New York Attorney General Opinions
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Can a New York county's director of emergency services also serve as the assistant fire chief of a joint fire district located in the same county?
Yes. AG Schneiderman's office concluded the two roles are compatible as a matter of law, because the assistant fire chief reports to the fire district (not to the county), and the duties of the two of…
Can a New York elected county coroner also serve as the chief investigator for the district attorney's office?
No. AG Schneiderman's office concluded that the offices of elected coroner and chief investigator for the district attorney are incompatible because the coroner must conduct death investigations indep…
Can a person serve as both a battalion chief in a village fire department and as village mayor or village trustee in New York?
No. Village Law § 10-1012 bars one person from holding both an office of mayor or trustee and the office of village fire chief or assistant chief. The AG concluded that a battalion chief is the functi…
Can one person serve as both the village clerk/treasurer and the village court clerk in a New York village?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible because the village court clerk transmits court fines and fees to the treasurer, who in turn distributes them to the State and county. Having on…
Can a town board member also work as a paid employee of the town housing authority that the town board oversees?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are legally incompatible. Because the town board appoints, removes, and approves compensation for the housing authority board, a town board member who is simulta…
Can a New York town council member also serve as the town's financial operations manager when the town is in fiscal crisis and needs experienced help?
No. The town board (which includes council members) supervises the financial operations manager and audits the town's finances. Having a council member also serve as financial operations manager would…
Can a New York district attorney who is also serving as the county coroner appoint the county's emergency medical services coordinator as deputy coroner, when the EMS coordinator is not a physician?
No, for two reasons. The AG concluded that County Law's coroner framework requires a licensed physician either as coroner or as coroner's physician, so a non-physician cannot serve as deputy coroner w…
Can a Port Jervis Common Council member be appointed acting city court judge when General City Law § 3 forbids the council from appointing its own members to paid city offices and the city charter says the council 'appoints'?
Yes. Filling an acting city court judge vacancy is governed by Uniform City Court Act § 2104(e), which makes it a mayoral appointment with the council's advice and consent. State law on court vacancie…
Can someone serve on a New York city's board of ethics and on the local school board at the same time, or are those positions incompatible?
Incompatible. City board of ethics members are public officers holding a 'city office' because the board exercises sovereign authority, sets its own procedures, and renders the city's final determinat…
Can a single person serve on a New York town zoning board of appeals and also work as the ZBA's secretary, when the secretary is hired by the board itself?
No, not under the circumstances here. The ZBA selects its own secretary annually. Under the Wood v. Whitehall public-policy rule, a board cannot appoint one of its own members to another position abse…
Can a member of a small-city school board in New York also serve as 'city supervisor' to represent the city on the county board of supervisors?
Yes, the two positions can be held together. Education Law § 2502(7) bars a member of a small city (under 125,000) school board from holding 'any city office.' But a city supervisor's only role is to …
Can a New York village mayor also serve as a fire commissioner of a joint fire district established by that village?
No. The Town Law and Village Law give the village board (with the town board) substantial authority over a joint fire district, including extending it, dissolving it, approving real-property acquisiti…
In New York, can the same person serve as town assessor and as a member of the school board?
Yes. The AG concluded the two offices are compatible. No statute barred the combination (Town Law § 20(4) covers only elective town offices and the assessor here was appointive; Education Law § 2103 d…
Can a New York district attorney also sit on a BOCES board or a local school board?
No. The AG concluded that the elected part-time district attorney's broad, nondelegable prosecutorial discretion was incompatible with holding policymaking positions on the BOCES and school board with…
Can a town in New York appoint its tax certiorari defense attorney to serve as deputy supervisor?
No. The AG concluded the conflict was structural, not waivable. As deputy supervisor, the attorney would negotiate his own contract renewal with colleagues on the board and advise the town board on li…
In New York, can a part-time assistant county attorney also serve as mayor of a city in that county?
