NY State Senate Bill 2019-S8088

Senate Bill S8088

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to an employer's ability to suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 17, 2020	referred to local government

2019-S8088 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: Village Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §8-804, Vil L

2019-S8088 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to an employer's ability to suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges regardless of chapters 104 and 524 of 1936.

2019-S8088 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8088

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the village law, in relation to an employer's ability to
suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

An act to amend the village law, in relation to the employer's ability
to suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill amends section 8-804 of the village Law, to
require that villages in Westchester and Rockland Counties are covered
by this sections which grants boards the power to suspend, without pay,
pending the trial of charges, any member of such police department in
accordance with section 75 of the Civil Service Law.

Section 2 of this bill provides that this act shall take effect imme-
diately.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Section 75 of the Civil Service Law is the default provision governing
the prosecution of disciplinary charges against the majority public
employees in New York State, including police officers. Many police
collective bargaining agreements contain provisions replacing § 75 with
alternative disciplinary procedures agreed to by the employer and the
representative employee organization. Police officers discipline not
covered by collective bargaining agreements can fall under different
procedures depending upon the statute that covers where they are
employed.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The disciplinary procedures in Rockland and Westchester County villages
differ significantly from the rest of the state. All other departments
are limited to a suspension without pay for a period not to exceed 30
days without a hearing but village departments in Westchester and Rock-
land can suspend without pay pending the trial of charges for an indefi-
nite period of time.  The 30-day limitation provided for by Civil
Service Law § 75 provides for more consistent public policy without
unduly hampering an employer's authority in disciplinary proceedings.
Under all the aforementioned disciplinary procedures, the administration
of disciplinary charges is totally within the control of the munici-
pality (employer), including who the hearing officer is, when the disci-
plinary hearing is to be conducted, when the transcript is prepared,
when and by whom the transcript is review on behalf of the municipality
and when the municipality makes its final determination based on the
hearing officer's recommendation.

This is a matter of due process and parity. By providing a 30-day limi-
tation on pre-hearing suspension without pay, the municipality realizes
that it will resume paying the officer's salary after 30 days thus
providing the municipality the impetus to keep the process moving in a
timely manner. The gap in consistency in Westchester and Rockland means
there is no such impetus and has the potential for abuse. There are good
and valid reasons why suspension without pay is limited to 30 days under
various provisions of law and therefore should be extended to the
village police officers in Westchester and Rockland that remain uncov-
ered.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Relates to 54083 of 2019

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:  Immediately

2019-S8088 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8088
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 17, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAYER  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 AN ACT to amend the village law, in relation to an employer's ability to
   suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section  8-804 of the village law, as
 amended by chapter 523 of the laws  of  1976,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   1.  Except as otherwise provided by law, a member of such police force
 or department shall continue in office unless  suspended  or  dismissed.
 The board of trustees or municipal board shall have power and is author-
 ized  to adopt and make rules and regulations for the examination, hear-
 ing, investigation and  determination  of  charges,  made  or  preferred
 against any member or members of such police force or department. Except
 as  otherwise  provided,  no  member  or members of such police force or
 department shall be fined, reprimanded, suspended, removed or  dismissed
 until  written  charges shall have been examined, heard and investigated
 in such manner or procedure, practice, examination and investigation  as
 the  board may by rules and regulations from time to time prescribe. Any
 member of such police force or department at the time of the hearing  or
 trial of such charges shall have the right to a public hearing and trial
 and  to  be represented by counsel at any such hearing or trial, and any
 person who shall have preferred such charges or any  part  of  the  same
 shall not sit as judge upon such hearing or trial. Any and all witnesses
 produced in such support of all or any part of such charges shall testi-
 fy  thereto under oath. Any member of such force or department who shall
 have been so dismissed shall not be reinstated as a member of such force
 or department unless he shall within twelve months of his dismissal file
 with such board a written application for a  rehearing  of  the  charges
 upon  which he was dismissed.  Such board shall have the power to rehear
 such charges and, in its discretion, reinstate a member of the force  or
 department  after  he  has  filed such written application therefor. Any
 member of such force or department found guilty upon charges, after five
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD15866-01-0

 S. 8088                             2
 
 days' notice and an opportunity to be heard in his defense,  of  neglect
 or  dereliction  in  the  performance  of official duty, or violation of
 rules and regulations, or  disobedience,  or  incompetency,  to  perform
 official  duty, or an act of delinquency seriously affecting his general
 character or fitness for office, may be punished by the board  of  trus-
 tees or other municipal board having jurisdiction, by reprimand, forfei-
 ture  and the withholding of salary or compensation for a specified time
 not exceeding twenty days, suspension from duty for a specified time not
 exceeding twenty days and the  withholding  of  salary  or  compensation
 during  such  suspension,  or  by  dismissal from the department. [Such]
 NOTWITHSTANDING CHAPTERS ONE HUNDRED FOUR AND FIVE  HUNDRED  TWENTY-FOUR
 OF  THE  LAWS  OF NINETEEN HUNDRED THIRTY-SIX, SUCH board shall have the
 power to suspend, without pay for a period not to  exceed  thirty  days,
 pending the trial of charges, any member of such police force or depart-
 ment.    If  any  member of such police force or department so suspended
 shall not be convicted by such board of the  charges  so  preferred,  he
 shall be entitled to full pay from the date of suspension, notwithstand-
 ing such charges and suspension.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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