[Adopted 9-12-2016 by Res. No. 2016223]
A. 
The Commission shall consist of 15 members, who shall be interested in community and human relations.
(1) 
Seven members of the Commission shall be appointed by the County Executive and seven members shall be appointed by the Chair of the Legislature, all confirmed by the County Legislature.
(2) 
The Chairperson and 15th member of the Commission shall be the County's Equal Employment Opportunity/Human Rights Officer or Acting Equal Employment Opportunity/Human Rights Officer.
(3) 
Membership selection shall take into consideration various religious, racial, nationality, political and other groups in the County.
B. 
The term of office for Commission members shall be three years, except that the members first appointed to such board shall be appointed as follows: four shall be appointed for a term of one year, four for a term of two years, and six for a term of three years.
C. 
The members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.
D. 
The County Executive and the Chair of the Legislature, or their designees, shall be ex-officio members of the Commission.
The Commission shall have the power and authority to employ a secretary and such attorneys, experts and other employees as may be necessary, provided the same does not involve the expenditure of County funds.
A. 
It shall be the duty of the Commission:
(1) 
To foster mutual respect and understanding among all racial, religious, nationality and other groups in the County.
(2) 
To make such studies in any field of human relationship in the County as in the judgment of the Commission will aid in effectuating its general purposes and, where desirable, to make the results of such studies public.
(3) 
To inquire into incidents of tension and conflict among or between various racial, religious, nationality and other groups, and to take such action as may be designed to alleviate such tensions and conflict.
(4) 
To conduct and recommend such educational programs as, in the judgment of the Commission, will increase goodwill among inhabitants of the community and open new opportunities into all phases of community life for all inhabitants.
B. 
In addition to all other powers, the Commission, where and to the extent authorized by local law or ordinances, shall have the power:
(1) 
To report complaints to the New York State Division of Human Rights alleging unlawful discriminatory practices under Article 15 of the Executive Law.
(2) 
To receive, accept and use and expend public grants and private gifts, donations or bequests and other payments, goods and services, notwithstanding any other provision of law.
The Commission shall discharge the following obligations:
A. 
To receive complaints of alleged discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, and to seek the active assistance of the Division of Human Rights of the State of New York in the solution of complaints which fall within the jurisdiction of the Division and to prepare its own plans in the case of other complaints, with a view toward reducing and eliminating such alleged discrimination through the process of conference, conciliation and persuasion.
B. 
To hold conferences and other public meetings in the interest of the constructive resolution of racial, religious, nationality and other group tensions and the prejudice and discrimination occasioned thereby.
C. 
To issue such publications and reports of investigation as in its judgment will tend to effectuate the purposes of this Commission.
D. 
To enlist the cooperation and participation of the various racial, religious and nationality groups, community organizations, industry and labor organizations, media or mass communication, fraternal and benevolent associations, and other groups in an educational campaign devoted to fostering among the diverse groups of the County mutual esteem, justice and equity and opening new opportunities into all phases of community life for all individuals.
E. 
To encourage and stimulate agencies under the jurisdiction of the County to take such action as will fulfill the purposes of this article.
F. 
To submit an annual report to the County Legislature and to furnish a copy thereof to the Division of Human Rights of the State of New York.
[Amended 4-11-2017 by Res. No. 2017056]
The Department of Human Resources may authorize funding to support the mission of the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission as adopted and approved by the Dutchess County Legislature.
[Added 10-11-2016 by L.L. No. 3-2016]
A. 
Legislative intent. It is hereby determined by the Dutchess County Legislature that the Dutchess County Commission on Human Rights, in addition to its general duties and powers as provided for in § 239-q of the General Municipal Law, shall have the additional power to report complaints alleging unlawful discriminatory practices under Article 15 of the Executive Law to the State Division of Human Rights.
B. 
The establishment of a Commission on Human Rights pursuant to General Municipal Law §§ 239-o through 239-t enables a Commission to receive complaints of discrimination but does not grant it the ability to report such complaints to the State Division of Human Rights. General Municipal Law § 239-q(2) specifically grants to the County the authority to adopt a local law to provide said Commission with the power to report a complaint alleging unlawful discriminatory practices under Article 15 of the Executive Law to the State Division of Human Rights.
C. 
It is the intent of the Dutchess County Legislature to provide the Commission with this additional power to report practices of unlawful discrimination to the State Division in an effort to further combat unlawful discrimination in Dutchess County.
D. 
It is the further intent of the Dutchess County Legislature that while the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission is authorized to inquire into allegations of unlawful discriminatory practices under both Article 15 of the Executive Law and Article 12-D of the General Municipal Law, such inquiry shall be limited to questions and information gathering in an effort to determine the sufficiency of said allegations of unlawful discrimination for purposes of reporting same to the State Division of Human Rights pursuant to this section. Additional investigation, if any, after the initial inquiry described herein shall be carried out through the State Division of Human Rights.