Arts and Cultural Affairs Law

Sections:

• 57.01. Office of state history.
• 57.02. New York state history month.
• 57.03. Functions of the office of state history.
• 57.05. State archives.
• 57.07. Local historian; appointment; maintenance of historical edifices.
• 57.09. Duties of local historian.
• 57.11. Penalty.

There shall be in the education department the office of state history.

1. Each month of November following the effective date of this section shall be designated as New York state history month.

2. The purpose of this month shall be to celebrate the history of New York state and recognize the contributions of state and local histori- ans.

3. The commissioner of education, through the office of state history is hereby authorized to undertake projects to recognize New York state history month. Such projects may include the creation of an essay contest for state residents who are enrolled in any elementary or secondary education program which shall reflect upon the importance of New York state history. Any project or projects created pursuant to this subdivision may, in the discretion of the commissioner of education, authorize non-monetary awards to be given to project participants or project winners as such commissioner may deem appropriate.

It shall be the function of the office of state history:

1. To collect, edit and publish, with the approval of the commissioner of education, any archives, records, papers or manuscripts that are deemed essential or desirable for the preservation of the state`s history.

2. To prepare and publish, with the approval of the commissioner of education, or assist in the preparation and publication of, works relating to the history of the colony and state of New York.

3. To acquire, administer, preserve, exhibit, interpret, and, in conformity with the regulations of the commissioner of education, to loan, exchange or dispose of historical objects of personal property relating to the history of the colony and state of New York; and to advise any state agency, board, commission, office, civil subdivision, institution, organization, or individual on the acquisition, administration, preservation, exhibition, interpretation, and dis- position of historical objects.

4. To perform the functions of the state education department set forth in section 19.11 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law with respect to historic sites under the jurisdiction of the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation; and to advise and assist any political subdivision of the state and any institution, organization or individual concerning the designation, acquisition, administration, interpretation, use and disposition of any historic site, property or place relative to the history of the colony and state of New York, and to coordinate educational programs and projects at such historic sites or properties.

5. To advise and assist any state agency, board, commission, office, civil subdivision, institution or organization in the planning and execution of any commemorative event relating to the history of the colony and state of New York or New York`s participation in commemorative events outside of the state.

6. To perform other functions or duties assigned the office by the commissioner of education.

1. There shall be continued within the education department the state archives. The state archives shall acquire, appraise, preserve either in original or duplicate form, catalog, display, duplicate and make available for reference and use by state officials and others those official records that have been determined to have sufficient historical value or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the state.

2. For the purposes of this section, official records shall include all books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any agency of the state or by the legislature or the judiciary in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities, or because of the information contained therein.

3. Library or museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience of reference, and stocks of publications and of processed documents shall not be deemed to constitute official records for the purposes of this section.

4. Except as otherwise provided by law, the state archives shall acquire and assume the official custody and responsibility for pre- serving and making available for reference and use those official records of the legislature, the judiciary and the civil departments of the state government which are deemed to have sufficient historical value or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the state.

5. The state archives shall acquire and assume the official custody and responsibility for preserving and making available for reference and use the official records of any public office, body or board now extinct, or hereafter becoming extinct, which are deemed to have sufficient historical value, or other value to warrant their continued preservation by the state, if the custody and preservation of such records are not otherwise provided for by law.

6. The state archives may accept records, or copies of records, of a municipal, district or public benefit corporation, providing the records have sufficient historical significance to warrant continued preservation by the state.

7. The commissioner of education may request the attorney general to institute legal action for the return to the custody of the state of any record which has not legally been released from state custody.

8. The state archives may duplicate records in its custody, and certify under its own official seal to the authenticity of the copies of such records. The state archives with the approval of the commissioner of education and in accordance with existing state statutes may dispose of original records in its custody that have been duplicated.

9. The commissioner of education shall have the power to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this section, providing no objection to those rules and regulations is made within thirty days prior to the effective date of the proposed rules and regulations by the following: the speaker of the assembly for rules and regulations relating to the records of the assembly; the president pro-tem of the senate for rules and regulations relating to the records of the senate; the director of the division of the budget for rules and regulations relating to records of the civil departments; and the chief administrator of the courts for rules and regulations relating to records of the judiciary.

