Law enforcement and other officers

§ 13. (a) Except in counties in the city of New York and except as\nauthorized in section one of article nine of this constitution,\nregisters in counties having registers shall be chosen by the electors\nof the respective counties once in every three years and whenever the\noccurring of vacancies shall require; the sheriff and the clerk of each\ncounty shall be chosen by the electors once in every three or four years\nas the legislature shall direct. Sheriffs shall hold no other office.\nThey may be required by law to renew their security, from time to time;\nand in default of giving such new security, their offices shall be\ndeemed vacant. The governor may remove any elective sheriff, county\nclerk, district attorney or register within the term for which he or she\nshall have been elected; but before so doing the governor shall give to\nsuch officer a copy of the charges against him or her and an opportunity\nof being heard in his or her defense. In each county a district attorney\nshall be chosen by the electors once in every three or four years as the\nlegislature shall direct. The clerk of each county in the city of New\nYork shall be appointed, and be subject to removal, by the appellate\ndivision of the supreme court in the judicial department in which the\ncounty is located. In addition to his or her powers and duties as clerk\nof the supreme court, he or she shall have power to select, draw, summon\nand empanel grand and petit jurors in the manner and under the\nconditions now or hereafter prescribed by law, and shall have such other\npowers and duties as shall be prescribed by the city from time to time\nby local law.\n (b) Any district attorney who shall fail faithfully to prosecute a\nperson charged with the violation in his or her county of any provision\nof this article which may come to his or her knowledge, shall be removed\nfrom office by the governor, after due notice and an opportunity of\nbeing heard in his or her defense. The expenses which shall be incurred\nby any county, in investigating and prosecuting any charge of bribery or\nattempting to bribe any person holding office under the laws of this\nstate, within such county, or of receiving bribes by any such person in\nsaid county, shall be a charge against the state, and their payment by\nthe state shall be provided for by law.\n (c) The city of New York is hereby vested with power from time to time\nto abolish by local law, as defined by the legislature, the office of\nany county officer within the city other than judges, clerks of counties\nand district attorneys, and to assign any or all functions of such\nofficers to city officers, courts or clerks of counties, and to\nprescribe the powers, duties, qualifications, number, mode of selection\nand removal, terms of office and compensation of the persons holding\nsuch offices and the employees therein, and to assign to city officers\nany powers or duties of clerks of counties not assigned by this\nconstitution. The legislature shall not pass any law affecting any such\nmatters in relation to such offices within the city of New York except\non message from the governor declaring that an emergency exists and the\nconcurrent action of two-thirds of the members of each house, except\nthat existing laws regarding each such office shall continue in force,\nand may be amended or repealed by the legislature as heretofore, until\nthe power herein granted to the city has been exercised with respect to\nthat office. The provisions of article nine shall not prevent the\nlegislature from passing general or special laws prescribing or\naffecting powers and duties of such city officers or such courts or\nclerks to whom or which functions of such county officers shall have\nbeen so assigned, in so far as such powers or duties embrace subjects\nnot relating to property, affairs or government of such city.\n