NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7717B
SPONSOR: Wallace TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to extreme
risk protection orders
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To amend the definition of "petitioner" under New York State's Extreme
Risk Protection Order (ERPO) and make clarifying changes to the CPLR.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
§ 1 - Amends the definition of "petitioner" under New York State's ERPO
statute to replace police officer with police agency.
§ 2- Amends the CPLR to make clarifying changes with reference to who
may file an ERPO.
§ 3 - This act shall take effect immediately.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND VERSION:
§ 1 - Amended the language who is a petitioner to be a law enforcement
agency employing a police officer, or police officer who may file an
application for ERPO.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2019, New York State's Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) legis-
lation went into effect, which provides a legal avenue to temporarily
restrict access to firearms for those who pose a serious risk of harm to
themselves or others. While police officers, district attorney's and
schools can commence an ERPO, the vast majority of or ERPOs are being
filed by law enforcement.
In 2020, judges issued protection orders against 255 people across New
York. This year, in just over four months, the number of individuals
subjected to emergency or temporary risk protection orders topped 2,120.
And between 2020 and last November, State Police had seized 2,521
firearms under emergency protection orders - a figure that does not
include seizures made by more than 150 other New York police agencies.
Due to the increasing amount of ERPOs that police officers are required
to file with their individual names as the petitioner, it is creating
challenges in -the officers' personal lives. Police officers have had
complications with mortgage applications and other situations which
require a search of civil lawsuits in which they are a party.
This minor amendment to allow the police agency to be listed as the
petitioner in lieu of the police officer's name would alleviate this
situation.
PRIOR HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7717--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance
with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee --
again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to extreme
risk protection orders
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 6340 of the civil practice law and
2 rules, as amended by chapter 208 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 2. "Petitioner" means: (a) a law enforcement agency that employs a
5 police officer, as such term is defined in section 1.20 of the criminal
6 procedure law, or a police officer or district attorney with jurisdic-
7 tion in the county or city where the person against whom the order is
8 sought resides; (b) a family or household member, as defined in subdivi-
9 sion two of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social services
10 law, of the person against whom the order is sought; (c) a school admin-
11 istrator as defined in section eleven hundred twenty-five of the educa-
12 tion law, or a school administrator's designee, of any school in which
13 the person against whom the order is sought is currently enrolled or has
14 been enrolled in the six months immediately preceding the filing of the
15 petition; or (d) a licensed physician, licensed psychiatrist, licensed
16 psychologist, registered nurse, licensed clinical social worker, certi-
17 fied clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse practitioner, licensed
18 clinical marriage and family therapist, registered professional nurse,
19 licensed master social worker or licensed mental health counselor who
20 has treated the person against whom the order is sought in the six
21 months immediately preceding the filing of the petition. For purposes of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11684-05-4
A. 7717--B 2
1 this article, a school administrator's designee shall be employed at the
2 same school as the school administrator and shall be any of the follow-
3 ing who has been designated in writing to file a petition with respect
4 to the person against whom the order is sought: a school teacher, school
5 guidance counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, school
6 nurse, or other school personnel required to hold a teaching or adminis-
7 trative license or certificate, and full or part-time compensated school
8 employee required to hold a temporary coaching license or professional
9 coaching certificate.
10 § 2. Section 6341 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by
11 chapter 208 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
12 § 6341. Application for an extreme risk protection order. In accord-
13 ance with this article, a petitioner may file an application, which
14 shall be sworn, and accompanying supporting documentation, setting forth
15 the facts and circumstances justifying the issuance of an extreme risk
16 protection order. Provided, however, that a petitioner [who] that is a
17 law enforcement agency that employs a police officer, as such term
18 defined in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, or is a police
19 officer or district attorney with jurisdiction in the county or city
20 where the person against whom the order is sought resides shall file
21 such application upon the receipt of credible information that an indi-
22 vidual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm
23 to [himself, herself] themself or others, as defined in paragraph one or
24 two of subdivision (a) of section 9.39 of the mental hygiene law, unless
25 such petitioner determines that there is no probable cause for such
26 filing. Such application and supporting documentation shall be filed in
27 the supreme court in the county in which the respondent resides. The
28 chief administrator of the courts shall adopt forms that may be used for
29 purposes of such applications and the court's consideration of such
30 applications. Such application form shall include inquiry as to whether
31 the petitioner knows, or has reason to believe, that the respondent
32 owns, possesses or has access to a firearm, rifle or shotgun and if so,
33 a request that the petitioner list or describe such firearms, rifles and
34 shotguns, and the respective locations thereof, with as much specificity
35 as possible.
36 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
