Includes offenses involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm, rifle, shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun as qualifying offenses for the purpose of allowing a principal to be eligible to be held on bail.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7066
SPONSOR: Barclay
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to including
offenses involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm,
rifle, shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun as qualifying offenses for
the purpose of allowing a principal to be eligible to be held on bail
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill adds all misdemeanor and felony firearm offenses to the list
of qualifying offenses for bail eligibility.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sections 1 through 3 amend sections 510.10, 530.20 and 530.40 of the
Criminal Procedure Law, respectively, to add any misdemeanor or felony
offense as defined in the penal law involving the possession, display or
discharge of a firearm, rifle, shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun to
the list of qualifying offenses that would permit the court to fix bail
or commit the principal to the custody of the sheriff.
Section 4 contains the effective date, immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The ongoing rise in shootings, violent crimes and homicides across New
York State is cause for serious concern. Too many New Yorkers simply do
not feel safe in their communities right now and without immediate
action, violence will continue to escalate. This legislation is neces-
sary to begin to reverse the dangerous criminal justice reforms of 2019
that have compromised public safety by stripping duly-elected judges of
their authority to exercise discretion in fixing bail for crimes involv-
ing firearms.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7066
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 21, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARCLAY -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to including
offenses involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm,
rifle, shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun as qualifying offenses
for the purpose of allowing a principal to be eligible to be held on
bail
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs (s) and (t) of subdivision 4 of section 510.10
2 of the criminal procedure law, as added by section 2 of part UU of chap-
3 ter 56 of the laws of 2020, are amended and a new paragraph (u) is added
4 to read as follows:
5 (s) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such
6 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the
7 penal law; [or]
8 (t) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi-
9 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring
10 while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or
11 released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor
12 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however,
13 that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the
14 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the
15 purposes of this [subparagraph] paragraph, any of the underlying crimes
16 need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; or
17 (u) any misdemeanor or felony offense as defined in the penal law
18 involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm, rifle,
19 shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun.
20 § 2. Subparagraphs (xix) and (xx) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of
21 section 530.20 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by section 3 of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10809-02-1
A. 7066 2
1 part UU of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, are amended and a new subpar-
2 agraph (xxi) is added to read as follows:
3 (xix) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such
4 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the
5 penal law; [or]
6 (xx) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi-
7 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring
8 while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or
9 released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor
10 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however,
11 that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the
12 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the
13 purposes of this subparagraph, any of the underlying crimes need not be
14 a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; or
15 (xxi) any misdemeanor or felony offense as defined in the penal law
16 involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm, rifle,
17 shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun.
18 § 3. Paragraphs (s) and (t) of subdivision 4 of section 530.40 of the
19 criminal procedure law, as added by section 4 of part UU of chapter 56
20 of the laws of 2020 are amended, and a new paragraph (u) is added to
21 read as follows:
22 (s) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such
23 charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the
24 penal law; [or]
25 (t) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifi-
26 able person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring
27 while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or
28 released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor
29 involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however,
30 that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the
31 defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the
32 purposes of this [subparagraph] paragraph, any of the underlying crimes
33 need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision[.]; or
34 (u) any misdemeanor or felony offense as defined in the penal law
35 involving the possession, display or discharge of a firearm, rifle,
36 shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun.
37 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.