Law, Department of

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/22/08.

Mission

The Department of Law was created in 1926 and is headed by the State Attorney General, who is elected by the people. The Department is responsible for protecting the legal rights of New York State and its citizens by representing the State in litigation and in other legal affairs.

In implementing its constitutional responsibilities, the Department performs a wide range of functions. Major activities of the Department include prosecuting or defending actions and proceedings for or against the State and its departments; prosecuting certain criminal violations of the Labor, Workers' Compensation and Unemployment Insurance laws; investigating and prosecuting other criminal cases at the request of the Governor or the commissioners of State departments; investigating the activities of organized crime; bringing civil and/or criminal actions against polluters, violators of antitrust laws and those who defraud consumers or investors; mediating consumer complaints; and investigating and prosecuting cases of Medicaid fraud.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $249.6 million All Funds (including $134.4 million General Fund; $75.8 million Federal funds and $39.4 million Other Funds) for the Department of Law. This is an increase of $9.6 million ($7.6 million Other Funds, $1.9 million Federal funds). This increase reflects inflationary adjustments for operating costs, increased Federal funding for investigating and prosecuting Medicaid provider fraud, funding to expand Project Sunlight, an initiative to prevent illegal use of rental property (Nowhere to Hide), and an expansion of the Real Estate Finance Bureau. The Department of Law will have a work force of 2,032 FTEs, which is a 61 FTE increase from 2007-08. The increase reflects 35 FTEs for Medicaid Fraud Prevention; 12 FTEs for Project Sunlight; 10 FTES for the Real Estate Finance Bureau; and 4 FTEs for Nowhere to Hide.

Major budget actions include:

• Project Sunlight - Version 2.0: Last year, Project Sunlight created a single database that combines information maintained on disparate databases by multiple State agencies, into a single reference point for easy access by the public, thereby improving the transparency of government in New York State. Next year, the next generation - Version 2.0 - will double the number of databases in the search, provide a more comprehensive database, improve searches, and will include a Spanish language version.

• Nowhere to Hide: This initiative, to hold landlords accountable when they allow their property to be used by tenants for drug dealing and other criminal activity, wil1: (1) strengthen relationships with local law enforcement, local prosecutors, and local community groups to identify target properties; (2) establish criteria for application of resources; (3) dedicate four new full-time investigative resources to collect the evidence necessary to support a case; and (4) assign OAG attorneys to advance the lawsuits.

• Expanded Support for the Real Estate Finance Bureau: The Attorney General has proposed legislation, S.6540/A.9546, that will increase the fees paid by the real estate development community under Article 23A of the General Business Law for the Office of the Attorney General's review of plans to build or convert existing buildings to, co-ops or condominiums. The Department of Law is to review such plans within 30 days. However, the number of such filings have increased 265 percent since 2002, (from 239 per year in 2002 to 873 in 2006). The increased fee revenues will support the additional staff needed to complete the reviews on time.

• Enhance investigation and prosecution of Medicaid provider fraud: The Executive Budget expands the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit by adding 35 new investigators and auditors, who are expected to increase prosecutions.

2008-09 Executive Budget — Agency Presentation
Law, Department of (PDF)