment
Haruses who successfully obtain their certification from the Dominion are appointed by the local Administration Office to a community following a needs-based criteria. However, if a harus began their education and received their certification with the intention of replacing the harus of their community, they are generally appointed to their community of origin by the special dispensation from the Dominion government.
Duties
A harus' duties differ from one jurisdiction to the next but they almost always have some responsibility to help with the maintenance of the rule of law in their community. In small towns and villages, they are not only responsible for maintaining the rule of law but also adjudicating it, acting as the local magistrate when the community is too small to have an established council, and acting as one of the local magistrates when there are too few to service the needs of the community.
In larger towns and cities, there may be multiple haruses working in various areas and various levels of local government. Typically, the most senior harus will be assigned as the captain of the city guard, while another will be assigned to the local justice system to act as a magistrate. In some regions they can also be asked to take on the role of advocate for members of the community who come before the court.
Responsibilities
As haruses have different duties depending on their appointments, their responsibilities tend to differ as well. All haruses, however, are expected to patrol their communities at least once every day to get an idea of the state of things, as well as provide comprehensive reports about the state of their community as well as their accomplishments on a regular basis. Furthermore, haruses are expected to act as representatives of the Dominion, not of the local government, and are expected to deliver and enforce writs from the Dominion government when possible.
Benefits
For the length of their term, haruses are provided with all essentials, such as food and water, on top of their pay and have access to all government services for free. Most haruses work until retirement age, but at the end of ten years of service, they become entitled to preference for government positions should they wish to move to another department or to another level of government. Further, after ten years of service, haruses become entitled to a modest pension proportional to the time they've served and the quality of their service should they wish to retire.
Accoutrements & Equipment
Haruses are expected to wear clothing befitting of a government official. In smaller communities this is typically limited to semi-formal attire while in towns and cities, haruses often wear either guard uniforms or magisterial clothes. What sets haruses apart from other government officials is a brass emblem of scales in front of a pair of crossed lightning bolts that they usually wear hanging on a piece of braided yellow cloth attached at the waist. This emblem does not only serve as a physical symbol of the harus' authority, it contains a physical record of the harus' identity and qualifications, both etched into the metal, and infused into it with blood magic.
Grounds for Removal/Dismissal
Haruses can be removed if the local government petitions the Dominion and the harus is found lacking in a performance audit. A harus can also be removed by referendum if a supermajority votes for the harus to be removed. Haruses removed under all the aforementioned grounds three times are considered "dismissed without honor" and lose all of their benefits including their pensions. Furthermore, if a harus commits a crime while they are active officers of the law, they can be brought before a court and dismissed without honor if their actions are found to be unjustified and/or inexcusable. Haruses that commit egregious crimes are dismissed without honor if found guilty.
Haruses that suffer severe injury or are otherwise rendered incapable as a result of performing their duties can be moved to another government office of their choice where able or "dismissed with honor" at the Dominion's discretion if treatment is impossible. Haruses that are dismissed with "honor" are entitled to additional compensation based on the severity of the wounds they have suffered and are entitled to the best health care that the Dominion can provide.
Type
Civic, Law
Form of Address
His honor
Alternative Naming
Yellowbraid
Equates to
Guard Captain
Source of Authority
Dominion mandate
Length of Term
5 years per community, but can be extended with the harus' consent and at the community's discretion
Related Locations
Related Organizations
Comments