NYCL AGO 95-48.

• Case Date: September 28, 1995
• Court: New York

New York Attorney General Opinions 1995. AGO 95-48. September 28, 1995Informal Opinion No. 95-48Kenneth E. Powell, Esq. Village Attorney Village of Rye Brook 14 North Broadway Tarrytown, NY 10591CIVIL SERVICE LAW §§ 75, 7 6(4); UNCONSOLIDATED LAWS § 5711-q.A municipality is unauthorized to establish a term for an office in the competitive class of the civil service. This principle applies to a chief of police serving as the executive head of a municipality's police department, so long as that position is classified competitive.Dear Mr. Powell: You have asked whether the Village of Rye Brook may establish a term of office for the office of chief of police, notwithstanding that the office has been placed in the competitive class of the civil service. You are aware of the Attorney General's Formal Opinion No. 93-6, concluding that a municipality may not impose a term of office on a position in the competitive class of the civil service. You do not request a reconsideration of that conclusion but inquire whether the scope of that opinion would include a department head serving in an executive capacity in high public office. Specifically, your inquiry deals with the chief of police, who in your village manages a 24-officer police department representing approximately one-half of the village's work force and approximately one-half of the annual village budget. In Formal Opinion No. 93-6, we distinguished between competitive positions with terms of office established by "State" law and those with terms of office established "locally". Decisions cited in the opinion found that positions with terms of office established by State law constitutionally must be placed in the competitive class if examination of qualifications through merit and fitness is practicable. These cases also determined that there is no inevitable conflict between the terms of office and placement in the competitive class. The decisions reasoned that the requirements for competitive class appointments could be applied to the positions during the designated term. Our opinion emphasizes, however, that these decisions dealt with positions with terms of office created by State law or by State established charters. The courts reconciled two State laws. A statute establishing a term of office was reconciled with provisions of the Civil Service Law governing...