NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8404
SPONSOR: Smullen TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to waiving the
residency requirement for the city attorney in the city of Johnstown,
Fulton county
PURPOSE:
To waives the residency requirement for the city attorney in the city of
Johnstown, Fulton County
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Section 3 of the public officers' law is amended by adding a
new subdivision 72 to read as follows: 72. In the city of Johnstown, in
the county of Fulton. the provisions of this section requiring a person
to be a resident of the political subdivision or municipal corporation
of the state for which he or she shall be chosen or within which his or
her official functions are required to be exercised, shall not prevent a
person from holding the office of city attorney of the city of Johns-
town, provided that such person resides in Fulton county or an adjoining
county within the state of New York; provided, however that any person
performing such functions or holding the office of the city attorney in
any other city shall be a resident of such county unless otherwise
provided by law.
Section 2 Effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The City of Johnstown (a city with less than 9000 residents) in Fulton
County currently has limited flexibility to fill the position of City
Attorney due to a residency requirement.
The City Attorney's Office provides the Mayor, City Council. and City
officers, employees, and agencies with effective legal representation
and opinions on City affairs, and prosecutes violators of the City Code
of Ordinances, hence stability and consistency in this role is vital.
Furthermore, a high turnover of personnel is extremely costly to local
governments, particularly at a time when our localities are facing
fiscal challenges due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
This legislation would enable the Mayor of Johnstown to draw from a
larger pool for this important appointed position, while staying within
county lines.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None noted.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8404
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 20, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SMULLEN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to waiving the
residency requirement for the city attorney in the city of Johnstown,
Fulton county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3 of the public officers law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 72 to read as follows:
3 72. In the city of Johnstown, in the county of Fulton, the provisions
4 of this section requiring a person to be a resident of the political
5 subdivision or municipal corporation of the state for which he or she
6 shall be chosen or within which his or her official functions are
7 required to be exercised, shall not prevent a person from holding the
8 office of city attorney of the city of Johnstown, provided that such
9 person resides in Fulton county or an adjoining county within the
10 state of New York; provided, however that any person performing such
11 functions or holding the office of the city attorney in any other city
12 shall be a resident of such county unless otherwise provided by law.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13320-01-1
