§ 499-C — State commission on prosecutorial conduct; organization

§ 499-c. State commission on prosecutorial conduct; organization. 1.\nThe commission shall consist of eleven members, of whom four shall be\nappointed by the governor, one by the temporary president of the senate,\none by the minority leader of the senate, one by the speaker of the\nassembly, one by the minority leader of the assembly and three by the\nchief judge of the court of appeals.\n (a) Of the members appointed by the governor, two shall be attorneys\nproviding public defense services who have provided such services for at\nleast five years, and two shall be active, former or retired prosecutors\nwith at least five years of prosecutorial experience.\n (b) Of the members appointed by the chief judge, two shall be retired\njudges, one of whom shall possess significant work experience providing\npublic defense services and one of whom shall have significant\nprosecutorial experience; one shall be a full time law professor or dean\nat an accredited law school with significant criminal law experience.\n (c) Of the members appointed by the legislative leaders, two shall be\nattorneys providing defense services and two shall be active, former, or\nretired prosecutors. Each candidate for appointment as an attorney\nproviding defense services shall have provided such services for at\nleast five years and each candidate for appointment as an active, former\nor retired prosecutor shall have had at least five years of\nprosecutorial experience. After the speaker of the assembly and\ntemporary president of the senate shall have made their initial\nappointments, the minority leaders of each house shall make their\nappointments to the commission in a manner to ensure an equal number of\nattorneys providing defense services and active, former or retired\nprosecutors. After such initial appointments, successive appointments\nmust be made in a manner to ensure an equal number of attorneys\nproviding defense services and active, former or retired prosecutors. A\ntemporary imbalance in the number of prosecutors and defense attorneys\npending new appointments shall not prevent the commission from\nconducting business.\n 2. Membership on the commission by a prosecutor shall not constitute\nthe holding of a public office and no prosecutor shall be required to\ntake and file an oath of office before serving on the commission. The\nmembers of the commission shall elect one of their number to serve as\nchairperson during his or her term of office or for a period of two\nyears, whichever is shorter. Members of the commission who fail to\nparticipate for ninety days may be replaced by the original appointing\nauthority for the remainder of the term.\n 3. The persons first appointed by the governor shall have respectively\nthree and four year terms as he or she shall designate. The persons\nfirst appointed by the chief judge of the court of appeals shall have\nrespectively two, three and four year terms as he or she shall\ndesignate. The person first appointed by the temporary president of the\nsenate shall have a three year term. The person first appointed by the\nminority leader of the senate shall have a two year term. The person\nfirst appointed by the speaker of the assembly shall have a three year\nterm. The person first appointed by the minority leader of the assembly\nshall have a two year term. Each member of the commission shall be\nappointed thereafter for a term of four years. Membership shall\nterminate if a member attains a position which would have rendered him\nor her ineligible for appointment at the time of his or her appointment.\nA vacancy shall be filled by the appointing officer for the remainder of\nthe term.\n 4. If a member of the commission who is a prosecutor is the subject of\na complaint or investigation with respect to his or her qualifications,\nconduct, fitness to perform or performance of his or her official\nduties, he or she shall be disqualified from participating in any and\nall proceedings with respect thereto. If a member of the commission is\nemployed in the same organization as the subject of a complaint or\ninvestigation with respect to his or her qualifications, conduct,\nfitness to perform, or performance of his or her official duties, he or\nshe shall be disqualified from participating in any and all proceedings\nwith respect thereto.\n 5. Each member of the commission shall serve without salary or other\ncompensation, but shall be entitled to receive actual and necessary\nexpenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties.\n 6. For any action taken pursuant to subdivisions four through seven of\nsection four hundred ninety-nine-f or subdivision two of section four\nhundred ninety-nine-e of this article, eight members of the commission\nshall constitute a quorum of the commission and the concurrence of six\nmembers of the commission shall be necessary. Two members of a three\nmember panel of the commission shall constitute a quorum of the panel\nand the concurrence of two members of the panel shall be necessary for\nany action taken.\n 7. The commission shall appoint and at pleasure may remove an\nadministrator who shall be a member of the bar who is not an active,\nformer or retired prosecutor. The administrator of the commission may\nappoint such deputies, assistants, counsel, investigators and other\nofficers and employees as he or she may deem necessary, prescribe their\npowers and duties, fix their compensation and provide for reimbursement\nof their expenses within the amounts appropriated therefor. No\nappointment of an administrator shall be valid unless approved by an\nexecutive appointee, the appointee of the temporary president of the\nsenate, and the appointee of the speaker of the assembly.\n