NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6980
SPONSOR: Blake TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to
charitable bail organizations
PURPOSE:
This bill would amend the Insurance Law to enable charitable bail organ-
izations to provide more effective assistance to indigent persons in
need of such services.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would amend section 6805 of the Insurance Law to
reduce the certification fee required for non-profit organizations from
one thousand dollars to five hundred dollars, to raise the monetary
amount that such organizations may provide in bail assistance, to clari-
fy when such organizations may contribute to bail, and to remove the
geographical restriction that an organization may only offer bail in one
county.
Section 2 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Every year millions of Americans are incarcerated while awaiting trial,
sometimes for very lengthy periods, simply because they can't afford to
post bail, including 45,000 people in New York City alone. By assisting
with cash bail for New Yorkers who cannot afford it, charitable bail
organizations can help keep people out of jail, protect the presumption
of innocence and help keep families intact.
A period of incarceration can have a devastating effect on a person's
life. As a result of pretrial incarceration, families may be torn apart
and individuals may lose their employment, housing and dignity. This
bill seeks to mitigate these possible collateral consequences by enabl-
ing more nonprofit organizations to establish bail funds in the state to
provide assistance to individuals in need.
Charitable bail organizations have been formally recognized in New York
since 2012; these nonprofit organizations are regulated by the New York
State Department of Financial Services. See L. 2012, c.181.
Under the Criminal Procedure Law, a bail amount is set by the court,
when authorized, in each individual case. Bail posted during the penden-
cy of the case is returned to the surety when the case reaches a conclu-
sion, but bail may be forfeited if the person fails to appear in court
when required. Thus, a charitable.bail organization has an incentive to
monitor the individual during the proceedings and help assure his or,
her presence for every court appearance. Moreover, the presiding judge,
in any case, may conduct an inquiry for the purpose of determining the
reliability of the obligors posting cash bail. See Criminal Procedure
Law § 520.30.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-2018: A4880-A - Passed Assembly
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal in relation to the reduction of the certification fee.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amendments to
subsection (b) of section 6805 of the insurance law made by section one
of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6980
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 2, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BLAKE, ARROYO, AUBRY, BARRON, CARROLL, DICKENS,
D'URSO, GLICK, HYNDMAN, JAFFEE, JEAN-PIERRE, LAVINE, LENTOL, LIFTON,
MOSLEY, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON, STECK, TAYLOR, VANEL, L. ROSENTHAL --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK, EPSTEIN, HEVESI, RAMOS, TITUS --
read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to charitable bail organ-
izations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 4 of subsection (a) and subsection (b) of section
2 6805 of the insurance law, as added by chapter 181 of the laws of 2012,
3 are amended to read as follows:
4 (4) A charitable bail organization certificate shall be valid for a
5 term of five years from issuance. At the time of application for every
6 such certificate, [and for every renewal thereof,] an applicant shall
7 pay to the superintendent a sum of [one thousand] five hundred dollars
8 payable each term or fraction of a term, provided, however, that in his
9 or her discretion, the superintendent may waive such fee.
10 (b) A charitable bail organization shall:
11 (1) only deposit money as bail in the amount of [two] ten thousand
12 dollars or less for a defendant charged with one or more [misdemeanors]
13 offenses, as defined in subdivision one of section 10.00 of the penal
14 law, provided, however, that such organization shall not execute as
15 surety any bond for any defendant;
16 (2) only deposit money as bail on behalf of a person who is financial-
17 ly unable to post bail, which may constitute a portion or the whole
18 amount of such bail; and
19 (3) [only deposit money as bail in one county in this state. Provided,
20 however, that a charitable bail organization whose principal place of
21 business is located within a city of a million or more may deposit money
22 as bail in the five counties comprising such city; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05600-01-9
A. 6980 2
1 (4)] not charge a premium or receive compensation for acting as a
2 charitable bail organization.
3 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
4 ments to subsection (b) of section 6805 of the insurance law made by
5 section one of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it
6 shall have become a law.
