N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22 § 36.2

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

Section 36.2 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Appointments

(a) Appointments by the judge. All appointments of the persons set forth in section 36.1 of this Part, including those persons set forth in section 36.1(a)(10) of this Part who perform services for guardians or receivers, shall be made by the judge authorized by law to make the appointment. In making appointments of persons to perform services for guardians or receivers, the appointing judge may consider the recommendation of the guardian or receiver.

(b) Use of lists.

(1) All appointments pursuant to this Part shall be made by the appointing judge from the appropriate list of applicants established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts pursuant to section 36.3 of this Part.

(2) An appointing judge may appoint a person not on the appropriate list of applicants upon a finding of good cause, which shall be set forth in writing and shall be filed with the fiduciary clerk at the time of the making of the appointment. The appointing judge shall send a copy of such writing to the Chief Administrator. A judge may not appoint a person that has been removed from a list pursuant to section 36.3(e) of this Part.

(3) Appointments made from outside the lists shall remain subject to all of the requirements and limitations set forth in this Part, except that the appointing judge may waive any education and training requirements where completion of these requirements would be impractical.

(c) Disqualifications from appointment.

(1) No person shall be appointed who is a judge or housing judge of the Unified Court System of the State of New York, or who is a relative of, or related by marriage to, a judge or housing judge of the Unified Court System within the fourth degree of relationship.

(2) No person serving as a judicial hearing officer pursuant to Part 122 of the Rules of the Chief Administrator shall be appointed in actions or proceedings in a court in a county where he or she serves on a judicial hearing officer panel for such court.

(3) No person shall be appointed who is a full-time or part-time employee of the Unified Court System. No person who is the spouse, sibling, parent or child of an employee who holds a position at salary grade JG24 or above, or its equivalent, shall be appointed by a court within the judicial district where the employee is employed or, with respect to an employee with statewide responsibilities, by any court in the State.

(4)

(i) No person who is a chair or executive director, or their equivalent, of a State or county political party (including any person or persons who, in counties of any size or population, possess or perform any of the titles, powers or duties set forth in Public Officers Law section 73), or the spouse, sibling, parent or child of that official, shall be appointed while that official serves in that position and for a period of two years after that official no longer holds that position. This prohibition shall apply to the members, associates, counsel and employees of any law firms or entities while the official is associated with that firm or entity.

(ii) No person who has served as a campaign chair, coordinator, manager, treasurer or finance chair for a candidate for judicial office, or the spouse, sibling, parent or child of that person, or anyone associated with the law firm of that person, shall be appointed by the judge for whom that service was performed for a period of two years following the judicial election. If the candidate is a sitting judge, the disqualifications shall apply as well from the time the person assumes any of the above roles during the campaign for judicial office.

(5) No former judge or housing judge of the Unified Court System, or the spouse, sibling, parent or child of such judge, shall be appointed, within two years from the date the judge left judicial office, by a court within the jurisdiction where the judge served. Jurisdiction is defined as follows:

(i) the jurisdiction of a judge of the Court of Appeals shall be statewide;

(ii) the jurisdiction of a justice of an Appellate Division shall be the judicial department within which the justice served;

(iii) the jurisdiction of a justice of the Supreme Court and a judge of the Court of Claims shall be the principal judicial district within which the justice or judge served; and

(iv) with respect to all other judges, the jurisdiction shall be the principal county within which the judge served.

(6) No attorney who has been disbarred or suspended from the practice of law shall be appointed during the period of disbarment or suspension.

(7) No person convicted of a felony, or for five years following the date of sentencing after conviction of a misdemeanor (unless otherwise waived by the Chief Administrator upon application), shall be appointed unless that person receives a certificate of relief from disabilities.

(8) No receiver or guardian shall be appointed as his or her own counsel, and no person associated with a law firm of that receiver or guardian shall be appointed as counsel to that receiver or guardian, unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

(9) No attorney for an alleged incapacitated person shall be appointed as guardian to that person, or as counsel to the guardian of that person.

(10) No person serving as a court evaluator shall be appointed as guardian for the incapacitated person except under extenuating circumstances that are set forth in writing and filed with the fiduciary clerk at the time of the appointment.

(d) Limitations on appointments based upon compensation.

(1) No person shall be eligible to receive more than one appointment within a calendar year for which the compensation anticipated to be awarded to the appointee in any calendar year exceeds the sum of $15,000.

(2) If a person has been awarded more than an aggregate of $125,000 in compensation by all courts during any calendar year, the person shall not be eligible for compensated appointments by any court during the next calendar year.

(3) For purposes of this Part, the term compensation shall mean awards by a court of fees, commissions, allowances or other compensation, excluding costs and disbursements.

(4) These limitations shall not apply where the appointment is necessary to maintain continuity of representation of or service to the same person or entity in further or subsequent proceedings.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 22 § 36.2

Amended New York State Register July 20, 2016/Volume XXXVIII, Issue 29, eff. 7/20/2016

Amended New York State Register April 19, 2017/Volume XXXIX, Issue 16, eff. 4/19/2017

Amended New York State Register November 14, 2018/Volume XL, Issue 46, eff. 11/14/2018

Amended New York State Register November 6, 2024/Volume XLVI, Issue 45, eff. 1/1/2025