§ 11 — Official undertakings

§ 11. Official undertakings. 1. Every official undertaking, when\nrequired by or in pursuance of law to be hereafter executed or filed by\nany officer, shall be to the effect that he will faithfully discharge\nthe duties of his office and promptly account for and pay over all\nmoneys or property received by him as such officer, in accordance with\nlaw, or in default thereof, that the parties executing such undertaking\nwill pay all damages, costs and expenses resulting from such default,\nnot exceeding a sum, if any, specified in such undertaking. The\nundertaking of a state officer or clerk or employee shall be approved by\nthe attorney-general as to its form and manner of execution and by the\ncomptroller as to the sufficiency of the sureties and be filed in the\ncomptroller's office. The undertaking of a municipal officer shall, if\nnot otherwise provided by law, be approved as to its form and the\nsufficiency of the sureties by the chief executive officer or by the\ngoverning body of the municipality and be filed with the clerk thereof.\nThe approval by such governing body may be a resolution, a certified\ncopy of which shall be attached to the undertaking. The undertaking of\nsuch county officer shall, if not otherwise provided by law, be approved\nas to its form and the sufficiency of the sureties by the clerk of the\ncounty, and filed in his office. The undertaking of a town officer\nshall, if not otherwise provided by law, be approved as to its form and\nthe sufficiency of the sureties by the clerk of the county and filed in\nhis office. The sum specified in an official undertaking shall be the\nsum for which such undertaking shall be required by or in pursuance of\nlaw is given. If no sum, or a different sum from that required by or in\npursuance of law, be specified in the undertaking, it shall be deemed to\nbe an undertaking for the amount so required. If no sum be required by\nor in pursuance of law to be so specified, the officer or board\nauthorized to approve the undertaking shall fix the sum to be specified\ntherein. Every official undertaking shall be executed and duly\nacknowledged by at least two sureties, each of whom shall add thereto\nhis affidavit that he is a freeholder or householder within the state,\nstating his occupation and residence and the street number of his\nresidence and place of business if in a city, and a sum which he is\nworth over and above his just debts and liabilities and property exempt\nfrom execution. The aggregate of the sums so stated in such affidavits\nmust be at least double the amount specified in the undertaking. If the\nsurety on an official undertaking of a state or local officer, clerk or\nemployee of the state or political subdivision thereof or of a municipal\ncorporation be a fidelity or surety corporation, the reasonable expense\nof procuring such surety, not exceeding one percentum per annum upon the\nsum for which such undertaking shall be required by or in pursuance of\nlaw to be given, shall be a charge against the state or political\nsubdivision or municipal corporation respectively in and for which he is\nelected or appointed, except that the expense of procuring such surety\nas aforesaid, on an official undertaking of any officer, clerk or\nemployee in any city department of the city of New York, or of any\noffice, board or body of said city, or of a borough or county within\nsaid city, including officers, clerks and employees of every court\nwithin said city, shall not be a charge upon said city or upon any of\nthe counties contained within said city, unless the comptroller of the\nsaid city, shall first have approved the necessity of requiring such\nofficial undertaking to be given, and shall have approved of or fixed\nthe amount of any such official undertaking; but this exception shall\nnot apply to an official undertaking specifically required by statute to\nbe given, and the amount of which is specifically fixed by statute. The\nfailure to execute an official undertaking in the form or by the number\nof sureties required by or in pursuance of law, or of a surety thereto\nto make an affidavit required by or in pursuance of law, or in the form\nso required, or the omission from such an undertaking of the approval\nrequired by or in pursuance of law, shall not affect the liability of\nthe sureties therein.\n 2. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section or any\nother law, general, special or local, requiring an official undertaking\nto be conditioned substantially to the effect that an officer, clerk or\nemployee will faithfully discharge his duties and promptly account for\nand pay over all moneys or property received by him in his official\ncapacity, it shall be permissible in lieu thereof, with the consent and\napproval of the officer or governing body authorized to require the\nundertaking, for any department or agency of the state or any municipal\ncorporation or district corporation or department or agency thereof to\nprocure a blanket undertaking from any duly authorized corporate surety\ncovering officers, clerks and employees. Any such blanket undertaking\nentered into on or after January first, nineteen hundred seventy-eight\nshall indemnify against losses:\n (a) through the failure of the officers, clerks and employees covered\nthereunder faithfully to perform their duties or to account properly for\nall moneys or property received by virtue of their positions or\nemployment, and\n (b) through fraudulent or dishonest acts committed by the officers,\nclerks and employees covered thereunder.\n Notwithstanding any provisions of the civil practice law and rules any\nsuch blanket undertaking entered into prior to January first, nineteen\nhundred eighty-three may contain a provision that no suit, action or\nproceeding of any kind to recover on account of loss under such blanket\nundertaking shall be brought after the expiration of three years from\nthe cancellation of such blanket undertaking as an entirety. Any such\nblanket undertaking shall be approved as to its form, manner of\nexecution and sufficiency of the surety and filed and the expense of\nprocuring such surety paid in the same manner as provided in subdivision\none of this section. The failure to execute such blanket undertaking in\nthe form required by law, or the omission of the approval required by\nlaw, shall not affect the liability of the surety thereon.\n 3. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the\nprocuring of a blanket undertaking to cover the liability of employees\nhandling funds collected pursuant to the provisions of section fifty of\nthe vehicle and traffic law.\n 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other law,\ngeneral or special, requiring an official undertaking or bond to be\nconditioned substantially to the effect that a state officer, clerk or\nemployee will faithfully discharge his duties and promptly account for\nand pay over all moneys or property received by him in his official\ncapacity, the comptroller may, in his discretion, waive the requirement\nof procuring such official undertaking or bond, and the expense of\nprocuring an official undertaking or bond shall not be a charge upon the\nstate unless the comptroller shall first have approved the necessity of\nrequiring such official undertaking or bond.\n