S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1903
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 13, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. FAHY, LENTOL, AUBRY, McDONALD, STECK, GOTTFRIED,
   MAGNARELLI, CRESPO, SEPULVEDA, ARROYO, SIMOTAS, MAGEE, COLTON, CROUCH,
   MONTESANO, RAIA, ROSENTHAL, WOERNER, JENNE, BRINDISI, MOSLEY, PALMESA-
   NO, BRONSON, SKOUFIS,  BARCLAY,  BLANKENBUSH,  CAHILL,  STEC,  MURRAY,
   BARRETT,  PEOPLES-STOKES,  BUTLER,  LUPARDO,  LALOR, PICHARDO, RIVERA,
   STIRPE, WALKER, JAFFEE, O'DONNELL, FINCH, RAMOS, RYAN, HUNTER, DAVILA,
   GRAF, RODRIGUEZ, BRABENEC, OTIS, TITUS, PERRY, OAKS,  MAYER,  GUNTHER,
   ENGLEBRIGHT,  WEPRIN,  KEARNS,  ORTIZ,  RICHARDSON,  HYNDMAN,  ABBATE,
   BUCHWALD, ZEBROWSKI, SIMON,  SEAWRIGHT,  GLICK,  BLAKE,  COOK,  GALEF,
   GIGLIO,  HAWLEY, HEVESI, HIKIND, LIFTON, LOPEZ, SKARTADOS -- read once
   and referred to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the county law, the executive law and the state  finance
   law, in relation to indigent defense services
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. It is  a  fundamental
 right  of  all persons in the United States to be represented by counsel
 in all criminal prosecutions. In the case of GIDEON V.  WAINWRIGHT,  372
 U.S.  335,  the  United States Supreme Court ruled that indigent persons
 accused in state felony cases who were unable to afford  counsel  had  a
 constitutional right to be defended by an appointed attorney paid by the
 state.  Subsequently, the Supreme Court determined that indigent persons
 accused of any criminal charge that could result in imprisonment, wheth-
 er a felony or misdemeanor, are entitled to counsel at  the  expense  of
 the state.
   New  York state has chosen to fulfill its obligation to provide repre-
 sentation to indigent persons accused of a crime by requiring each coun-
 ty outside New York city and New York city to implement and fund a  plan
 to  provide such representation. In 2006 the Commission on the Future of
 Indigent Legal Services concluded that a system of county  operated  and
 funded  indigent  defense  services failed to satisfy the constitutional

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD06723-02-7

 A. 1903                             2
 
 obligation to protect the rights of indigent persons accused of a crime.
 Such Commission recommended that funding  for  indigent  legal  services
 come from the State's general fund rather than from the counties.
   New  York state has entered into an agreement to settle a class action
 lawsuit that alleged deprivation of the right to counsel in  five  coun-
 ties.  The  agreement  acknowledges  that  the  Office of Indigent Legal
 Services and the Indigent Legal Services Board are authorized "to  moni-
 tor  and  study indigent legal services in the state, to recommend meas-
 ures to improve those services, to award grant  monies  to  counties  to
 support  their  indigent  representation  capability,  and  to establish
 criteria for the distribution  of  such  funds."  While  the  settlement
 agreement pertains to only five counties, its criteria establish a stan-
 dard for providing indigent legal services that should apply statewide.
   The  legislature  finds  and declares that in all criminal proceedings
 against people unable to afford counsel, New  York  state  is  constitu-
 tionally  required  to  provide public defense services. The legislature
 further finds that the state is obligated to  undertake  initiatives  to
 improve  the  quality  of  indigent  defense,  ensure  representation at
 arraignment, implement caseload  standards  for  providers  of  indigent
 legal services, and implement statewide standards for determining eligi-
 bility  for  mandated  representation. Mandating counties to finance the
 state's obligation to provide indigent legal services imposes a  signif-
 icant  uncontrollable  financial  burden  on  counties dependent on real
 property taxes to fund needed services, and subject to a  state  imposed
 tax cap.
   The  legislature  finds  and  declares  that  in  order to fulfill its
 constitutional obligation to provide indigent legal services, the  state
 shall  pay  counties the full amount necessary to ensure the delivery of
 quality legal services for indigent criminal defendants in a  consistent
 manner throughout the State.
   §  2.  Section 722-e of the county law, as added by chapter 878 of the
 laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:
   § 722-e. Expenses. All expenses for  providing  counsel  and  services
 other  than counsel hereunder shall be a county charge or in the case of
 a county wholly located within a city a city charge to be paid out of an
 appropriation for such purposes AND SHALL BE REIMBURSED BY THE STATE  TO
 THE  COUNTY  OR CITY PROVIDING SUCH SERVICES, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IN
 THE STATE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING:
   (A) APRIL FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  EIGHTEEN,  THE  STATE  SHALL  PROVIDE
 REIMBURSEMENT  FOR  NOT  LESS THAN TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF SUCH EXPENSES;
 AND
   (B) APRIL FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  NINETEEN,  THE  STATE  SHALL  PROVIDE
 REIMBURSEMENT  FOR  NOT  LESS THAN THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT OF SUCH EXPENSES;
 AND
   (C)  APRIL  FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY,  THE  STATE  SHALL  PROVIDE
 REIMBURSEMENT FOR NOT LESS THAN FORTY-FIVE PERCENT OF SUCH EXPENSES; AND
   (D)  APRIL  FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-ONE, THE STATE SHALL PROVIDE
 REIMBURSEMENT FOR NOT LESS THAN FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT OF SUCH EXPENSES; AND
   (E) APRIL FIRST, TWO THOUSAND  TWENTY-TWO,  THE  STATE  SHALL  PROVIDE
 REIMBURSEMENT FOR NOT LESS THAN SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT OF SUCH EXPENSES; AND
   (F)  APRIL  FIRST,  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE, THE STATE SHALL PROVIDE
 REIMBURSEMENT FOR NOT LESS THAN SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF  SUCH  EXPENSES;
 AND
   (G)  EVERY  YEAR THEREAFTER, THE STATE SHALL PROVIDE REIMBURSEMENT FOR
 THE FULL AMOUNT OF SUCH EXPENSES.

