New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 22 - JUDICIARY › Subtitle A - JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION › Chapter I - Standards and Administrative Policies › Subchapter A - Rules Of The Chief Judge › Part 40 - Financial Disclosure › Section 40.1 - Ethics Commission

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28,
					 July 10, 2024
(a) There shall be an Ethics Commission
					 for the Unified Court System which shall consist of five members and shall have
					 and exercise the powers and duties set forth herein with respect to all
					 State-paid judges, justices and nonjudicial officers and employees of the
					 courts and court-related agencies of the Unified Court System.
(b) The members of the
					 commission shall be appointed by the Chief Judge of the State of New York, upon
					 consultation with the Administrative Board of the Courts. Two members shall be
					 State-paid judges or justices of a court or courts of the Unified Court System,
					 and at least two shall not be public officers or employees.
(c) The term of members of the
					 commission shall be five years. Members shall be appointed for no more than one
					 five-year term.
(d)
					 The Chief Judge shall designate the chairperson of the commission from among
					 the members thereof, who shall serve as chairperson at the pleasure of the
					 Chief Judge. The chairperson or any three members of the commission may call a
					 meeting.
(e) Any
					 vacancy occurring on the commission shall be filled within 60 days of its
					 occurrence by the Chief Judge. A person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring
					 other than by expiration of a term of office shall be appointed for the
					 unexpired term of the member he or she succeeds. Where a member of the
					 commission who is a judge or justice leaves judicial office, a vacancy on the
					 commission shall thereby be deemed to have occurred.
(f) Three members of the
					 commission shall constitute a quorum, and the commission shall have power to
					 act by majority vote of the total number of members of the commission without
					 vacancy.
(g) Members
					 of the commission may be removed by the Chief Judge for substantial neglect of
					 duty, gross misconduct in office, inability to discharge the powers or duties
					 of office or violation of this rule, after written notice and opportunity for a
					 reply.
(h) The
					 members of the commission shall not receive compensation but shall be
					 reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their
					 official duties.
(i)
					 The commission shall:
(1)
					 appoint an executive director who shall act in accordance with the policies of
					 the commission and the provisions of this rule. The commission may delegate
					 authority to the executive director to act in the name of the commission
					 between meetings of the commission provided such delegation is in writing and
					 the specific powers to be delegated are enumerated;
(2) appoint such other staff,
					 within appropriations made available therefor by the Chief Administrator of the
					 Courts, as are necessary to carry out its duties under this rule;
(3) adopt, amend and rescind
					 rules and regulations to govern procedures of the commission, which shall be
					 consistent with the provisions of this rule and which shall include, but not be
					 limited to, a procedure for such adjudicatory proceedings as are authorized by
					 this rule and the procedure whereby a person who is required to file an annual
					 financial disclosure statement with the commission may request an additional
					 period of time within which to file such statement, due to justifiable cause or
					 undue hardship; such rules or regulations shall provide for a date beyond which
					 in all cases of justifiable cause or undue hardship no further extension of
					 time will be granted;
(4) make available forms for annual
					 statements of financial disclosure required to be filed pursuant to
					 law;
(5) review
					 financial disclosure statements in accordance with the provisions of this rule;
					 provided, however, that the commission may delegate all or part of this review
					 function to the executive director, who shall be responsible for completing
					 staff review of such statements in a manner consistent with the terms of the
					 commission's delegation;
(6) permit any person required to file a
					 financial disclosure statement to request the commission to delete from the
					 copy thereof made available for public inspection one or more items of
					 information, which may be deleted by the commission upon a finding by a
					 majority of the total number of its members without vacancy that the
					 information which would otherwise be required to be made available for public
					 inspection will have no material bearing on the discharge of the reporting
					 person's official duties;
(7) permit any person required to file a
					 financial disclosure statement to request an exemption from any requirement to
					 report one or more items of information which pertain to such person's spouse
					 or unemancipated children, which item or items may be exempted by the
					 commission upon a finding by a majority of the total number of its members
					 without vacancy that the reporting individual's spouse, on his or her own
					 behalf or on behalf of an unemancipated child, or the reporting person on
					 behalf of an unemancipated child, objects to providing the information
					 necessary to make such disclosure and that the information which would
					 otherwise be required to be reported will have no material bearing on the
					 discharge of the reporting person's official duties;
(8) permit any person who is
					 required to file a financial disclosure statement, but who has not been
					 determined pursuant to section
					 40.2(b) of this
					 Part to hold a policy-making position, to request an exemption from such
					 requirement in accordance with rules and regulations governing such exemptions.
					 Such rules and regulations shall provide for exemptions to be granted either on
					 the application of an individual or on behalf of persons who share the same job
					 title or employment classification which the commission deems to be comparable
					 for purposes of this section. Such rules and regulations may permit the
					 granting of an exemption where, in the discretion of the commission, the public
					 interest does not require disclosure and the applicant's duties do not involve
					 the negotiation, authorization or approval of:
(i) contracts, leases, franchises,
					 revocable consents, concessions, variances, special permits, or licenses as
					 defined in section
					 73 of the
					 Public Officers Law;
(ii) the purchase, sale, rental or lease
					 of real property, goods or services, or a contract therefor;
(iii) the obtaining of grants
					 of money or loans; or
(iv) the adoption or repeal of any rule
					 or regulation having the force and effect of law;
(9) exemptions granted
					 hereunder shall be for such duration as the commission shall
					 determine;
(10)
					 prepare an annual report to the Chief Judge and the Administrative Board of the
					 Courts summarizing the activities of the commission; and
(11) in such cases as it shall
					 deem appropriate, the commission may determine a question common to a class or
					 defined category of persons or items of information required to be disclosed,
					 where determination of the question will prevent undue repetition of requests
					 for exemption or deletion or prevent undue complication in complying with the
					 requirements of this rule.