Requires a person to be a resident of the local subdivision for which such person seeks office at the time of filing designating or nominating petitions.

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S1320-2011 Actions

• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
• Jan 6, 2011: REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

S1320-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S1320

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the public officers law and the election law, in relation to
residency requirement for local government elected officials

PURPOSE:
To provide a mechanism to ascertain whether
a candidate for a
local elected office meets the residency requirement for the office
before the election takes place.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 1 of section 3 of the public
officers law, as amended by chapter 44 of the laws of 1982, for the
purpose of adding language to make the document gender neutral.

Section 2 of the bill adds a new section 6-170 which requires that a
candidate for a local elected office be a resident of the subdivision
(district, village, town, etc.) as of the date of filing of the
designating or nominating certificate or petition.

Section 3 of the bill adds a new section 6-214 that provides a
mechanism for a candidate listing an out of district address on a
petition to certify a new in-district address as of the date of
filing. This provision does not apply to statewide or state Senate or
Assembly candidates.

Section 4 of the bill specifies the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
Since the residence qualification of the candidate is
met if the candidate lives in the district or subdivision as of the
date of the election, pre-election court challenges to the
eligibility of a candidate for non-residence have been rejected by
the courts. (See Weidman v. Starkweather, 80 NY 2d 955 (1992); Keith
v. King, 220 AD. 2d 471 (2d Dept. 1995); Clark v. McCoy, 196 AD 2d
607 (2d Dept); Leave to Appeal Denied, 2 NY 2d 653 (1993).)

After an election, there is no effective means to challenge a winning
candidate's eligibility for office based on his or her failure to
have acquired a residence in the district by the date of the
election. The Boards of Election lack jurisdiction to rule on
residency issues and the courts' jurisdiction in post-election
proceedings is limited to ruling on contested ballots. A quo warranto
proceeding could challenge a person's right to hold office, but only
the Attorney General can issue such a proceeding. Rarely is such a
proceeding brought forth, and when it is, it typically takes months,
if not a year or more to resolve these issues.

Serious questions were raised concerning the residency of a winning
candidate for City Council in a special election held in February
2007 in New York City. Absent a clear mechanism for resolving the
issue, the City Council addressed the matter by requiring the winning
candidate to submit a sworn statement as to his residence before
being seated. This requirement is of dubious legality because Article


XIII of the State Constitution provides that "no other oath,
declaration or test (other than the standard oath of office) shall be
required as a qualification for any office of public trust." In the
event, the candidate refused to make the sworn statement and a second
special election had to be called to resolve the matter, at
substantial expense to the taxpayers.
Under this legislation, candidates for local offices must meet the
residency requirement as of the date their designating or nominating
petitions or certificates are filed. A non-resident may circulate
petitions listing an out-of-district residence address. However, on
the date the petition is filed, the candidate must file a certificate
specifying an in-district residence as of that date. Challenges, if
any, to the residence of the candidate would then be resolved in the
courts, under the usual procedures, before the election.

Candidates for statewide office or member of the legislature are
subject to constitutional residence requirements that would not be
affected by this legislation.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2008: 54207 (Connor) - Referred to Investigations & Government
Operations.
2009:  S.5176/A.1058
2010:  S.5176/A.1058

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None for the State. Could save significant
amounts for localities by enabling them to resolve residency issues
without holding second elections.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January
next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.

