N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22 § 7400.4

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 7400.4 - Deletion of one or more items of information from the copy of the financial disclosure statement made available to the public

(a) Definitions.

(1) Commission shall mean the Ethics Commission for the Unified Court System.

(2) Employee shall mean a State-paid judge, justice, officer or employee of the Unified Court System.

(3) File shall mean to make delivery to the offices of the commission personally, electronically or by mail. The filing date shall be the date the document filed is received in the offices of the commission.

(4) Financial disclosure statement shall mean the annual statement approved by the Chief Judge pursuant to subdivision 4 of section 211 of the Judiciary Law.

(5) Job title shall mean the title of the position to which an employee has been elected or appointed.

(6) Rule shall mean Part 40 of the Rules of the Chief Judge of the State of New York (22 NYCRR).

(b) Scope. Pursuant to section 40.1(i)(6) of the rule, the commission shall permit an employee who is required to file a financial disclosure statement to request that the commission delete from the copy of the financial disclosure statement made available for public inspection one or more items of information. This request will be granted by the commission upon a finding by a majority of the total number of its members without vacancy that the information that would otherwise be required to be made available for public inspection will have no material bearing on the discharge of the employee's official duties.

(c) Procedure.

(1) An employee may request deletion of one or more items of information from the copy of the financial disclosure statement made available to the public by filing a written, or electronic, request with the commission on or before:

(i) May 15th of the year in which the deletion is requested, if he or she is employed by the Unified Court System on January 1st, or commences employment from January 2nd through April 15th, of that year; or

(ii) 30 days from the date that the employee commences employment (which includes a change to a new job title that requires him or her to file) if he or she commences employment with the Unified Court System from April 16th through December 31st of the year in which the deletion is requested.

(2) The request for the deletion shall include:

(i) the name, home address, work address, work telephone number, and job title of the employee requesting the deletion; and

(ii) the information which the employee seeks to have deleted; and

(iii) a statement in support of the employee's claim that the information that would otherwise be made available for public inspection will have no material bearing on the discharge of the employee's official duties, giving specific reasons and justifications therefor. Documentation supporting this statement may be annexed to a written request. If a request requires documentation, it can not be filed electronically.

(3) A written request for deletion must be signed by the employee requesting the deletion. All requests, written or electronic, must be filed with a complete financial disclosure statement containing the information sought to be deleted.

(d) Commission action.

(1) Upon receipt of a request for deletion of one or more items of information from the copy of the financial disclosure statement made available to the public, the commission shall review the material filed to determine if the information will have a material bearing on the discharge of the employee's official duties.

(2) If the commission determines that additional information would be useful, it may request such information from the employee requesting the deletion. The commission, in its discretion, may request a meeting with the employee to discuss the deletion request.

(3) Unless the commission decides by a majority of the total members of the commission without vacancy that the information that would otherwise be required to be made available for public inspection will have no material bearing on the discharge of the employee's official duties, the commission shall deny the request for deletion. In applying the material bearing standard to decide deletion requests, the commission weighs competing public and private interests including the following:

(i) whether the disclosure of the information could pose a safety threat to the employee or his or her family, and the nature of that threat, including its seriousness and imminence;

(ii) whether the information may relate in a substantial and important way to the employee's official duties;

(iii) whether the information could reveal or relate to an actual or potential conflict of interest;

(iv) the employee's role in the judicial, administrative or managerial process of the Unified Court System;

(v) whether the standard is being applied in the case of a spousal/child exemption request or a deletion request. The employee's burden is far greater when seeking an exemption request. The granting of an exemption request means that the relevant information will not be reported at all on the financial disclosure statement, while the granting of a deletion request means that the information will be reported on the financial disclosure statement, but deleted from the copy made available to the public; and

(vi) such other factors as may be relevant.

Judiciary Law, section 211(4) and Part 40 of this Title establish a strong public policy favoring disclosure. Thus employees otherwise required to file, who have requested deletions, must demonstrate that an individual exception to this policy is warranted.

(4) The commission shall give written notice of its decision to the employee requesting the deletion.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 22 § 7400.4