Bill Text: NY S01332 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to the appointment and reporting duties of the superintendent of the state police and to the appointment of employees of the state police; requires the approval of certain duties of the state police by the superintendent of the state police.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO FINANCE [S01332 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S01332-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1332--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 11, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  KRUEGER,  BAILEY,  BRESLIN, LIU, PARKER, SERRANO,
          STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and  when  printed  to  be
          committed  to  the  Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee

        AN  ACT  to  amend the executive law, in relation to the appointment and
          reporting duties of  the  superintendent  of  the  state  police,  the
          appointment  of  employees  of  the  state  police and the approval of
          certain duties of the state police

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 210 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 169
     2  of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 210. Division  of  state police. (a) The division of state police in
     4  the executive department shall be known as the "New York State Police."
     5    (b) (1) The head of the New York state police shall be the superinten-
     6  dent of state police who shall be appointed by the governor by and  with
     7  the  advice and consent of the senate, and hold office during his or her
     8  pleasure. The superintendent shall be a  member  of  the  state  police,
     9  shall  receive  as  salary  such  sum as may be appropriated by law, and
    10  shall accrue such leave credits and be eligible for the same  retirement
    11  benefits,  service credits and other benefits as any other member of the
    12  state police. The superintendent of state police shall have  control  of
    13  all  staffing decisions, resource allocation and unit assignments within
    14  the state police. If, prior to appointment, the superintendent served as
    15  a member of the state police, he or  she,  upon  appointment,  shall  be
    16  entitled  to continue to accrue and receive such credits and benefits as
    17  he or she would have been  entitled  to  accrue  and  receive  prior  to
    18  appointment.
    19    (2) If, prior to his or her appointment, the superintendent shall have
    20  served  as  a  member  of  the State Police for a period of ten years or

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05755-03-1
        S. 1332--A                          2

     1  more, he or she shall, provided he or she is not  eligible  for  retire-
     2  ment,  upon  termination  of  service as superintendent, be reappointed,
     3  without examination, as a member of the state police in the  grade  held
     4  by  him  or  her prior to appointment as superintendent, notwithstanding
     5  the absence of any vacancy in such grade.  For the purpose of  determin-
     6  ing  the annual salary to be paid upon such reappointment, the period of
     7  service as superintendent shall be counted as service in  the  grade  to
     8  which reappointed.
     9    (3) Effective with respect to any individual appointment by the gover-
    10  nor,  by  and  with  the advice and consent of the senate, after January
    11  first, two thousand twenty-two, the term of service of  the  superinten-
    12  dent  of the state police shall be seven years. A superintendent may not
    13  serve more than one seven-year term.  The appointment of the first depu-
    14  ty superintendent shall also be subject to senate confirmation.
    15    (4) Notwithstanding sections thirty-three and  thirty-three-a  of  the
    16  public  officers  law, a superintendent shall be removed from office for
    17  failure to fulfill his or her duties only by a  majority  vote  of  each
    18  house  of  the legislature or in accordance with the provisions of para-
    19  graphs e, f or g of subdivision one of  section  thirty  of  the  public
    20  officers law.
    21    (5)  In  the  event the superintendent resigns from office, is removed
    22  from office or is incapable of continuing  in  office  due  to  physical
    23  illness,  mental  illness or death the first deputy superintendent shall
    24  assume the superintendent position.  If after forty-five days the gover-
    25  nor has not appointed a new superintendent to a  full  term,  the  first
    26  deputy  superintendent  shall  complete  the  remainder  of the previous
    27  superintendent's term.  Upon assumption of the duties of superintendent,
    28  the first deputy superintendent shall be subject to all requirements and
    29  provisions associated with the superintendent's position. If  the  first
    30  deputy  superintendent  completes  the  term  of  a previously appointed
    31  superintendent, the first deputy is eligible for appointment to  a  full
    32  term  as  superintendent  in  his  or her own right. All other potential
    33  replacements within the ranks of the state police or  from  outside  its
    34  ranks  for  superintendent,  in  the event the first deputy is unable to
    35  complete the previous superintendent's position,  shall  have  the  same
    36  rights and eligibilities as the first deputy superintendent and shall be
    37  subject  to  all  the  requirements  and  provisions associated with the
    38  superintendent.
    39    § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a  new  section  210-a  to
    40  read as follows:
    41    §  210-a.  Superintendent's annual reports and biennial testimony. (a)
    42  The superintendent shall submit an annual report to  the  governor,  the
    43  temporary  president  of  the  senate,  the speaker of the assembly, the
    44  minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly no
    45  later than September first of each year.
    46    (1) Such report shall contain the following information:
    47    (A) a detailed description of any  special  requests  made  by  or  on
    48  behalf  of the governor or any member of the legislature for services of
    49  the state police beyond  traditional  services  provided  by  the  state
    50  police.  Such description shall include whether the request was approved
    51  or denied by the superintendent of state police;
    52    (B) a detailed description of any information, unless it is privileged
    53  or  requires confidentiality, provided by the state police to the gover-
    54  nor, and/or his or her staff, and/or to any member of  the  legislature,
    55  and/or  his  or her staff, beyond the general programmatic and budgetary
        S. 1332--A                          3

