Q. Who can file electronically?
A. Most Unified Court System employees who are required to file annual statements of financial disclosure may use electronic filing. You must have a computer with an Internet Explorer browser and access to Courtnet or the Internet. In March, all employees required to file are sent two letters necessary for electronic filing, one with their Account Name and Password, and the other with their Signature Key. The Account Name is the filer’s UCS Retirement Number; new Passwords and Signature Keys are generated by the computer each filing year. If you have filed in prior years but changed your address, or if you think you have to file, and did not receive the letters, call, write, or email the Commission office. Our telephone number is: (212) 428-2899; our address is: Ethics Commission, 25 Beaver Street Room 875, New York, NY 10004; our email address is: EthicsComm@courts.state.ny.us.

Q. Why can’t I file electronically?
A. You can’t file electronically if you are not an employee of the Unified Court System. Judicial candidates who are not so employed can not file online.

You can not use electronic filing if you:

a) are requesting an exemption from reporting information pertaining to your wife or children;

b) can file only a partial financial disclosure statement because you have an automatic extension of time to file your individual income tax return; or

c) are submitting third party financial statements with your financial disclosure statement.

In a very few cases, technical, network or security problems may make it impossible for a particular computer setup to use the program. If that happens to you, try another computer or contact your IT Help Desk.

Q. What is the advantage of filing electronically?
A. When you use electronic filing, your browser will load an electronic financial disclosure statement. It is easy and quick to complete and submit the statement, without having to post it in the mail. The program also checks your form for completeness before allowing it to be submitted. An answer to each question is required. If any of the required fields are left blank, you will be asked to complete the missing information. This will reduce the number of statements which have to be returned.

Q. Can I file from from the office? From home?
A. Yes. You may work on the form and revise your answers over as many sessions as you wish and from wherever you can use Courtnet or the Internet. You should file from the office only if your office policy allows you to. As a security measure, your data is not saved on the computer you use. When you stop work and save the form using the "Save and Exit" button, your data is encrypted and transmitted to our secure server where it remains encrypted until you log in again and download your form and data.

Q. How secure is Internet filing?
A. Many merchants, banks and even the Internal Revenue Service take financial data over the Internet. Maintaining the confidentiality and security of the information contained in the financial disclosure statements was the highest priority in the development of the electronic filing system. All data is encrypted during transmission. The data is stored in a secure server located at the Unified Court System’s IT facility at Rensselaer Technology Park. The password that you use to gain access to your statement is known only to you. Only the Commission staff will have regular access to the information contained in your statement. Public inspection requests will be processed using paper copies of your statement.

Q. Do I have to complete my statement all at once?
Can't I do part today and part tomorrow?
A. You can work on your statement over several sessions. After your initial session, you may log in again as often as you like. You must use the Password that you have chosen, as the one we sent you will no longer work. Your work is saved each time you move from page to page and every time you click on “Save and Exit”. If you do not take either of these actions for thirty minutes, you will be automatically logged out of the system, and the information you entered since you last took such action will not be saved. Once you have successfully completed your statement, entered your Signature Key and clicked on the “Sign and File” button, you can no longer make any changes in your statement online. You can view or print your completed statement any time until December 31, at which time the electronic filing system becomes inactive. You will have no further online access to your statement after December 31.

Q. I don't have my Account Name, Password or Signature Key. Where do I get them?
A If you have not yet logged in to the electronic filing system, and you lose your Account Name, Password, notify the Commission office by letter, and we will mail you a copy of the original letter we sent to you.

If you have logged in and created your own Password, but you have forgotten it, notify the Commission office by letter. We will mail you a new Password. You must log on and once again choose your own Password. Your statement will appear, containing all the information you previously entered.

If you lose your Signature Key at any time before you file your statement, notify the Commission office by letter, and we will mail you a copy of the original letter we sent to you.

To notify the Commission that you have lost or forgotten your Account Name, Password or Signature Key, write the Ethics Commission office at 25 Beaver Street, Room 875, New York, NY 10004. For security reasons, we will not respond to requests made by telephone or email.

Q. How do I print a copy of my form?
A.If you have a printer attached to your computer, you may print a copy of your statement at any time.

To print any one page, click anywhere on a page (for example, on your name in your form) to make sure your form is active and ready for printing. Use your browser's "Print" function on the browser "File" menu to print the selected page. You should print in Landscape mode, using 8.5 X 11-inch paper. If you just click on the printer icon, it will automatically start printing the whole document in Portrait mode, which is the wrong format.

To print out a copy of your whole statement before it is filed, go to the last page of your statement and click on the button:”For FDS in printable format, click here”. This will take you to a view/print only version of your statement; you can not make any changes in this version. printable version of your statement. Use your browser’s “Print” function.

To print out a copy of your whole statement after it is filed, click on the “Print or Correct” button at the bottom of the “Validation Report” to go to a printable version of your statement. After printing out your statement, you can log out of the program by clicking on the “Log Out” button on the top of the first page of your statement.

If you want to view or print your statement after you have filed and logged out of the system, log back in and your completed statement will appear. Follow the browser printing instructions set forth in the beginning of this answer.

Q. How do I know my statement has been filed?
A. When you complete your statement, enter your Signature Key and click on the “Sign and File” button, on the last page of your statement. A “Validation Report” will appear on the screen.

If you have not properly completed your statement, the “Validation Report” will inform you of what questions have not been fully answered. Print out a copy of this report and go back to your statement by clicking on the “Print or Correct” button on the bottom of the Report. This button will take you back to your statement and you can make the necessary corrections. You must then re-enter your Signature Key and click on the “Sign and File” button at the bottom of the last page of your statement.

When you have properly completed your statement, the “Validation Report” will appear with the message that you have successfully filed your statement. You should print this page for your records. At this point you can either leave the system by clicking on the “Log Out” button at the bottom of the Report, or you can go to a printable copy of your statement by clicking on the “Print or Correct” button at the bottom of the Report. You can then log out of the system by clicking on the “Log Out” button on the top of the first page of your statement. Do not close the screen without logging out.

You can log into the system until December 31, to look at the statement you filed. When you do so, your completed statement will appear with this language at the top right hand corner of the first page: “Statement filed; no further changes may be made”.

Q. How can I amend my statement after it has been filed?
A. If you want to add something to your statement, you must mail a signed, typewritten written letter to the Commission Office, indicating by year which statement(s) you wish to amend, which question(s), and the information you wish to add in each. We will attach a copy of your letter to your statement for that year, and your letter will become a part of that statement. If you want to remove something from your statement, you must file a deletion request by mail. See our instructions for further information about deletion requests.

Q. Can I submit brokerage or other third party statements as attachments to my statement if I file electronically?
A. No. If you must use attachments, you must file your statement by using and mailing a paper form.

Q. Where can I get help for this program?
A. If you have any questions regarding electronic filing after you have read through all of these frequently asked questions and the Help Guide with Step by Step Instructions, contact us by mail at:
Ethics Commission
25 Beaver Street Room 875
New York, NY, 10004;
or by email at: EthicsComm@courts.state.ny.us;
or by telephone at 212-428-2899.

Please note however that the Ethics Commission staff are not computer technicians and cannot help you with problems with your software, your CourtNet or Internet connection.