2023 New York Laws › CNT - County › Article 8 - Officers; General Provisions › 400 - Officers; Manner of Selection; Term; Vacancies.

§  400.  Officers;  manner of selection; term; vacancies. 1. Elective.
There shall be elected a sheriff, county clerk,  district  attorney  and
county treasurer. Except in the county of Lewis, coroners shall continue
to  be  elected  as now provided by law until the office is abolished or
the number is increased or diminished pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter. Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, the term  of  office
of  each  such officer shall continue to be three years, except that the
terms of office of sheriff, county clerk, county treasurer  and  coroner
shall  be  four  years  from and including the first day of January next
succeeding  his  election.  There  shall  be  elected  a  county  judge,
surrogate, and judge of the family court as now or hereafter provided by
law. The term of office of each such judicial officer shall be ten years
from  and  including  the  first  day  of  January  next  succeeding his
election.
1-a. District attorney in counties outside of New York city. The  term
of  office  of  the district attorney of each county outside of New York
city shall be for four years commencing on  the  first  day  of  January
following  the general election for district attorney in each respective
county.
2. Coroners. At least one hundred fifty  days  prior  to  any  general
election   and   subject  to  a  permissive  referendum,  the  board  of
supervisors shall have power by local  law  to  abolish  the  office  of
coroner  and  create the office of medical examiner. The terms of office
of all coroners elected or appointed and holding office in the county at
the time  such  local  law  becomes  effective  shall  expire  upon  the
appointment and qualification of the medical examiner and at the general
election  to  be  held  in such year and thereafter no coroners shall be
elected in the county.
3. At least one hundred fifty days prior to any general  election  and
subject  to a permissive referendum, the board of supervisors shall have
power by local law to change the number of coroners to be elected to not
less than one nor more than four. The board may divide the  county  into
districts  bounded by city or town lines and provide for the election of
one coroner in each district.  The  terms  of  office  of  all  coroners
elected  or  appointed and holding office in the county at the time such
local law becomes effective shall expire on  the  December  thirty-first
following. At the general election to be held in the year such local law
becomes  effective,  one or more coroners shall be elected in the county
as provided by such local law.
3-a. Coroner in Lewis county. All the powers and duties of the  office
of  coroner  of the county of Lewis are hereby transferred to the office
of district attorney of such county, and the district attorney  of  such
county  shall  exercise  and  perform  all  the powers and duties of the
office of coroner  of  such  county.  The  district  attorney  shall  be
entitled  to  such  additional  fees or compensation from the county for
performance of duties as coroner as shall  be  fixed  by  the  board  of
supervisors,   and   his   reasonable  and  necessary  expenses  in  the
performance of the duties of such office shall be a county  charge.  The
provisions  of  this section shall not have the effect under section ten
of the municipal home rule law to permit any county,  other  than  Lewis
county  as  herein  prescribed,  to change, amend or supersede, by local
law, any provisions of this chapter.
3-b. Coroner in Madison  county.  The  office  of  coroner  is  hereby
re-established  in  Madison  county.  All  the  powers and duties of the
office of coroner of the county of Madison are hereby transferred to the
office of district attorney of such county, and the district attorney of
such county shall exercise and perform all the powers and duties of  the
office  of  coroner  of  such  county.  The  district  attorney shall be