     1  reporting requirements of the state police  and  a  description  of  the
     2  purpose for which such information was provided;
     3    (C)  a  description  of  any special disciplinary actions taken by the
     4  superintendent regarding inter- or intra-governmental affairs  involving
     5  state  police  personnel,  based upon special requests made to the state
     6  police by or on behalf of the governor, any member  of  the  legislature
     7  and/or any other public or quasi-public entity;
     8    (D) a description of each request made by or on behalf of the governor
     9  and/or his or her staff, and/or any member of the legislature and/or his
    10  or  her staff, for information of any kind other than the general infor-
    11  mation provided by the state police to the executive branch, the  legis-
    12  lative branch, public authorities or local government entities; and
    13    (E)  a  description  of all officer transfers to or from the executive
    14  services unit or any other unit associated with security and/or protect-
    15  ing other elected officials, and reason for the  change.  For  transfers
    16  from  the  executive  services  unit  the superintendent of state police
    17  shall include a description of what unit the officer transferred to. All
    18  officer transfers to or from the executive services unit  shall  require
    19  the approval of the superintendent of state police.
    20    (2)  The  superintendent shall include a signed certification with the
    21  report that the information provided is true to the best of his  or  her
    22  knowledge.  If  such certification is found to be false, the superinten-
    23  dent may be subject to removal by the legislature.
    24    (b) Every two years, commencing in two thousand twenty-two, the super-
    25  intendent shall attend a proceeding to testify before the senate finance
    26  committee, the assembly ways and means committee,  the  senate  investi-
    27  gations  and government operations committee and the assembly oversight,
    28  analysis and investigation committee to review the personnel and  admin-
    29  istrative activities of the state police and the future plans and initi-
    30  ative of the state police. Such proceeding shall be conducted jointly at
    31  the  direction  of the temporary president of the senate and the speaker
    32  of the assembly and shall take place no later  than  November  first  of
    33  every other year during which the proceeding is conducted.
    34    (c)  The  reporting requirements described in this section shall be in
    35  addition to, and not  in  lieu  of,  any  other  reporting  requirements
    36  provided by law.
    37    (d)  As  used  in  this section, "traditional services" means services
    38  rendered by the state police  to:
    39    (1) protect people and property;
    40    (2) prevent and detect crime and other violations of  law  and  pursue
    41  criminal  investigations  and  arrest criminals; and make roads safe for
    42  all users;
    43    (3) reduce  the  deaths,  injuries and property damage caused by motor
    44  vehicle accidents through   vehicle   and   traffic   enforcement    and
    45  education;
    46    (4)  provide   disorder  control  and security in all types of natural
    47  and man-made emergencies; and provide for the  safety  and  security  of
    48  individuals  and  groups  of citizens in furtherance  of  their  rights,
    49  duties  and responsibilities; and
    50    (5) support other entities by creating  partnerships  for  safety  and
    51  security  with  individuals,  groups    and   communities throughout the
    52  state.
    53    § 3. Section 211 of the executive law, as amended by  chapter  331  of
    54  the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
    55    § 211. Employees. (a) The superintendent may appoint such employees as
    56  may  be  necessary  and fix their compensation within such sum as may be
        S. 1332--A                          4

     1  appropriated by law. Persons appointed to competitive  positions  within
     2  the  division  who meet the definition of veteran or disabled veteran as
     3  defined in section eighty-five of the civil service law shall  be  enti-
     4  tled to additional credit and preference as conferred by that law and in
     5  the  same  manner, except that, notwithstanding any law to the contrary,
     6  with respect to any candidate applying for credit in a competitive exam-
     7  ination for original appointment as a disabled or non-disabled  veteran,
     8  such  candidate  may  apply provisionally for such credit while still an
     9  active member of the armed forces. The application for provisional cred-
    10  it may be made at any time between the date of his  or  her  application
    11  for the competitive examination and the date the eligible list is estab-
    12  lished.  In  cases  where  there has been a provisional application, the
    13  superintendent shall grant final credit only if the candidate renews his
    14  or her application within  ninety  days  following  termination  of  the
    15  candidate's  military duty, and the candidate's period of eligibility on
    16  the list has not expired, and the candidate  satisfies  the  appropriate
    17  statutory  requirements  for  eligibility. Pending the granting of final
    18  credit, the candidate's ranking on any eligible list shall  reflect  the
    19  provisional credit.
    20    (b)  (1)  Any employee appointed to the executive services unit or any
    21  other unit associated with  security  and/or  protecting  other  elected
    22  and/or public officials shall hold such appointment for no more than two
    23  years after which period, the employee shall be reappointed to the posi-
    24  tion  he  or she held prior to the appointment to the executive services
    25  unit or any other unit associated with security and/or protecting  other
    26  elected  and/or public officials or to such other position and duties as
    27  are determined by the superintendent.
    28    (2) No employee appointed as provided in paragraph one of this  subdi-
    29  vision  shall  provide  services  that  constitute  a  violation  of the
    30  provisions of paragraph (d) of subdivision three of section seventy-four
    31  of the public officers law.   Any requests for such  services  shall  be
    32  referred  by  the  employee  to  his or her superior who shall refer the
    33  request to the  superintendent.  The  superintendent  shall  approve  or
    34  disapprove all such requests.
    35    §  4. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
    36  ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.