Opn. No.

Hon. Basil A. Paterson Secretary of State

You request our opinion as to the applicability to appointments to be made by you to the office of notary public of the decision of the New York Court of Appeals in Matter of Gordon, 48 N.Y.2d 266 (1979), which held that the residency requirement for admission to the Bar of the State of New York is unconstitutional as a violation of the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the Constitution of the United States.

The Gordon case determined that a nonresident attorney of good character, who while a resident of the State had passed the New York…