Judges: James D. Cole, Assistant Attorney General
Filed Date: 6/7/1994
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Requestor: Arthur Carl Spring, Esq., County Attorney County of Fulton County Building Johnstown, N Y 12095
Written by: James D. Cole, Assistant Attorney General in Charge of Opinions
You have asked several questions regarding financial disclosure by local officials. First, you have explained that the Fulton-Montgomery Community College is located within Fulton County and is governed by a board of trustees appointed by the Governor and both county boards. You have asked whether Fulton County has the right to require all the members of the board of trustees of the college to file disclosure forms with that county or whether the county has this power only with respect to those trustees who are appointed by the Fulton County board of supervisors. Currently, only the trustees appointed by Fulton County are required to file financial disclosure forms with the county.
Community colleges are specifically excluded from the definition of State agency and, therefore, do not fall within the State financial disclosure requirements. Public Officers Law §
Community college trustees, as county officers, are required to file financial disclosure forms as required by sections
Regional trustees are appointed by several parties — some by each county serving as a sponsor and some by the Governor. Education Law §
Secondly, you have asked whether the department heads of the community college must file financial disclosure forms. Reporting is required by a "local officer or employee" which is defined as the heads of any agency, department, division, etc. of a political subdivision, their deputies and assistants, and the officers and employees of such agencies, departments and divisions who hold policy-making positions as annually determined by the appointing authority. General Municipal Law §
Finally, you have asked whether the administrators and department heads of a board of cooperative educational services (BOCES) located within the county must also file the county financial disclosure form. BOCES are formed as a result of a decision by the board of education and trustees of a supervisory school district to file with the Commissioner of Education a petition for the establishment of a BOCES to carry out a program of shared educational services. Education Law §
We conclude that the board of trustees of the Fulton-Montgomery Community College must file financial disclosure forms as required by the counties and in compliance with sections
The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to officers and departments of State government. This perforce is an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this office.