ALBANY — The state Senate on Tuesday approved legislation to let the villages of Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and Malone employ retired New York State Police officers as part-time municipal police officers.

Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, sponsored the legislation at the request of the three villages. A companion bill sponsored by Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, has been referred to the Assembly Governmental Employees Committee.

Such a bill has passed the Senate in the past, and some local village leaders have supported it, especially Tupper Lake village Mayor Paul Maroun. But last summer chiefs at these three village police departments said it was unlikely they would capitalize on this rule change often.

“This is the opposite of an unfunded state mandate,” Stec said in a press release. “This would actually give these villages some flexibility in trying to meet the public safety needs of their communities. It is a hiring option that they could exercise if they wanted.”