(a) Whenever the Unified Court System shall acquire a private institution or enterprise for the purpose of operating it as a public function, the Unified Court System may continue the employment of all officers or employees thereof deemed necessary, who shall have been in the employ of such private institution or enterprise for at least one year prior to such acquisition. The positions so held by such employees shall be in the noncompetitive class, pending the jurisdictional classification or reclassification of such positions by the Chief Administrator of the Courts, and such employees shall continue to be employed in similar or corresponding positions and shall have the seniority theretofore held by them as among themselves. The Chief Administrator, however, after notice to any such employee of the reasons therefor, and after according such employee a hearing, may exclude such employee from further employment if found by the Chief Administrator not to be a person of good character.

(b) Not later than one year after the acquisition of such private institution or enterprise, the Chief Administrator of the Courts shall classify or reclassify the various positions. The then incumbents of such positions who are employed therein at the time of the acquisition of the private institution or enterprise and who were so employed for at least one year prior to such acquisition shall continue to hold their positions without further examination and shall have all the rights and privileges of the jurisdictional class to which such positions may be allocated; provided, however, that after such acquisition all new positions thereafter created and vacancies occurring in positions already established shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this Part.