Effective July 1, 2012, Organization Code 1880 for the State Personnel Board (SPB) is no longer utilized. Between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013, SPB is budgeted under Organization Code 8390. Effective July 1, 2013, the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 2012 creates the Government Operations Agency and, as part of the plan, moves SPB to this new Agency (Government Operations) under Organization Code 7503. The following descriptions represented SPB as it existed through June 30, 2012.

The five-member SPB, whose members are appointed by the Governor for ten-year terms, was established in the California Constitution in 1934. SPB is responsible for California's civil service system. SPB ensures that the state's civil service system is free from political patronage and that employment decisions are based on merit. SPB provides a variety of recruitment, selection, classification, appellate, goal setting, training, and consultation services to state departments and local agencies.