BILL NUMBER: S8665

SPONSOR: STEWART-COUSINS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act extending the time within which certain elected and appointed
officers may take or file their oaths of office or official undertakings

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to uphold the will of the electorate despite
ministerial defects in certain oaths of office and official undertakings
requirements.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill provides that any duly elected or appointed
officer or officers within a city in New York State as of January 1,
2022 through March 31, 2022 who failed to take or file his or her
respective oath of office or official undertaking within the statutorily
prescribed period shall continue to serve in such capacity and for the
duration of their term upon the taking and filing of their require oaths
              

of office and official undertakings, consistent with the Public Officers
Law, within 30 days after the effective date of this act.

Section two of the bill establishes the effective date.

 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

N/A

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York State law requires every public officer to: (1) take and file
an oath of office before he or she performs any official duties; and (2)
execute and file an official undertaking in the form of a surety bond in
order to ensure that he or she will faithfully discharge the duties of
his or her office and promptly account for and pay over all moneys or
property received by him or her official capacity. An oath of office or
official undertaking for an elective office must be taken and filed
before or within thirty days after the commencement of the term of
office. An oath of office or official undertaking for an appointive
office must be taken and filed within thirty days after notice of his or
her appointment or within thirty days after the commencement of his or
her term of office.

Routinely, oaths of office and official undertakings are executed and
filed before or at the commencement of a term. However, on occasion,
there are incidents where public officers inadvertently neglect or fail
to execute and file such requirements within the time period set forth
by law, thus triggering a vacancy in the position to which they were
elected or appointed or other potential penalties. This legislation
would cure the failure to file for certain elected and appointed offi-
cials as of January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022 in order to prevent
situations where failure to file official oaths and undertakings effec-
tively acts to undo the will of voters in elections.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect immediately.