Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 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.
(j) The commission, or the executive
director and staff of the commission, if responsibility therefor has been
delegated, shall inspect all financial disclosure statements filed with the
commission to ascertain whether any person required to file a financial
disclosure statement has failed to file such a statement or has filed a
deficient statement.
(k) If a person required to file a
financial disclosure statement with the commission has failed to file a
disclosure statement or has filed a deficient statement, the commission shall
notify the reporting person in writing, state the failure to file or detail the
deficiency, provide the person with a 15-day period to cure the deficiency, and
advise the person of the penalties for failure to comply with the reporting
requirements. Such notice shall be confidential. If the person fails to make
such filing or fails to cure the deficiency within the specified time period,
the commission shall send a notice of delinquency:
(1) to the reporting person;
(2) in the case of a judge or
justice of the Unified Court System, to the State Commission on Judicial
Conduct; and
(3) in
the case of a nonjudicial officer or employee, to the Chief Administrator of
the Courts.
(l) A reporting individual who knowingly
and willfully fails to file an annual statement of financial disclosure or who
knowingly and willfully with intent to deceive makes a false statement or gives
information which such individual knows to be false on such statement of
financial disclosure filed pursuant to this section shall be subject to
disciplinary action as otherwise permitted by law, rule or collective
bargaining agreement. No disciplinary action for false filing may be imposed
hereunder in the event a category of "value" or "amount" reported hereunder is
incorrect unless such reported information is falsely understated.
(m) A copy of any notice of
delinquency sent pursuant to subdivision (k) of this section shall be included
in the reporting person's file and be available for public
inspection.
(n) Upon
written request from any person who is or may be subject to the requirement of
filing a financial disclosure statement, the commission shall render advisory
opinions concerning such requirement. Such requests shall be confidential, but
the commission may publish such opinions provided that the name of the
requesting person and other identifying details shall not be included in the
publication.
(o) In
addition to the other powers and duties specified herein, the commission shall
have the power and duty to:
(1)
administer and enforce all the provisions of this section;
(2) conduct any investigation
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Pursuant to this power
and duty, the commission may administer oaths or affirmations, subpoena
witnesses, compel their attendance and require the production of any books or
records which it may deem relevant or material; and
(3) establish an adjudicatory
procedure pursuant to which requests for certain deletions or exemptions to be
made from a financial disclosure statement as authorized in paragraphs (i)(6),
(7) and (8) of this section may be heard.
(p)
(1) Notwithstanding the provision of
article 6 of the Public Officers Law, the only records of the commission which
shall be available for public inspection are:
(i) the information set forth in an
annual statement of financial disclosure filed pursuant to law and maintained
by the Commission, except the following items which shall remain confidential:
(a) the categories of value or
amount in statements pertaining to calendar years prior to 2014;
(b) the names of unemancipated
children; and
(c) any
other item of information deleted pursuant to paragraph (i)(6) of this section;
and
(ii)
notices of delinquency sent under subdivision (k) of this section.
(2) Notwithstanding
the provisions of article 7 of the Public Officers Law, no meeting or
proceeding, including any such proceeding contemplated under paragraph (i)(6),
(7) or (8) of this section, of the commission shall be open to the public,
except if expressly provided otherwise by the commission.
