(a) This court shall appoint three grievance committees for the Second Judicial Department. One of these grievance committees shall be charged with the duty and power to investigate and prosecute matters arising in or concerning attorneys practicing, or currently residing or having resided in the second, eleventh, and thirteenth judicial districts at the time of their admission to practice by the Appellate Division; another shall have the duty and power to investigate and prosecute matters arising in or concerning attorneys practicing, or currently residing or having resided in the ninth judicial district at the time of their admission to practice by the Appellate Division; and the third shall have the duty and power to investigate and prosecute matters arising in or concerning attorneys practicing, or currently residing or having resided in the tenth judicial district at the time of their admission to practice by the Appellate Division. These committees shall also have the power and duty to investigate and prosecute matters concerning attorneys to whom the Rules for Attorney Disciplinary Matters (Part 1240 of this Title) applies pursuant to section 1240.1 of this Title.

1. (1) Each grievance committee shall consist of 20 members and a chair, all of whom shall be appointed by this court and no more than 17 of whom shall be attorneys. The chair shall have the power to appoint an acting chairman from among the members of the grievance committee. Appointments may be made from lists of prospective members submitted by the following county bar associations within the second judicial department: Brooklyn Bar Association, Dutchess County Bar Association, Bar Association of Nassau County, New York, Inc., Orange County Bar Association, Putnam County Bar Association, Queens County Bar Association, Richmond County Bar Association, Rockland County Bar Association, Inc., Suffolk County Bar Association and Westchester County Bar Association. This court shall, in consultation with the committees, appoint a chief counsel to each such grievance committee and such assistant counsel and supporting staff as it deems necessary.
2. (2) Five persons shall be appointed to each such committee for a term of one year, five persons for a term of two years, five persons for a term of three years and five persons for a term of three years. Thereafter, yearly appointments of five persons shall be made to each such committee for a term of three years. No person who has served two consecutive terms shall be eligible for reappointment until the passage of one year from the expiration of that person’s second such term. The person appointed chair shall serve as chair for a term of three years and shall be eligible for reappointment as chair for not more than one additional term of three years.

(b)