S1320-2011 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    1320

                         2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                               January 6, 2011
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sens.  DILAN,  DIAZ,  HASSELL-THOMPSON -- read twice and
    ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
    Investigations and Government Operations

  AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  officers  law  and the election law, in
    relation to residency requirement for local government  elected  offi-
    cials

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 3 of the public officers  law,  as
  amended  by  chapter  44  of  the  laws  of  1982, is amended to read as
  follows:

    1. No person shall be capable of holding a civil office who shall not,
  at the time he OR SHE shall be chosen thereto, have attained the age  of
  eighteen  years,  except that in the case of youth boards, youth commis-
  sions or recreation commissions only, members of such boards or  commis-
  sions may be under the age of eighteen years, but must have attained the
  age of sixteen years on or before appointment to such youth board, youth
  commission  or recreation commission, be a citizen of the United States,
  a resident of the state, and if it be a local office, BE a  resident  of
  the  political  subdivision  or  municipal  corporation of the state for
  which he OR SHE shall be chosen, or within which the  electors  electing
  him  OR  HER  reside,  or within which his OR HER official functions are
  required to be exercised AT THE TIME  HE  OR  SHE  SHALL  BE  OFFICIALLY
  DESIGNATED OR NOMINATED, or who shall have been or shall be convicted of
  a violation of the selective draft act of the United States, enacted May
  eighteenth,  nineteen  hundred  seventeen,  or  the  acts  amendatory or
  supplemental thereto, or of the federal selective training  and  service
  act  of nineteen hundred forty or the acts amendatory thereof or supple-
  mental thereto.
    S 2. The election law is amended by adding a new section 6-170 to read
  as follows:


   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD00041-01-1

 S. 1320                             2

    S 6-170. DESIGNATING OR NOMINATING PETITION; RESIDENCE. A  DESIGNATING
  OR  NOMINATING  PETITION,  OR CERTIFICATE OF DESIGNATION, AS PROVIDED IN
  SECTIONS 6-132 AND 6-140 OF THIS TITLE, NAMING A PERSON AS CANDIDATE FOR
  A LOCAL OFFICE WHICH REQUIRES THE OFFICE HOLDER TO BE A RESIDENT OF  THE
  SUBDIVISION,  AND  WHICH  CONTAINS  THEREIN  A RESIDENCE ADDRESS FOR THE
  CANDIDATE THAT IS NOT WITHIN THE  SUBDIVISION  IN  WHICH  THE  CANDIDATE
  SEEKS  NOMINATION  OR  ELECTION,  SHALL BE INVALID UNLESS SUCH CANDIDATE
  SHALL FILE, AT THE SAME TIME AS THE FILING OF THE  PETITION  OR  CERTIF-
  ICATE  OF  NOMINATION OR DESIGNATION, A CERTIFICATE DULY ACKNOWLEDGED BY
  THE CANDIDATE WHICH SETS FORTH A RESIDENCE WITHIN THE SUBDIVISION  WHERE
  THE CANDIDATE RESIDES AS OF THE DATE OF SUCH FILINGS.
    S 3. The election law is amended by adding a new section 6-214 to read
  as follows:

    S  6-214. DESIGNATING OR NOMINATING PETITION; RESIDENCE. A DESIGNATING
  OR NOMINATING PETITION, OR CERTIFICATE OF DESIGNATION,  AS  PROVIDED  IN
  SECTIONS 6-204 AND 6-206 OF THIS TITLE, NAMING A PERSON AS CANDIDATE FOR
  A  VILLAGE  OFFICE  WHICH REQUIRES THE OFFICE HOLDER TO BE A RESIDENT OF
  THE VILLAGE, AND WHICH CONTAINS THEREIN  A  RESIDENCE  ADDRESS  FOR  THE
  CANDIDATE  THAT  IS  NOT WITHIN THE VILLAGE IN WHICH THE CANDIDATE SEEKS
  NOMINATION OR ELECTION, SHALL BE INVALID  UNLESS  SUCH  CANDIDATE  SHALL
  FILE,  AT  THE SAME TIME AS THE FILING OF THE PETITION OR CERTIFICATE OF
  NOMINATION OR DESIGNATION, A CERTIFICATE DULY ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE CANDI-
  DATE WHICH SETS FORTH A RESIDENCE WITHIN THE VILLAGE WHERE THE CANDIDATE
  RESIDES AS OF THE DATE OF SUCH FILINGS.
    S 4. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.