BILL NUMBER:S4979

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the New York city civil court act, in relation to
increasing the term of office of judges of the New York city civil
court housing part

This measure is being introduced at the request of the Judiciary.
Present law calls for a five-year term of office for each Housing
Judge of the New York City Civil Court. This measure would increase
this term to ten years, but only where a Housing Judge is being
reappointed to his or her office. That is, each Housing Judge would
serve an initial five-year term and then, if he or she is reappointed
to office, the term then to be served and any future terms will be ten
years.

In our view, a five-year term for a full-time judge does not insure
that individual, and the public he or she serves, an adequate measure
of judicial independence. Nor are we confident that such a
comparatively short term will consistently attract a sufficient number
of qualified candidates to seek appointment to judicial office.{1}
Housing Judges serve full-time and, like other full-time judges, they
may not practice law on the side; and because they are subject to the
Rules Governing Judicial Conduct, they are barred from engaging in
many forms of extra-judicial activity by which they might otherwise
              

augment their income. At the same time, because of the present
five-year term, Housing Judges

{1} Housing Judges are appointed by the Chief Administrator of the
Courts from candidates for the office who have been approved by the
Advisory Council for the Housing Part. See New York City Civil Court
Act § 110(f).  have much more limited job security than do their
judicial peers on the New York City Criminal Court and New York City
Civil Court.

A ten-year term for Housing Judges, after an initial five-year term,
would be in keeping with the terms now fixed by law for other
full-time judges of the Unified Court System, including those of the
New York City Criminal Court and New York City Civil Court. Also, it
would strike a more reasonable balance between the public's need to
attract qualified candidates and its concern that Housing Part Judges,
like all other government officials, periodically must be accountable
for their performance in office. Finally, by pairing entitlement to
the ten-year term to a continuing need to serve an initial five-year
term, this measure will assure that only those Housing Judges who are
experienced and who have demonstrated competence through a more
limited tour of duty on the Court can enjoy longer tenure in office.

This measure, which would have no fiscal impact on the State, would
take effect immediately but would apply only to the terms of office of
Housing Judges reappointed on or after that date.

2014 Legislative History:

OCA 2014-60 2011 Legislative History:


OCA 2011-44
Senate 4878-A (Sen. Young) (ref to Judiciary)