 A. 1903                             3

   § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 832 of the executive law is  amended  by
 adding a new paragraph (n) to read as follows:
   (N)  TO  ADOPT,  PROMULGATE, AMEND OR RESCIND RULES AND REGULATIONS TO
 CARRY OUT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, INCLUDING TO  (I)  ENSURE  THE
 PRESENCE  OF  COUNSEL  AT THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF ANY ELIGIBLE DEFENDANT
 CHARGED WITH A CRIME, (II) ESTABLISH CASELOAD/WORKLOAD  REGULATIONS  FOR
 ATTORNEYS PROVIDING MANDATED REPRESENTATION, AND (III) IMPROVE THE QUAL-
 ITY OF MANDATED REPRESENTATION.
   §  4.  Subdivision  3  of  section  98-b  of the state finance law, as
 amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 56 of the  laws  of  2010,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   3.  Amounts  distributed  from  such  fund shall be limited to amounts
 appropriated therefor and shall be distributed as follows:
   (a) The office of court administration may expend  a  portion  of  the
 funds available in such fund to provide assigned counsel paid in accord-
 ance  with section thirty-five of the judiciary law, up to an annual sum
 of twenty-five million dollars.
   (b) [An] IN ADDITION TO THE AMOUNTS PAID TO EACH COUNTY AND  THE  CITY
 OF NEW YORK PURSUANT TO SECTION SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO-E OF THE COUNTY
 LAW  AND  IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTIONS EIGHT HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO AND EIGHT
 HUNDRED THIRTY-THREE OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW AN  annual  amount  [of  forty
 million  dollars  shall  be  made available to the city of New York from
 such fund for the provision of services pursuant to  article  eighteen-B
 of  the county law; provided that the city of New York shall continue to
 provide at minimum the aggregate amount of funding  for  public  defense
 services  including,  but  not  limited  to,  the  amount of funding for
 contractors of public defense services and individual defense attorneys,
 that it provided, pursuant to  article  eighteen-B  of  the  county  law
 during  its  two  thousand  nine--two thousand ten fiscal year] SHALL BE
 PAID TO SUCH COUNTIES AND CITY EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT PAID FROM  SUCH  FUND
 TO SUCH COUNTIES AND CITY IN MARCH TWO THOUSAND TEN.
   (c)  [Within the first fifteen days of March two thousand eleven, each
 county other than a county wholly contained within the city of New York,
 shall receive ninety percent of the amount paid to such county in  March
 two  thousand  ten.  Within the first fifteen days of March two thousand
 twelve, each county other than a county wholly contained within the city
 of New York shall receive seventy-five percent of  the  amount  paid  to
 such  county in March two thousand ten. Within the first fifteen days of
 March two thousand thirteen, each county  other  than  a  county  wholly
 contained within the city of New York shall receive fifty percent of the
 amount  paid  to such county in March two thousand ten. Within the first
 fifteen days of March two thousand fourteen, each county  other  than  a
 county  wholly contained within the city of New York shall receive twen-
 ty-five percent of the amount paid to such county in March two  thousand
 ten. For all state fiscal years following the two thousand thirteen--two
 thousand  fourteen  fiscal  year,  there  shall  be  no  required annual
 payments pursuant to this paragraph. Notwithstanding the  provisions  of
 this  paragraph, for each of the four required payments made to counties
 within the first fifteen days of March two thousand eleven, two thousand
 twelve, two thousand thirteen and two thousand  fourteen,  Hamilton  and
 Orleans  counties  shall  receive  such percentage payments based on the
 amounts that each county would have received in March two  thousand  ten
 had  it  satisfied  the  maintenance  of effort requirement set forth in
 paragraph (c) of subdivision four of this  section  in  effect  on  such
 date.

 A. 1903                             4

   (d)]  Remaining  amounts within such fund, after accounting for annual
 payments required in paragraphs (a)[,] AND (b) [and (c)] of this  subdi-
 vision  and  subparagraph  (iii)  of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of
 this section shall be distributed  in  accordance  with  sections  eight
 hundred thirty-two and eight hundred thirty-three of the executive law.
   § 5. This act shall take effect April 1, 2018.