Can a NY county coroner also serve as a village trustee at the same time?

Subject

County coroner and village trustee are compatible

Plain-English summary

Note: the AG database indexes this opinion under "county 522" in its subject line, but the substance addresses county coroner. The number 522 appears to be an artifact of the database; the opinion itself is about the office of county coroner under County Law § 400.

Washington County asked whether a person could serve simultaneously as a county coroner and as a village trustee. The AG ran the standard analysis.

First, the statutory check. County Law § 411 prohibits an elective county officer (coroner is elective under County Law § 400) from holding any other elective county office, any town elective office, or the office of city supervisor. The statute pointedly omits village offices. The AG read the omission as deliberate: the Legislature did not bar coroners from holding village offices.

Second, the common-law Ryan v Green test. The coroner's duties are death investigation under County Law §§ 671 and 673(1) (violent deaths, deaths from unlawful acts or neglect, suspicious deaths, deaths from suspected criminal abortion, deaths while unattended by a physician, deaths in public institutions other than hospitals). The duty under § 674(1) is to go "at once" to a death within jurisdiction and take charge of the body. The village trustee's duties are legislative for the village under Village Law § 3-301. The two sets of duties do not overlap, and neither office is subordinate to the other. The AG found no incompatibility.

The fact that a coroner has an immediate-response duty did not concern the AG. A village trustee can pause village board work to respond to a death investigation; the village trustee role is part-time and meeting-based.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1995. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Why does County Law § 411 exclude village offices?

The statute reflects a long-standing legislative pattern in New York: elective county offices are kept separate from other county-level and town-level elective offices to prevent concentration of power within the county political structure. Village offices are at a different level of government with distinct duties, so the Legislature chose not to extend the exclusion to them.

Could a conflict still come up on a specific matter?

Yes, occasionally. If the village trustee were voting on a matter where the coroner's office had a stake (unlikely but possible), recusal would be the standard cure. Compatibility of offices does not mean compatibility on every individual matter; it means the offices themselves can be held together.

Are county sheriffs or DAs similarly free to hold village offices?

The analysis would proceed the same way: check County Law § 411 for statutory prohibition, then apply Ryan v Green. County Law § 411 specifies "elective county officer," which includes the sheriff and DA. Village offices are again outside the prohibition, so for sheriff/DA-village-trustee combinations, the inquiry would turn on the common-law inherent-inconsistency analysis, where the answers might differ from coroner/trustee.

What about a town board member as coroner?

County Law § 411 prohibits the coroner from holding "town" elective office. Town supervisors and town board members are town elective officers. So a coroner could not also be a town supervisor or town councilperson.

Statutory framework

County Law § 400 makes the coroner an elective county office.

County Law § 411 prohibits elective county officers from holding any other elective county or town office, or the office of city supervisor. Village offices are not on the list.

County Law § 671 covers coroner investigations of unnatural deaths and deaths of correctional facility inmates.

County Law § 673(1) lists the categories of deaths the coroner has authority to investigate.

County Law § 674(1) requires the coroner to go at once to the body upon being informed of a death within jurisdiction.

Village Law § 3-301(3) makes village trustees elective members of the village's legislative body.

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_95-33_pw.pdf

Original opinion text

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Page 1 of 2

Opn. No. 95-33
COUNTY LAW §§ 400, 411, 671, 673(1), 674(1), VILLAGE LAW § 3-301.
The positions of county coroner and village trustee are compatible.
July 3, 1995
James C. Tomasi, Esq. Informal Opinion
County Attorney No. 95-33
County of Washington
70 Main Street
Salem, NY 12865
Dear Mr. Tomasi:
You have asked whether a person may hold simultaneously the positions of village trustee and county
coroner.
In the absence of a constitutional or statutory prohibition against dual-officeholding, one person may
hold two offices simultaneously unless they are incompatible. The leading case on compatibility of
office is People ex rel. Ryan v Green, 58 NY 295 (1874). In that case the Court held that two offices are
incompatible if one is subordinate to the other or if there is an inherent inconsistency between the two
offices. The former can be characterized as "you cannot be your own boss", a status readily identifiable.
The latter is not easily characterized, for one must analyze the duties of the two offices to ascertain
whether there is an inconsistency. An obvious example is the inconsistency of holding both the office of
auditor and the office of director of finance.
There are two subsidiary aspects of compatibility. One is that, although the common law rule of the
Ryan case is limited to public offices, the principle equally covers an office and a position of
employment or two positions of employment. The other is that, although the positions are compatible, a
situation may arise where one has a conflict of interests created by the simultaneous holding of the two
positions. In such a situation, the conflict is avoided by declining to participate in the disposition of the
matter.
The village board of trustees serves as the village's legislative body. The board of trustees are elective
officers. Village Law § 3-301(3).
With exceptions not relevant here, the coroner is an elective position. County Law § 400. The coroner
has authority to investigate a death occurring within the county or where the body is found within the
county under circumstances where the death appears to be:
(a) A violent death, whether by criminal violence, suicide or casualty;
(b) A death caused by unlawful act or criminal neglect;
(c) A death occurring in a suspicious, unusual or unexplained manner;
(d) A death caused by suspected criminal abortion;

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/lawyers/opinions/1995/informal/95_33.html

4/21/2006

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Page 2 of 2

(e) A death while unattended by a physician, so far as can be discovered, or where no
physician able to certify the cause of death as provided in public health law and in form as
prescribed by the commissioner of health can be found;
(f) A death of a person confined in a public institution other than a hospital, infirmary or
nursing home.
County Law § 673(1). Additionally, the coroner investigates unnatural deaths and deaths of inmates of a
correctional facility. Id., § 671.
When a coroner is informed of a death within his jurisdiction, he is required to go at once to the body
and take charge of it. Id., § 674(1).
Section 411 of the County Law prohibits any elective county officer from holding any other elective
county or town office, or the office of city supervisor. Notably, village offices are omitted from this
provision. In any event, we see no incompatibility between the duties of these two positions. See, 1989
Op Atty Gen (Inf) 124; contrast, Informal Opinions Nos. 92-32, 92-35 and 87-30. Our conclusion is not
altered by the fact that when acting as village trustee, the individual would be required immediately to
attend to his coroner duties upon the occurrence of a death within his jurisdiction.
We conclude that the positions of county coroner and village trustee are compatible.
The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to officers and departments of State government.
This perforce is an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this office.
Very truly yours,
JAMES D. COLE
Assistant Attorney General
in Charge of Opinions

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/lawyers/opinions/1995/informal/95_33.html

4/21/2006