58. Functions and duties. The inspector general of New York for transportation shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
1. receive, investigate, and prosecute complaints from any source, or upon his or her own initiative, concerning allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, fraud, waste and abuse, recusals or failure to recuse, or criminal activity regarding any transportation entity, conduct or activity or failure to act by any individuals involved at a senior level in operations, financing or management or managerial appointee or managerial employee of a transportation entity occurring before or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand seventeen that added this article, in violation of New York law and occurring in New York;
2. inform the transportation entity of such allegations and the progress of investigations related thereto, unless special circumstances require confidentiality, provided that the inspector general shall maintain a written record that specifies the reason confidentiality is necessary under this paragraph;
3. issue a subpoena or subpoenas requiring a person or persons to appear before the grand jury, trial court, produce documents, provide a sworn statement under oath and be examined in reference to any matter within the jurisdiction of the inspector general. A subpoena issued under this section shall be governed by article twenty-three of the civil practice law and rules or articles one hundred ninety or six hundred ten of the criminal procedure law. The inspector general or his or her deputy or any person designated in writing by them may administer an oath to a witness in any such investigation or prosecution and may seek to confer immunity for compelled testimony pursuant to article fifty of the criminal procedure law;
4. determine with respect to such allegations whether to initiate civil or criminal prosecution, or make a referral for further investigation by an appropriate federal, state or local agency or any other office of inspector general as is warranted, and to assist in such investigations; and
5. prepare and release to the public written reports of such investigations, as appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, subject to redaction to protect the confidentiality of witnesses. The release of all or portions of such reports may be deferred to protect the confidentiality of ongoing investigations, provided that the inspector general shall maintain a written record that specifies the reason confidentiality is necessary under this subdivision.
Last modified: February 3, 2019