Relates to the creation of vacancies in a public office upon entering a guilty plea in federal court to a felony or crime involving a violation of an oath of office.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10144B
SPONSOR: McDonald TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the creation of
vacancies in a public office upon entering a guilty plea in federal
court to a felony or crime involving a violation of an oath of office
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to clarify that a vacancy in public office
occurs when a public officer enters a guilty plea in federal court.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section of the bill clarifies that a vacancy in public office occurs
when a public officer enters a guilty plea in federal court to a felony
or crime involving his or her oath of office.
Section two of the bill provides for the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
The amended version makes technical changes to clarify the types of
crimes that would trigger a vacancy in public office.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Public Officers law provides that a vacancy in public office occurs
when a public official is convicted of a felony offense. In state court,
a criminal defendant who has pled guilty is considered to be convicted
upon entering their plea and would therefore vacate office upon making
such an admission. However, in federal court, a defendant's plea is not
simultaneously accepted. Federal criminal procedures provide that a
defendant is not considered to be convicted until their plea is accepted
by the court at a subsequent sentencing hearing. This presents a scenar-
io where confusion in the law could exist as to whether a public offi-
cial is allowed to remain in office until sentencing, even after plead-
ing guilty to a federal felony offense.
It is clear that the intent of the legislature was to remove from office
any public official found to have committed a felony. A public official
who has admitted to a felony in open federal court should not be treated
any differently than a public official that admits to a felony in state
court or an official found guilty after trial. This bill will ensure
parity between the federal and state criminal procedure process while at
the same time ensuring that unethical public officials are removed from
office as soon as possible.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10144--B
IN ASSEMBLY
May 2, 2022
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Operations -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee --
again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to the creation of
vacancies in a public office upon entering a guilty plea in federal
court to a felony or crime involving a violation of an oath of office
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph e of subdivision 1 of section 30 of the public
2 officers law, as amended by chapter 454 of the laws of 1987, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 e. His or her conviction of a felony, [or] conviction of a crime
5 involving a violation of his or her oath of office, or upon entering a
6 guilty plea in federal court to a felony, or upon entering a guilty plea
7 in federal court to a crime involving a violation of his or her oath of
8 office, provided, however, that a non-elected official may apply for
9 reinstatement to the appointing authority upon reversal or the vacating
10 of such conviction where the conviction is the sole basis for the vacan-
11 cy. After receipt of such application, the appointing authority shall
12 afford such applicant a hearing to determine whether reinstatement is
13 warranted. The record of the hearing shall include the final judgment of
14 the court which reversed or vacated such conviction and may also include
15 the entire employment history of the applicant and any other submissions
16 which may form the basis of the grant or denial of reinstatement
17 notwithstanding the reversal or vacating of such conviction. Notwith-
18 standing any law to the contrary, after review of such record, the
19 appointing authority may, in its discretion, reappoint such non-elected
20 official to his or her former office, or a similar office if his or her
21 former office is no longer available. In the event of such rein-
22 statement, the appointing authority may, in its discretion, award salary
23 or compensation in full or in part for the period from the date such
24 office became vacant to the date of reinstatement or any part thereof;
25 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15453-03-2