11. The state archives shall establish a state records center consisting of one or more depositories for nonpermanent storage of state records and shall be responsible for the preservation and disposal of such records. Solely for the purposes of carrying out his record-keeping functions, the commissioner of education shall be empowered:
(a) To assume responsibility for the physical possession, storage, servicing and preservation of state agency records accepted into the state records center, and for the security of the information contained in or on them. State records stored with the state archives shall for all purposes be deemed to be within the possession, custody and control of the agency that transferred such records.
(b) To authorize the disposal or destruction of state records including books, papers, maps, photographs, microphotographs or other documentary materials made, acquired or received by any agency. At least forty days prior to the proposed disposal or destruction of such records, the commissioner of education shall deliver a list of the records to be disposed of or destroyed to the attorney general, the comptroller and the state agency that transferred such records. No state records listed therein shall be destroyed if within thirty days after receipt of such list the attorney general, comptroller, or the agency that transferred such records shall notify the commissioner of education that in his opinion such state records should not be destroyed.
(c) To agree to the deposit of noncurrent state records in the state records center.
(d) To review plans submitted by state agencies for management of their records and to make recommendations thereupon to the head of the state agency and the director of the division of the budget.
(e) To inquire into the condition, character, amount and method of keeping such records.
(f) To develop and implement a comprehensive and ongoing training program in records management for all state agencies.
(g) To provide technical assistance in records management for state agencies.
(h) To provide for the transfer of such records having archival value from the state records center to the state archives for their permanent preservation.
(i) To develop and implement a fee schedule, to be adopted by the board of regents pursuant to rules and regulations adopted in conformity with the state administrative procedure act, to support records management activities subject to the following:

1. the fee schedule may be changed only once in any twelve month period, and
   
2. after the initial fee schedule is established by the board of regents, proposed changes to said schedule must be included in the annual budget request submitted to the director of the budget. Such amended fee schedule shall not become effective until enactment of the budget submitted annually by the governor to the legislature in accordance with article seven of the constitution, and shall generate revenues consistent with appropriations contained therefor within such budget and sufficient to cover anticipated expenditures for the period for which such fees shall be effective.

1. A local historian shall be appointed, as provided in this section, for each city, town or village, except that in a city of over one million inhabitants a local historian shall be appointed for each borough therein instead of for the city at large; and a county historian may be appointed for each county. Such historian shall be appointed as follows: For a city, by the mayor; for a borough, by the borough president; for a town, by the supervisor; for a village, by the mayor; for a county, by the board of supervisors. Such historian shall serve without compensation, unless the governing board of the city, town, village or county for or in which he or she was appointed or in the city of New York, the mayor, shall otherwise provide. In a city having a board of estimate, other than the city of New York, a resolution or ordinance establishing compensation or salary for such historian shall not take effect without the concurrence of such board. Each local government historian shall promote the establishment and improvement of programs for the management and preservation of local government records with enduring value for historical or other research; encourage the coordinated collection and preservation of nongovernmental historical records by libraries, historical societies, and other repositories; and carry out and actively encourage research in such records in order to add to the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the community`s history. The local authorities of the city, town, village or county for which such historian is appointed, may provide the historian with sufficient space in a safe, vault or other fire proof structure for the preservation of historical materials collected. Such local authorities and also the board of supervisors of each of the counties of the state are hereby authorized and empowered to appropriate, raise by tax and expend moneys for historical purposes within their several jurisdictions, including historical edifices, the erection of historical markers and monuments, the collection of war mementos, and, either alone or in cooperation with patriotic or historical organizations, the preparation and publication of local histories and records and the printing and issuing of other historical materials in aid of the work of the local historian.

2. Such local authorities and also the board of supervisors of each of the counties of the state are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to contract with the trustees of an historical association for the support of any or all historic edifices situated within the boundaries of such municipality; or may share the cost of maintaining the same as agreed with other municipal bodies; or may contract with the trustees of such historical associations to maintain said historic edifices for public use under such terms and conditions as may be stated in such contract. The amount agreed to be paid for such use under such contract shall be a charge upon the municipality and shall be paid in the same manner as other municipal charges, except in a city having a board of estimate, other than the city of New York, such contracts and any payments made thereunder shall be approved by such board of estimate. In the city of New York, such contracts and any payments thereunder shall be approved by the mayor.

3. Such local authorities are hereby authorized to establish and collect reasonable charges to defray the cost of searching for and reproducing copies of written or printed historical materials collected.

It shall be the duty of each local historian, appointed as provided in the last section, in cooperation with the state historian, to collect and preserve material relating to the history of the political subdivision for which he or she is appointed, and to file such material in fireproof safes or vaults in the county, city, town or village offices. Such historian shall examine into the condition, classification and safety from fire of the public records of the public offices of such county, city, town or village, and shall call to the attention of the local authorities and the state historian any material of local historic value which should be acquired for preservation. He or she shall make an annual report, in the month of January, to the local appointing officer or officers and to the state historian of the work which has been accomplished during the preceding year. He or she shall, upon retirement or removal from office, turn over to the local county, city, town or village authorities, or to his or her successor in office, if one has been then appointed, all materials gathered during his or her incumbency and all correspondence relating thereto. It shall be the duty of the county historian to supervise the activities of the local historians in towns and villages within the county in performing the historical work recommended by the state historian, and also to prepare and to present to the board of supervisors a report of the important occurrences within the county for each calendar year. The state historian, at regular intervals, not less than once a year, shall indicate to the local historians the general lines along which local history material is to be collected.

A public officer who refuses or neglects to perform any duty required of him by this article or to comply with a recommendation of the commissioner of education under the authority of this article, shall for each month of such neglect or refusal, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars.

