What's happening
This bill allows village boards to suspend police officers without pay for up to 30 days pending disciplinary charges.
Why it matters
Expands local authority over police discipline. By allowing village boards to suspend officers without pay for up to 30 days before disciplinary hearings, this bill gives local governments more direct control over police accountability and immediate responses to alleged misconduct.
Potential impact on officer rights and due process. The change means officers can lose income before being formally found guilty of any charges, raising questions about fairness and the presumption of innocence during investigations.
Clarifies process for reinstatement and back pay. If a suspended officer is ultimately cleared of charges, the bill ensures they will receive full back pay for the suspension period, balancing the new disciplinary power with a safeguard for officers who are not convicted.
May affect contract negotiations and union relations. By modifying the terms under which officers can be suspended without pay, the bill could influence future collective bargaining agreements and labor relations between municipalities and police unions.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Suspend Police Without Pay
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to local government
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8088
IN SENATE
March 17, 2020
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
AN ACT to amend the village law, in relation to an employer's ability to suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 8-804 of the village law, as amended by chapter 523 of the laws of 1976, is amended to read as follows:
1. Except as otherwise provided by law, a member of such police force or department shall continue in office unless suspended or dismissed. The board of trustees or municipal board shall have power and is authorized to adopt and make rules and regulations for the examination, hearing, investigation and determination of charges, made or preferred against any member or members of such police force or department. Except as otherwise provided, no member or members of such police force or department shall be fined, reprimanded, suspended, removed or dismissed until written charges shall have been examined, heard and investigated in such manner or procedure, practice, examination and investigation as the board may by rules and regulations from time to time prescribe. Any member of such police force or department at the time of the hearing or trial of such charges shall have the right to a public hearing and trial and to be represented by counsel at any such hearing or trial, and any person who shall have preferred such charges or any part of the same shall not sit as judge upon such hearing or trial. Any and all witnesses produced in such support of all or any part of such charges shall testify thereto under oath. Any member of such force or department who shall have been so dismissed shall not be reinstated as a member of such force or department unless he shall within twelve months of his dismissal file with such board a written application for a rehearing of the charges upon which he was dismissed. Such board shall have the power to rehear such charges and, in its discretion, reinstate a member of the force or department after he has filed such written application therefor. Any member of such force or department found guilty upon charges, after five
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15866-01-0
S. 8088 2
days' notice and an opportunity to be heard in his defense, of neglect or dereliction in the performance of official duty, or violation of rules and regulations, or disobedience, or incompetency, to perform official duty, or an act of delinquency seriously affecting his general character or fitness for office, may be punished by the board of trustees or other municipal board having jurisdiction, by reprimand, forfeiture and the withholding of salary or compensation for a specified time not exceeding twenty days, suspension from duty for a specified time not exceeding twenty days and the withholding of salary or compensation during such suspension, or by dismissal from the department. [Such] Notwithstanding chapters one hundred four and five hundred twenty-four of the laws of nineteen hundred thirty-six, such board shall have the power to suspend, without pay for a period not to exceed thirty days, pending the trial of charges, any member of such police force or department. If any member of such police force or department so suspended shall not be convicted by such board of the charges so preferred, he shall be entitled to full pay from the date of suspension, notwithstanding such charges and suspension.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the village law, in relation to an employer's ability to suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges
Purpose or general idea of bill
An act to amend the village law, in relation to the employer's ability to suspend a police officer without pay pending disciplinary charges
Summary of provisions
Section one of this bill amends section 8-804 of the village Law, to require that villages in Westchester and Rockland Counties are covered by this sections which grants boards the power to suspend, without pay, pending the trial of charges, any member of such police department in accordance with section 75 of the Civil Service Law.
Section 2 of this bill provides that this act shall take effect imme- diately.
Existing law
Section 75 of the Civil Service Law is the default provision governing the prosecution of disciplinary charges against the majority public employees in New York State, including police officers. Many police collective bargaining agreements contain provisions replacing § 75 with alternative disciplinary procedures agreed to by the employer and the representative employee organization. Police officers discipline not covered by collective bargaining agreements can fall under different procedures depending upon the statute that covers where they are employed.
Justification
The disciplinary procedures in Rockland and Westchester County villages differ significantly from the rest of the state. All other departments are limited to a suspension without pay for a period not to exceed 30 days without a hearing but village departments in Westchester and Rock- land can suspend without pay pending the trial of charges for an indefi- nite period of time. The 30-day limitation provided for by Civil Service Law § 75 provides for more consistent public policy without unduly hampering an employer's authority in disciplinary proceedings. Under all the aforementioned disciplinary procedures, the administration of disciplinary charges is totally within the control of the munici- pality (employer), including who the hearing officer is, when the disci- plinary hearing is to be conducted, when the transcript is prepared, when and by whom the transcript is review on behalf of the municipality and when the municipality makes its final determination based on the hearing officer's recommendation.
This is a matter of due process and parity. By providing a 30-day limi- tation on pre-hearing suspension without pay, the municipality realizes that it will resume paying the officer's salary after 30 days thus providing the municipality the impetus to keep the process moving in a timely manner. The gap in consistency in Westchester and Rockland means there is no such impetus and has the potential for abuse. There are good and valid reasons why suspension without pay is limited to 30 days under various provisions of law and therefore should be extended to the village police officers in Westchester and Rockland that remain uncov- ered.
Prior legislative history
Relates to 54083 of 2019
Fiscal implications
TBD
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.