Yes, under the facts presented. The AG concluded the positions are compatible: County Law § 411 does not bar the combination, the two positions are in separate governmental units (no subordination), a…
Can a New York town clerk also serve as a fire district commissioner for a fire district inside that town?
Yes. The AG concluded the two offices are compatible. A fire district is a separate political subdivision from the town, so neither office supervises the other. The oath-of-office filing requirement u…
Can a New York town supervisor also serve as the town librarian?
No. The AG concluded the offices are incompatible. The supervisor sits on the town board, which appoints the library board, which selects the librarian and sets the librarian's salary. The supervisor …
What political activity can a New York city police officer take part in: running for office, joining party caucuses, donating to campaigns?
Most yes, one no. A police officer may run for and hold the office of county legislator, sit in a county legislative caucus, attend party committee meetings, and make political donations. Police offic…
Can a town police officer also serve as a village trustee in a village within that town, when the police department is run by an intermunicipal board?
Yes. The AG concluded the positions are compatible. The Manlius police department is governed by a Police Committee with town and village representatives, but the village board itself has no direct su…
Can the county officer who runs the county's workers' compensation self-insurance program also serve as supervisor of a town that participates in that program?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible. The Sullivan County Director of Risk Management decides workers' compensation claims for participating towns, including Liberty. Liberty's supe…
In New York, can the lawyer who represents a fire district also be a volunteer firefighter in that same department?
Yes, the offices are not per se incompatible. The AG reasoned that because Town Law § 175(3) lets a volunteer firefighter serve on the fire commission (making policy), the same firefighter may also se…
How many city officials can sit on a New York public housing authority board at the same time?
Only one. The AG concluded Public Housing Law § 30(4) caps municipal-official representation at a single board member. Utica had two officials serving, the Commissioner of Public Safety and a Zoning B…
In New York, can a village trustee who is also a volunteer firefighter serve on the village board of fire commissioners?
Yes. The AG concluded village trustees may be appointed to a board of fire commissioners (no more than two trustees on it), or one trustee may serve as the single fire commissioner in charge, even whi…
Can a village police officer in New York also serve as a member of the village zoning board of appeals?
Yes. The AG concluded the offices are compatible. No statute prohibits the combination; Village Law § 3-300(3) bars only elective-plus-appointive village office combinations, and the police officer is…
Can a New York county legislator also serve on the board of the Montgomery-Otsego-Schoharie Solid Waste Management Authority, given the extensive interaction between the Authority and the participating counties?
Yes. The AG concluded that the positions are compatible. Public Authorities Law § 2041-b requires MOSA board members to be county residents and bars only elected officials being appointed as MOSA empl…
Can the Dutchess County Transportation Program Administrator also serve on the City of Poughkeepsie Planning Board, given that the County reviews some of the City Planning Board's actions?
Yes. The AG concluded the positions are compatible. General City Law § 27(12) provides that serving on a county planning board does not disqualify a person from a city planning board, and General Muni…
Can the same person serve as the Director of a county planning board and as a member of the county industrial development agency in New York?
Yes. The AG concluded that the positions of director of the Fulton County Planning Board and member of the County's IDA are compatible. General Municipal Law § 856(4) expressly authorizes municipal of…
Can a county building code enforcement officer also serve as a county fire investigator who investigates the cause of fires in buildings he previously permitted?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible because the fire investigator would be reviewing his own code-enforcement work. Even when a colleague does the fire investigation, the collegial…
Can the mayor of a New York city serve at the same time as a member of the county legislature?
Yes. The AG concluded that the positions of city mayor and county legislator are compatible. County Law § 411 does not list either office in its bar on dual elective county/town office, and the AG saw…
Can the chief, deputy chief, or assistant chief of a village fire department also serve as the village mayor or a village trustee in New York?
No, not where the village board of trustees appoints or approves the appointment of the fire officers. Village Law § 10-1012 statutorily bars the same person from holding mayor or trustee office and t…
Can a county board of supervisors member run a private septic-installation business when his work is inspected by the county employees whose pay and conditions he sets?