§ 19.11 Functions of education department. Upon the request of the commissioner, the following functions relating to identification, restoration and educational interpretation of historic sites and places of historic interest shall be performed by the education department:

1. Preparation of interpretative literature, the texts of signs and markers, exhibition, and other presentations designed to utilize the educational potential of historic sites.

2. Advising the office with respect to the custody, use, cataloguing, restoration and control of original documents and objects (such as furniture, paintings, equipment, records, drawings, manuscripts and maps) having unique historic significance. The office may assign to the education department, and the education department may accept, custody and control of any such original documents or objects.

3. Evaluation of the historic significance of historic sites, historic site development projects and places of historic interest; and advising the office with respect to the restoration, interpretation and use thereof. The office shall request the evaluation of the education department before approving the acquisition of an historic site or the undertaking of an historic site development project.

4. Such other functions relating to the identification, restoration and educational interpretation of historic sites as may be agreed upon between the office and the education department.

County Law

§ 400. Officers; manner of selection; term; vacancies.

(text omitted)

4. (a) Appointive. There shall continue to be appointed in the manner prescribed by law a clerk of the board of supervisors, a county attorney, county superintendent of highways, sealer of weights and measures and county historian. The board of supervisors may by local law provide for the appointment of additional county officers, define their powers and duties not inconsistent with law, and fix the term of their office. No officer appointed for a fixed term shall be removed by the board during his term without written charges and the opportunity to be heard.

(text omitted)

5. Certificate of election or appointment. Upon filing in the office of the county clerk a certificate of election or appointment of any officer, together with the oath of office and official undertaking prescribed by law, the county clerk shall execute and deliver to such officer a certificate stating that he or she has duly qualified and is entitled to assume the duties of his or her office. On or before the tenth day of January in each year and thereafter within five days after any subsequent appointment is made, the clerk of the board of supervisors shall file in the office of the county clerk a certificate showing the names of all officers of the county appointed by the board and the amount of the official undertaking, if any, required in each case. On or before the fifteenth day of January in each year and thereafter within five days after any person is elected or appointed to any office within the county, the county clerk shall file in the office of the executive department of the state a certificate showing the name of each person so elected or appointed who has duly qualified and, within the same time periods, file the name of any person appointed to the office of director of real property tax services with the state board of real property services.

6. Notice of vacancy in office. Within ten days after any vacancy occurs as prescribed by section thirty of the public officers law, the county clerk shall give notice thereof to the governor when the power of appointment is vested in the governor and to the board of supervisors when the power of appointment is vested in said board.

7. Filling of vacancies. Except as hereinafter provided, a vacancy in an elective county office, shall be filled by the governor by appointment and for the office of sheriff with the advice and consent of the senate if in session. When a vacancy shall occur, otherwise than by expiration of term in the office of county judge, surrogate, or judge of the family court, it shall be filled for a full term at the next general election held not less than three months after such vacancy occurs and, until the vacancy shall be so filled, the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate, if the senate shall be in session, or, if the senate not be in session, the governor may fill such vacancy by an appointment which shall continue until and including the last day of December next after the election at which the vacancy shall be filled. A vacancy in the office of coroner shall be filled by the board of supervisors. Such officer shall hold office until and including the thirty-first day of December succeeding the first annual election at which the vacancy can be filled by election. A person appointed to fill a vacancy in an office named in the constitution shall receive the same compensation that was fixed for the office for the most recent elective term. The board of supervisors shall fill any vacancy in an appointive county office for the unexpired term as prescribed by law.

§401. Deputies.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the board of supervisors may authorize any officer of the county paid from county funds or the head of any department to appoint one or more deputies, who shall perform such duties not inconsistent with law as shall be assigned to them by the appointing officer. In the event an authorized officer or department head fails to appoint one or more deputies and the authorized officer or department head is disabled for a period greater than thirty days, the board of supervisors may appoint such a deputy who shall possess the powers and perform the duties of the principal until the disability is removed or until a successor is elected or appointed and has qualified.

2. If there be but one deputy, he shall possess the powers and perform the duties of his principal during the absence or inability of his principal to act. If there be more than one deputy, the principal shall designate in writing and file in the office of the county clerk and of the clerk of the board of supervisors the order in which they are to serve during his absence or inability to act.

3. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the principal, such deputy, or the deputy so designated, shall possess the powers and perform the duties of his principal until the disability is removed, or, in case of a vacancy, until a successor is elected or appointed and has qualified. If no designation shall have been made and filed, the senior deputy shall act.

4. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the principal, the board of supervisors may require such deputy to furnish an official undertaking in an amount fixed by such board and approved as provided in this chapter, and upon default thereof, said board of supervisors shall have the power to designate another employee in such office or department as the acting principal officer, who upon executing and filing such undertaking shall have and exercise the powers and duties of the office until a successor is elected or appointed and has qualified.

(text omitted)