Requires members of a public body to complete a minimum of two hours of training, with one hour on the state's open meetings law and one hour on freedom of information law; requires certain local, city, county, town and village public body members to complete such training as well.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7552
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McMAHON, STECK, SIMON, CONRAD, SIMONE, SCHIAVONI,
GLICK, LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern-
mental Operations
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring
members of a public body to complete a minimum level of training on
the state's open meetings law and freedom of information law
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The public officers law is amended by adding a new section
79-a to read as follows:
§ 79-A. PUBLIC OFFICERS REQUIRED TRAINING. EACH LOCAL OFFICER, AS
DEFINED BY ARTICLE ONE OF THIS CHAPTER, SHALL COMPLETE NO LESS THAN TWO
HOURS OF TRAINING ANNUALLY, WITH A MINIMUM OF ONE HOUR OF SUCH TRAINING
BEING ON THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW, AS ESTABLISHED BY
ARTICLE SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER, AND WITH A MINIMUM OF ONE HOUR OF SUCH
TRAINING BEING ON THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW, AS ESTABLISHED BY
ARTICLE SIX OF THIS CHAPTER. ALL VILLAGE CLERKS, TOWN CLERKS, CITY
CLERKS, LEGISLATIVE CLERKS TO A COUNTY LEGISLATURE OR BOARD OF SUPERVI-
SORS, VILLAGE ATTORNEYS, TOWN ATTORNEYS, CITY ATTORNEYS, COUNTY ATTOR-
NEYS OR OTHER DESIGNATED ATTORNEYS FOR A PUBLIC BODY, AND ALL DESIGNATED
RECORDS ACCESS OFFICERS AND FOIL APPEAL OFFICERS SHALL BE REQUIRED TO
COMPLETE SUCH TRAINING. SUCH TRAINING SHALL BE APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE
ON OPEN GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED UNDER SECTION ONE HUNDRED NINE OF THIS
CHAPTER AND MAY INCLUDE TRAINING PROVIDED BY A STATE AGENCY, STATEWIDE
MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, COLLEGE, OR ANY OTHER
SIMILAR ENTITY THE COMMITTEE DEEMS NECESSARY. SUCH TRAINING MAY BE
PROVIDED IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ELEC-
TRONIC MEDIA, DISTANCE LEARNING OR TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM TRAINING. ON
OR BEFORE DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST OF EACH YEAR, INDIVIDUALS REQUIRED TO
COMPLETE SUCH TRAINING SHALL FILE WITH THEIR DESIGNATED RECORDS ACCESS
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02955-02-5
A. 7552 2
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