STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1571 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 12, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. GIANARIS, THOMAS, BRESLIN, BRISPORT, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, KRUEGER, MAY, MYRIE, RIVERA, SEPULVEDA, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring the ethics commission of the unified court system to post judges' annual finan- cial disclosures on the commission's website The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 211 of the judiciary law, as 2 amended by chapter 188 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 4. (a) By September first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, the chief 5 judge, after consultation with the administrative board, shall approve a 6 form of annual statement of financial disclosure which form shall apply 7 to all judges, justices, officers and employees of the courts of record 8 of the unified court system, who receive annual compensation at or above 9 the filing rate defined by paragraph (l) of subdivision one of section 10 seventy-three-a of the public officers law or are determined to hold a 11 policy-making position pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated 12 pursuant to this subdivision. Such form of annual statement of financial 13 disclosure shall be substantially similar to the form set forth in 14 subdivision three of section seventy-three-a of the public officers law. 15 Within one year after approval of such form, the chief judge shall cause 16 the chief administrator of the courts to promulgate rules or regulations 17 which require every judge, justice, officer and employee of the courts 18 of record of the unified court system, who receives annual compensation 19 at or above the filing rate defined by paragraph (l) of subdivision one 20 of section seventy-three-a of the public officers law or is determined 21 to hold a policy-making position, to report the information required by 22 the approved form effective first with respect to a filing which shall EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05621-01-3S. 1571 2 1 be required in nineteen hundred ninety-one (generally applicable to 2 information for the preceding calendar year) and thereafter, effective 3 for future annual filings. Such rules and regulations shall also provide 4 for the determination, by the appointing authority, of policy-makers who 5 shall be required to file the annual statement of financial disclosure 6 required by this subdivision. Any judge, justice, officer or employee of 7 the courts of record of the unified court system who, pursuant to such 8 rules or regulations, is required to file a completed annual statement 9 of financial disclosure and who makes such filing in accordance with the 10 requirements contained in such rules or regulations, shall be deemed to 11 have satisfied the requirements of any other law mandating the filing of 12 a completed annual statement of financial disclosure for the applicable 13 calendar year which might otherwise apply to such judges, justices, 14 officers or employees, and no duplicate filing shall be required on 15 account of any other such law, notwithstanding the provisions of such 16 other law. 17 (b) The ethics commission for the unified court system shall post on 18 its website for public review for at least five years beginning for 19 filings made on January first, two thousand eighteen, the annual state- 20 ment of financial disclosure and any amendments filed by each person 21 subject to the reporting requirements of this subdivision who is a 22 state-paid judge or justice, regardless of his or her annual rate of 23 compensation. Such statements shall be posted within thirty days of 24 receipt of such statement or within ten days of its receipt of an amend- 25 ment that reflects any corrections of deficiencies identified by the 26 commission or by the reporting individual after such individual's 27 initial filing. Except upon an individual determination by the commis- 28 sion that certain information may be deleted from a reporting individ- 29 ual's annual statement of financial disclosure, none of the information 30 in the statement posted on the commission's website shall be otherwise 31 deleted. 32 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.