Opinion ID: 773394
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: How Governing Members of the Retirement System Are Appointed

Text: 47 Retirement System officers are designated by statute. The state comptroller serves as administrative head, N.Y. Retire. & Soc. Sec. Law § 11(a), as well as trustee, id. § 13(b). The state attorney general serves as legal advisor, id. § 14, and the System is subject to supervision by the state superintendent of insurance, id. § 15. The superintendent of insurance is in turn appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. N.Y. Ins. Law § 201 (McKinney 2000). The custody of the Retirement System's funds is vested in the head of the division of the treasury of the Department of Taxation and Finance. N.Y. Retire. & Soc. Sec. Law § 13(d). Given that the state legislature and the governor ratified the statutes by which these officers were designated, this factor too leans in favor of immunity. See Glassman, 309 N.Y. at 441 (The close relationship between the Retirement System and the state government is apparent throughout the Civil Service Law provisions [from which the Retirement and Social Security Law was derived] which create and govern the affairs of the System.). 48 It makes no difference that the comptroller and the attorney general are elected officials because, regardless of that fact, the state has named them to positions of authority in the Retirement System. Cf. Mancuso, 86 F.3d at 295 (holding that the appointment of Thruway Authority members by the governor with the advice and consent of the state senate leans toward immunity); Feeney, 873 F.2d at 631 (noting that the state appointment of commissioners to the Port Authority Trans- Hudson Corporation favors immunity).