entitled to such additional fees or compensation  from  the  county  for
performance  of  duties  as  coroner  as  shall be fixed by the board of
supervisors,  and  his  reasonable  and  necessary   expenses   in   the
performance  of  the duties of such office shall be a county charge. The
provisions of this section shall not have the effect under  section  ten
of  the municipal home rule law to permit any county, other than Madison
county as herein prescribed, to change, amend  or  supersede,  by  local
law, any provisions of this chapter.
4.  (a) Appointive. There shall continue to be appointed in the manner
prescribed by law  a  clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors,  a  county
attorney,  county  superintendent  of  highways,  sealer  of weights and
measures and county historian. The board of supervisors may by local law
provide for the appointment of additional county officers, define  their
powers  and  duties not inconsistent with law, and fix the term of their
office. No officer appointed for a fixed term shall be  removed  by  the
board  during his term without written charges and the opportunity to be
heard.
(b) The chief executive officer of a county public welfare department,
whether referred  to  as  commissioner  or  by  other  title,  shall  be
appointed  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of section one hundred
sixteen of the social welfare law.
4-a. Medical examiner. The board of supervisors in any county in which
the office of coroner is abolished shall appoint a medical  examiner.  A
certificate  of  such  appointment  shall  be  filed and recorded in the
office of the county clerk. The medical examiner, before  entering  upon
the  duties  of  his  office, shall take and file the prescribed oath of
office and furnish  and  file  the  required  undertaking.  The  medical
examiner shall serve at the pleasure of the board of supervisors and his
appointment  may  be  revoked  at any time by resolution of the board of
supervisors and the filing of a certificate of such  revocation  in  the
office  of the county clerk. The medical examiner shall be a resident of
the county and a physician duly licensed to practice his  profession  in
the  state  of New York and shall be a person determined by the board of
supervisors as qualified to perform an autopsy and dissect  dead  bodies
of human beings.
4-b.  Coroner's  physician.  Except  in  counties  where the office of
coroner has been abolished, the board of supervisors may appoint one  or
more   coroner's  physicians  or  may  provide  by  local  law  for  the
appointment of one or more coroner's physicians, and may fix  the  terms
of  their  office.    In  any  county in which the coroner or any of the
coroners is not a physician duly licensed to practice medicine  in  this
state, the board shall appoint one or more coroner's physicians.
Each  coroner's physician appointed pursuant to this subdivision shall
by virtue of his office be a deputy coroner and shall possess the powers
and perform the duties of the coroner, during the absence  or  inability
of  the  coroner  to  act, or in the event of a vacancy in the office of
coroner.
5. Certificate of election or appointment. Upon filing in  the  office
of  the  county  clerk  a  certificate of election or appointment of any
officer, together with the  oath  of  office  and  official  undertaking
prescribed  by  law,  the county clerk shall execute and deliver to such
officer a certificate stating that he or she has duly qualified  and  is
entitled  to  assume  the  duties of his or her office. On or before the
tenth day of January in each year and thereafter within five days  after
any   subsequent  appointment  is  made,  the  clerk  of  the  board  of
supervisors shall file in the office of the county clerk  a  certificate
showing  the  names of all officers of the county appointed by the board
and the amount of the official undertaking, if  any,  required  in  each

case.  On  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  January in each year and
thereafter within five days after any person is elected or appointed  to
any  office within the county, the county clerk shall file in the office
of  the executive department of the state a certificate showing the name
of each person so elected or  appointed  who  has  duly  qualified  and,
within  the  same time periods, file the name of any person appointed to
the  office  of  director  of  real  property  tax  services  with   the
commissioner of taxation and finance.
6.  Notice  of  vacancy  in  office. Within ten days after any vacancy
occurs as prescribed by section thirty of the public officers  law,  the
county clerk shall give notice thereof to the governor when the power of
appointment  is  vested  in the governor and to the board of supervisors
when the power of appointment is vested in said board.
7. Filling of vacancies. Except as hereinafter provided, a vacancy  in
an   elective  county  office,  shall  be  filled  by  the  governor  by
appointment and for the office of sheriff with the advice and consent of
the senate if in session. When a vacancy shall occur, otherwise than  by
expiration of term in the office of county judge, surrogate, or judge of
the family court, it shall be filled for a full term at the next general
election  held not less than three months after such vacancy occurs and,
until the vacancy shall be so filled,  the  governor  by  and  with  the
advice and consent of the senate, if the senate shall be in session, or,
if  the  senate not be in session, the governor may fill such vacancy by
an appointment which shall continue until and including the last day  of
December next after the election at which the vacancy shall be filled. A
vacancy  in  the  office  of  coroner  shall  be  filled by the board of
supervisors. Such officer shall hold  office  until  and  including  the
thirty-first  day  of  December  succeeding the first annual election at
which the vacancy can be filled by election. A person appointed to  fill
a  vacancy in an office named in the constitution shall receive the same
compensation that was fixed for the office for the most recent  elective
term.  The  board of supervisors shall fill any vacancy in an appointive
county office for the unexpired term as prescribed by law.
* 8. Notwithstanding any provision of any general,  special  or  local
law,  charter,  code,  ordinance,  resolution, rule or regulation to the
contrary, all elections for any position of a  county  elected  official
shall  occur on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday in November
and shall  occur  in  an  even-numbered  year;  provided  however,  this
subdivision  shall  not  apply to an election for the office of sheriff,
county clerk, district attorney, family court judge, county court judge,
surrogate court judge, or any offices with a three-year  term  prior  to
January first, two thousand twenty-five.
* NB Effective January 1, 2025