NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9793
SPONSOR: Dinowitz TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend chapter 689 of the laws of 1993 amending the criminal
procedure law relating to electronic court appearance in certain coun-
ties, in relation to making such provisions permanent
PURPOSE:
To allow and implement electronic arraignments permanently
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends section 2 of chapter 689 of the laws of
1993 as amended by section 18 of part A of chapter 55 of the laws of
2023 to eliminate the repeal date for electronic court appearance and
make them permanent.
Section two sets effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Historically, defendants have been required to be physically present
during arraignment proceedings.The county holding arraignment
proceedings must bear the cost of transporting defendants from a secure
location to the court for the defendants' personal appearance.This
presents a significant cost to the host county of the proceedings.
There is no longer a need for a defendant's in-person appearance as
shown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statewide video arraignments were
provided for under Executive Order 202.1 of 2020 in keeping with social
distancing requirements. Modern audio-visual equipment allows for
adequate electronic arraignments when the defendant is outside the
courthouse in a secure location.
This legislation will remove the repeal date of article 182 of the crim-
inal procedure law, thereby allowing for electronic arraignments to
continue in perpetuity in the counties outlined in the law.
Electronic arraignments will reduce the financial burden that in-person
arraignments have on the counties. By reducing the need to transport a
defendant, this reduces the amount of time the state must spend on
arraignments. Since a defendant does not have to leave where they are
being held this also means these proceedings don't require them to be
moved to a new space.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9793
IN ASSEMBLY
April 9, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Codes
AN ACT to amend chapter 689 of the laws of 1993 amending the criminal
procedure law relating to electronic court appearance in certain coun-
ties, in relation to making such provisions permanent
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2 of chapter 689 of the laws of 1993 amending the
2 criminal procedure law relating to electronic court appearance in
3 certain counties, as amended by section 18 of part A of chapter 55 of
4 the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately, except that the
6 provisions of this act shall be deemed to have been in full force and
7 effect since July 1, 1992 [and the provisions of this act shall expire
8 September 1, 2025 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall
9 be deemed repealed].
10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11904-01-3