No. The AG found a conflict of interests: the supervisor's votes on county employees' compensation and working conditions could influence their reviews of his private installations, and the employees …
In New York, can the same person serve as both a town supervisor and the mayor of a village within that town?
Only briefly. The offices are incompatible because the town board sets budget items that affect village taxpayers, so a newly elected town supervisor who also serves as village mayor must resign one p…
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…
Can the same person serve as both town comptroller of a New York town and village treasurer of a village located partly within the same town?
Yes. The AG concluded the positions of town comptroller and village treasurer are compatible, even though four-fifths of the village is located in the town. Each officer performs duties for a separate…
Can the part-time director of a New York county veterans agency also serve as town supervisor in a town within the same county?
Yes. The AG concluded the positions of director of the Tioga County Veterans Agency and supervisor of the Town of Candor are compatible. Neither is subordinate to the other, and the duties of one (cou…
Can a person hold the paid position of fire district master mechanic at the same time as serving as an elected fire district commissioner?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible. The board of fire commissioners hires, sets pay for, disciplines, and supervises fire district employees (including the master mechanic) under …
Can a New York town clerk who already collects state, county, and town taxes also be appointed school tax collector by the local school board?
Yes. The AG concluded the town clerk of Willsboro could be appointed school tax collector for the Willsboro Central School District. Neither position is subordinate to the other, and the duties (colle…
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 assistant chief of a New York fire district's fire department also sit on the board of fire commissioners?
No. The AG concluded that Town Law § 174(4) expressly prohibits the same person from holding both the office of fire district commissioner and the office of chief or assistant chief. The statutory bar…
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 a New York fire district require its paid firefighters and fire officers to live in the state, or are they free to live across state lines?
Yes. The AG concluded that the board of fire commissioners may require paid firefighters and fire officers, including the chief and assistant chief, to reside within New York State as a condition of a…
Can a fire district employee hold both the fire chief position and a separate position as house maintainer at the same fire district?
No. The two positions are incompatible because the fire chief supervises all fire department employees, including the house maintainer, and one person cannot effectively supervise himself.
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…
In New York, can the same person serve as deputy town supervisor and president of a local school board at the same time?
Yes. New York's bar on a town supervisor sitting on a school board doesn't extend to the appointed office of deputy town supervisor; the AG's office superseded a contrary 1966 opinion in concluding th…
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 a New York village trustee also be vice president of an incorporated fire department fundraising entity and a volunteer firefighter, and vote on the fire department budget?
Yes, with one recusal. A New York village trustee can also serve as a volunteer member of the village volunteer fire department and as vice president of a separately incorporated fire department fundr…
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 a New York county attorney deputize social services department lawyers to handle Family Court cases, and do those lawyers have to be sworn in?
Yes. Under Social Services Law § 66, a New York county legislature can authorize the appointment of attorneys in the social services department and let the county attorney deputize them to assist with…
Can a NY village mayor also serve on the town's board of assessment review when the village uses the town's assessment roll?
No. The AG concluded that the positions of village mayor and town board of assessment review member are incompatible when the village uses the town assessment roll and the town BAR hears grievances on…
Can the same person be Troy's corporation counsel and serve on the Troy school board?
No. The AG concluded that a person may not simultaneously serve as Troy's corporation counsel and as a member of the Troy City School Board. Education Law § 2502(7) bars the same person from holding t…
Can the same person serve as both town supervisor and the mayor of a village inside that town?
No. The AG concluded that a person may not simultaneously hold the offices of town supervisor and mayor of a village within the same town. The two are incompatible under the Ryan v Green test because …
Can a NY county legislator also serve on the county health department's review committees and as the farm bureau representative to the soil and water conservation district?
No. The AG concluded county legislative service is incompatible with sitting on the Utilization Review Committee or Professional Advisory Committee because those committees make professional evaluatio…
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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.