Albany County Proposal 2: Qualifications and discipline for county legislators

Official plain English statement

The title of the Local Law is A Local Law of the County of Albany, Amending the Albany County Charter for the Purpose of Clarifying Legislator Qualifications. The purpose and effect of this Local Law are: (1) To amend the Albany County Charter by amending section 202 of the Albany County Charter, by creating a new section, 202(a). This Section establishes the grounds upon which a County Legislator may be found unqualified to hold office. 202(a) also grants the County Legislature the ability to determine if one of its members is not qualified to hold office and grants the Legislature the ability to discipline its members for misconduct, up to and including expulsion. (2) The Amendments to the Albany County Charter would a. Establish that a County Legislator may be found unqualified to hold the office if a County Legislator is not or ceases to be a resident of Albany County or the district they represent. b. Establish that a County Legislator may be found unqualified to hold their office if they have been convicted of a felony offense under New York State or Federal law while in office. c. Establish that a County Legislator may be found unqualified to hold their office if they have been found by the Albany County Ethics Commission to have knowingly filed a materially false financial statement with the County while in office. d. Grant the Albany County Legislature the ability to determine if a County Legislator is qualified to hold office. e. Grant the Albany County Legislature the ability to demand oral or written testimony to evaluate a Legislator's qualifications. f. Establish that the County Legislature may discipline its members for misconduct, including via reprimand, censure, or expulsion. g. Require that any final determination of expulsion to require a two-thirds vote of the whole membership of the County Legislature.