Relates to the elections of officers in the fire department in the village of Croton-on-Hudson in the county of Westchester, the official text

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7837
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 11, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  LEVENBERG  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Local Governments
 
 AN ACT to amend the village law, in relation to  certain  elections  for
   fire companies in Croton-on-Hudson
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 10-1010 of the village law, as amended  by  chapter
 481 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   §  10-1010  Election  of  company  officers and delegates. Each of the
 several companies whose members constitute the fire  department  of  the
 village  shall  hold  an annual meeting on the first Tuesday in April in
 each year, except those fire companies constituting the fire  department
 of  the village of Fishkill, Dutchess county, AND THE VILLAGE OF CROTON-
 ON-HUDSON, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, which shall hold such annual meetings  on
 the  first Tuesday in December of each year. At such meeting the members
 of each company shall elect by ballot from their own  number  a  captain
 and  a  lieutenant,  and such further officers if any as may be provided
 for in the by-laws of the company, who must be approved by the board  of
 fire  commissioners,  one warden and one delegate to the general conven-
 tion of the fire department. The terms of  office  of  the  captain  and
 lieutenant  and  such  further officers if any, as are elected as herein
 provided, shall be one year, the wardens two years,  and  the  delegates
 three  years,  respectively,  and  any  vacancies  occurring in any such
 offices shall be filled by election in like manner. At the first  annual
 meeting  after  this  act  takes  effect two wardens and three delegates
 shall be elected, the wardens to serve for one and  two  years,  respec-
 tively,  and  the  delegates for one, two and three years, respectively.
 Any person who has been convicted of arson in any degree  shall  not  be
 eligible  for  election  to  the  office of captain, lieutenant, warden,
 delegate and any other offices provided for in the by-laws of the compa-
 ny. Any captain, lieutenant, warden, delegate or other  officer  of  the
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11526-01-5
 A. 7837                             2
 
 company  who is convicted of arson in any degree during [his] THEIR term
 of office shall be disqualified from completing such term of office.
   §  2.  Subdivision 1 of section 10-1012 of the village law, as amended
 by chapter 380 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1. The chief and the first and second assistant chiefs and such  addi-
 tional  assistant  chiefs, if any, as may be provided for in the by-laws
 of the fire department shall each be a member thereof and a resident  of
 the  state of New York; provided, however, that fire department officers
 of the fire department of the village of Hancock, Delaware county,  need
 not  be  residents  of  the state of New York. In addition, the board of
 trustees, or the board of fire commissioners subject to the approval  of
 the  board  of  trustees, may, by resolution, require that any or all of
 such fire department officers shall be residents  of  the  village.  The
 delegates elected to the general convention of the fire department shall
 meet  at  the  council  room thereof on the Thursday following the first
 Tuesday in April, except the elected delegates of the fire department of
 the village of Fishkill, Dutchess county, which shall meet on the  first
 Tuesday  in December, and nominate a person for each of such offices AND
 EXCEPT THE ELECTED DELEGATES OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF  THE  VILLAGE  OF
 CROTON-ON-HUDSON,  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY, WHICH SHALL MEET ON THE THURSDAY
 FOLLOWING THE FIRST TUESDAY IN DECEMBER; but the fire  commissioners  of
 any  village  may adopt a rule requiring all such nominations to be made
 on the day of the meeting by a vote of the duly qualified members of the
 department, in which case  the  meeting  of  the  delegates  in  general
 convention,  as  provided  for in this section, shall be dispensed with.
 The person acting as secretary of such convention shall  forthwith  file
 in  the  office  of the village clerk a certificate of such nominations.
 The board of fire commissioners at its next meeting shall  consider  the
 nominations  and  appoint  such persons to the offices to which they are
 respectively nominated or, if a nomination is  not  approved  the  board
 shall  reconvene  the general convention, which shall submit a new nomi-
 nation to take the place of any nomination not approved, which procedure
 shall continue until a full set of officers is approved.  A  person  who
 has  been  convicted  of  arson  in any degree shall not be eligible for
 nomination, election or appointment to the office of chief or  assistant
 chief.  Any  fire  chief or assistant chief who is convicted of arson in
 any degree during [his] THEIR term of office shall be disqualified  from
 completing such term of office.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.