NYCL AGO 95-51.

• Case Date: October 25, 1995
• Court: New York

New York Attorney General Opinions 1995. AGO 95-51. October 25, 1995Informal Opinion No. 95-51David P. Miller, Esq. Village Attorney Village of Naples P. O. Box 356 Naples, NY 14512HIGHWAY LAW §§ 141, 277; TOWN LAW § 60; VILLAGE LAW § 4-400(1)(a).A person may not hold simultaneously the positions of mayor of a village and supervisor of a town.Dear Mr. Miller: You have asked whether a person may hold simultaneously the offices of town supervisor and mayor of a village located within the town. 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...