New York Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in New York, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can the same New York resident serve as both deputy town clerk for a town and as an elected village trustee within that town?
Yes. Deputy town clerk and village trustee are compatible offices and may be held by the same person. Neither is subordinate to the other, the duties do not require the official to choose between the …
Can a town attorney also serve as director of a not-for-profit local development corporation that the town partially funds?
Yes. The AG concluded the positions of town attorney and director of the local development corporation are compatible, and the office of town board member is also compatible with the director position…
Can one person hold both the office of county manager and the office of county treasurer?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible. The county treasurer is subordinate to the county manager, who supervises administrative functions and manages appropriated funds. Holding both…
Can the clerk-treasurer of one New York village also serve as a trustee on the village board of a different village?
Yes. The AG concluded the two positions are compatible because they are in separate municipalities, so neither is subordinate to the other. The standard compatibility test from People ex rel. Ryan v G…
Can a paid city firefighter also serve as a commissioner of a fire district that contracts with the city for fire protection services?
No. The AG concluded a paid firefighter of a fire department providing service by contract to a fire district may not also serve as a commissioner of that district. The two roles create at least the a…
Can a county legislator simultaneously serve as deputy supervisor of a town within the same county?
Yes. The AG concluded that a county legislator may also hold the appointive position of deputy supervisor of a town in the county. County Law § 411 bars an elective county officer from holding any oth…
In New York, can a county legislator also serve on the town planning board of a town inside the county?
Yes, with one caveat. The AG concluded the two positions are compatible. But if the county legislator has authority over appointments to a county, metropolitan, or regional planning board that reviews…
Can the same person serve as a New York town assessor while also being elected mayor of a village inside the town?
No. The AG concluded the positions are incompatible. The town assessor must value all town property impartially, but a mayor's loyalty to village taxpayers creates an inherent conflict and at minimum …
Can a New York village court clerk also work as a state probation officer in the same area, or would the two roles conflict?
No, the two cannot be combined. The AG concluded that even though no statute expressly prohibits the combination, the village court clerk position and the role of state probation officer are incompati…
Can the same person work as a part-time deputy town clerk and serve as a town assessor in New York, or are those jobs legally incompatible?
Yes, the same person can hold both. The AG concluded that the appointed positions of deputy town clerk/receiver of taxes and town assessor are compatible. Town Law § 20(4) bars holding two elective to…
Can the same lawyer serve as a county assistant district attorney and as a member of a town's panel of special counsel that substitutes when the town, planning board, or zoning board attorneys are unavailable?
Yes. The two positions are compatible. Neither is subordinate to the other, and the prosecutor's duties do not inherently conflict with substitute representation of town legislative or land-use boards…
Can the same person in New York serve as police chief of one town and as a board of assessment review member in a different town?
Yes. A person may serve simultaneously as chief of police of one New York town and as a member of another town's board of assessment review. No statute prohibits the combination, and the People v Gree…
Can the Rensselaer County Attorney in New York also serve as counsel to the Troy Industrial Development Authority?
Yes. The Rensselaer County Attorney can also serve as counsel to the Troy Industrial Development Authority. The two are legally independent of each other, the county is not the city, and TIDA is an in…
Can the same person in a New York town serve as both the town's appointed assessor and the local political party chair?
Yes. A New York town assessor may also serve as a local political party chairperson. A political party chair is a party office under Election Law § 1-104(5), not a State or local public office. The do…
Can the mayor of a New York village also serve as the chairperson of the town zoning board of appeals for the town the village sits in?
Yes, but with recusal. A New York village mayor can serve simultaneously as the chairperson of the town zoning board of appeals, because the two offices are in different governmental units and neither…
Can the same person serve on a New York town board and chair the village zoning board of appeals for a village inside that town?
Yes, the two positions are compatible. Under the People ex rel. Ryan v Green test for compatibility of office, neither role is subordinate to the other and the duties are not inherently inconsistent. …
Can a New York town board member also work as the deputy highway superintendent or a town highway laborer?
No. Serving simultaneously as a town board member and as the deputy superintendent of highways or as a highway department laborer was incompatible under the People v Green standard. The town board con…
Can the Buffalo Commissioner of Neighborhoods, Housing and Inspections also serve on the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority's board of commissioners and on the board of a HUD Section 8 administering nonprofit?
Yes. The three positions are compatible. The State authorized one city officer to sit on the BMHA board (Public Housing Law § 30(4)). The housing authority and the city are legally independent corpora…
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Attorney general opinions in New York are written by the New York Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.