A representative of the 2nd district of the NY State Senate from 1979 to 2002, Senator James J. Lack was elected 12 times to the New York State Senate beginning in 1978. He served successively as Chair of the Senate Elections, Labor and Judiciary Committees, retiring in 2002. Subsequently, he was appointed a Judge of the New York Court of Claims, serving from 2003 to 2011. While in the Senate, he was elected as Vice-President, President-Elect, and President of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and thereafter, as President of the Foundation of State Legislatures. He currently serves as a member of the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics.
He was appointed to the Commission by the Temporary President and Majority Leader of the New York State Senate.