Chautauqua County considers easing residency rule for assistant attorneys to boost hiring

Chautauqua County County Attorney Anna Morgan asked the Audit and Control Committee on May 22 to consider a local law that would relax residency restrictions for assistant attorney positions, allowing candidates who live in adjoining New York counties to be hired without immediately relocating to Chautauqua County.

“So what this law does is basically says, listen, we don't need this restriction in Chautauqua County the way, the state might have envisioned it completely,” Morgan told the committee, describing the proposal as a measured step designed to expand an applicant pool while retaining local control over top legal offices.

Under current state guidance, certain county legal heads—county attorney, district attorney, public defender and similar department chiefs—must be residents of the county when appointed. Local practice in Chautauqua County had long applied that requirement to many assistants as well. Morgan said the county has made case-by-case exceptions in the past where assistants were not expected to act as the head of the office; the proposed local law would formalize those exceptions by allowing candidates from neighboring New York counties to be eligible for assistant roles but precluding those hires from serving as acting department heads or designees that require residency.

Morgan said the goal is to address long‑running recruiting and retention challenges. She told legislators her office currently needs roughly three additional attorneys and that the Department of Social Services and other offices also face shortages. The county has been hiring paralegals as a stopgap in some places but needs attorneys for supervision and courtroom work.

Committee members raised questions about geographic limits and precedent for changing residency rules in other departments. Morgan and HR staff said the change is focused on attorney positions because state law specifically addresses residency requirements for legal department heads; any loosening for other job classes would require separate review.

Next steps: The committee discussed the measure and indicated support for moving it to a full‑legislature vote next week. Morgan and department staff said they would provide additional drafting details and confirm the exact list of offices to which the waiver would apply.

Ending: Legislators asked staff to monitor whether changes in residency requirements for attorneys prompt similar requests from other departments; Morgan said the county would consider such requests case by case.