NY State Senate Bill 2015-S7590

Senate Bill S7590

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Requires the office of court administration to collect and maintain data on limited English proficient litigants in the state

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 10, 2016	referred to judiciary

2015-S7590 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10245
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Judiciary Law
Laws Affected:: Add §391, Judy L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: A1936
2019-2020: A754

2015-S7590 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the office of court administration to collect and maintain data on limited English proficient litigants in the state; requires such information be publicly available.

2015-S7590 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7590

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring the office
of court administration to collect and maintain data on limited
English proficient litigants in the state

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

To require the office of court administration to collect and maintain
data on all limited English proficient individuals who are litigating
in New York State Courts.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section one of the bill adds a new section 391 to amend the judiciary
law and defines "language assistance services" as interpretation
services and/or translation services provided by interpreter personnel
to a limited English proficient individual in his or her primary
language to ensure such individual's ability to communicate
effectively with a court, court personnel and other parties. This
defines "primary language" and the language in which a limited English
proficient individual chooses to communicate with others and
"translation services" as oral explanation or written translation.
The office of court administration shall collect and maintain data on

all limited English proficient individuals.

Section two requires that this act shall take effect on the one
hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

New York State has approximately 5.5 million residents who are not
native English speakers and 2.5 million New Yorkers with limited
English proficiency (LEP). Seeking to address the needs of this large
and growing population, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order Number
26 in 2011 requiring all state agencies that provide direct public
services to begin translating essential forms, instructions and other
documents in the six most common languages found in the state. Under
the Executive Order Number 26 the agencies also must provide
interpretation in clients' primary language, regardless of whether it
is one of the six most common. State agencies were required to begin
providing these services by October 6, 2012.

While this was a significant step forward in meeting the needs of LEP
New Yorkers, the state Office of Court Administration was not
specifically covered by the executive order. OCA has sought to provide
translation services to LEP parties in civil court actions but those
efforts have been far from comprehensive. By requiring the Office of
Court Administration to collect and maintain data on LEP litigants,
data that would be disaggregated by court and county, this legislation
lays the groundwork for a comprehensive approach to the translation
needs of all LEP New Yorkers to ensure equitable access to our civil
court system.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE BILL :

New Legislation

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately

2015-S7590 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7590

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              May 10, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  KLEIN  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring  the  office
  of  court  administration  to  collect  and  maintain  data on limited
  English proficient litigants in the state

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 391 to
read as follows:
  S  391. LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT LITIGANTS DATA. 1. FOR THE PURPOSES
OF THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
  (A)  "LANGUAGE  ASSISTANCE  SERVICES"  MEANS  INTERPRETATION  SERVICES
AND/OR  TRANSLATION  SERVICES  PROVIDED  BY  INTERPRETER  PERSONNEL TO A
LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUAL IN HIS OR HER PRIMARY LANGUAGE  TO
ENSURE  SUCH  INDIVIDUAL'S  ABILITY  TO  COMMUNICATE  EFFECTIVELY WITH A
COURT, COURT PERSONNEL AND OTHER PARTIES;
  (B) "LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUAL" MEANS  AN  INDIVIDUAL  WHO
IDENTIFIES AS BEING, OR IS EVIDENTLY, UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE MEANINGFULLY
WITH  A  COURT, COURT PERSONNEL AND OTHER PARTIES BECAUSE ENGLISH IS NOT
HIS OR HER PRIMARY LANGUAGE;
  (C) "PRIMARY LANGUAGE" MEANS THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH A  LIMITED  ENGLISH
PROFICIENT INDIVIDUAL CHOOSES TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS; AND
  (D)  "TRANSLATION  SERVICES"  MEANS ORAL EXPLANATION OR WRITTEN TRANS-
LATION OF DOCUMENTS.
  2. THE OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION SHALL COLLECT AND MAINTAIN  DATA
ON  ALL  LIMITED  ENGLISH  PROFICIENT  INDIVIDUALS  WHO ARE LITIGANTS IN
COURTS WITHIN THIS STATE.  AT A MINIMUM, THE OFFICE  OF  COURT  ADMINIS-
TRATION SHALL COLLECT AND MAINTAIN DATA ON THE FOLLOWING:
  (A) THE NUMBER OF LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE LITI-
GANTS  IN  COURTS  WITHIN THIS STATE, DISAGGREGATED BY COURT AND COUNTY,
AND THE PRIMARY LANGUAGE OF SUCH INDIVIDUALS;
  (B) THE NUMBER OF SUCH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS ACTUALLY
SERVED, DISAGGREGATED BY COURT AND COUNTY, THE TYPE OF LANGUAGE  ASSIST-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD15070-01-6

S. 7590                             2

ANCE  SERVICES  PROVIDED  AND  THE  PRIMARY  LANGUAGE  OF THE INDIVIDUAL
SERVED; AND
  (C) THE NUMBER OF INTERPRETER PERSONNEL EMPLOYED BY THE COURTS, DISAG-
GREGATED  BY COURT AND COUNTY AND THE LANGUAGE TRANSLATED OR INTERPRETED
BY SUCH PERSONNEL.
  3. THE OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION SHALL MAKE THE DATA REQUIRED  BY
THIS SECTION PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
effective date.

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