Prohibits a person convicted of rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof under 18 U.S.C. Section 2383 from holding an elected office, a judgeship, or an appointed position in the state.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1225 Revised 04/29/25
SPONSOR: Bores TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to prohibiting a
person convicted of rebellion or insurrection against the authority of
the United States or the laws thereof from holding an elected office, a
judgeship, or an appointed position in the state
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Prohibits insurrectionists from holding civil office in the state
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill is the short title: "Restrict Insurrectionists
from Office Taking (RIOT) Act"
Section 2 of the bill amends the Public Officers Law, paragraph (i) of
subdivision 1-a of section 3 of the Public Officers Law, as added by
section 31-b of subpart A of part H of Chapter 55 of the Laws of 2014,
by ensuring that those convicted of rebellion or insurrection against
the authority of the United States cannot hold civil office in the
state.
Section 3 is the effective date. The act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
Planning or participating in insurrection or rebellion is directly in
conflict with the oath of office members of the legislature and all
offices, executive and judicial, must take to support the Constitution
of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York. At a
congressional level, as least two new elected representatives have been
credibly accused of participating in the violent insurrection at the
U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. There is historic precedent for this
type of exclusion. On a federal level, the Fourteenth Amendment's
disqualification clause of the U.S. Constitution allows the House and
Senate to exclude from office anyone who previously swore an oath to
defend the Constitution and engaged in insurrection or rebellion, but it
does not address candidates who have not yet taken an oath or affirma-
tion. Federal law also bars insurrectionists from holding office under
the United States, but not state or local governments. 18 U.S.C. § 2383.
With this bill, New York can close those loopholes by barring such crim-
inals from becoming a member of the state legislature, executive offi-
cer, or judge and affirmatively declare that engaging in insurrection
and rebellion against the country or the state is incompatible with
government service in the State of New York.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A3289 of 2023/2024
A3289 - referred to governmental operations
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
N/A
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1225
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BORES, ALVAREZ, DINOWITZ, GIBBS, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
KELLES, LAVINE, LEE, LEVENBERG, RAGA, SEAWRIGHT, SIMONE, TAYLOR,
ZACCARO, SIMON, RAMOS, FALL, RIVERA, GLICK, MEEKS, BURDICK, TAPIA,
CUNNINGHAM, DAVILA, ANDERSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to prohibiting a
person convicted of rebellion or insurrection against the authority of
the United States or the laws thereof from holding an elected office,
a judgeship, or an appointed position in the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be referred to
2 as the "Restrict Insurrectionists from Office Taking (RIOT) Act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 1-a of section 3 of the public officers law is
4 amended by adding a new paragraph (iii) to read as follows:
5 (iii) No person shall be capable of holding an elected office, a
6 judgeship or an appointed position who shall stand convicted of violat-
7 ing 18 U.S.C. § 2383.
8 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02170-01-5
