Informal Opinion No.

Jules V. St. Germain, Esq. Corporation Counsel, Inc. Village of Island Park

You have asked whether a village is authorized to establish a financial penalty for the violation of a local law.

As part of their home rule powers, local governments, including villages, are authorized to prescribe that violations of local laws constitute misdemeanors, offenses or infractions and may provide for the punishment of violations by civil penalty, fine, forfeiture or imprisonment or by a combination of these punishments (Municipal Home Rule Law, § 10 [4] [b]). Thus, villages specifically have been authorized…