S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7443
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 25, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- (at request of the Office of Court
Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to deferral of
court fees
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of section 420.40 of the
criminal procedure law, as amended by section 8 of part F of chapter 62
of the laws of 2003, are amended to read as follows:
1. Applicability. The procedure specified in this section governs the
deferral of the obligation to pay all or part of a mandatory surcharge,
sex offender registration fee, SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION
FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE FEE or DNA databank fee imposed pursuant
to subdivision one of section 60.35 of the penal law and financial hard-
ship hearings relating to mandatory surcharges.
2. On an appearance date set forth in a summons issued pursuant to
subdivision three of section 60.35 of the penal law, section eighteen
hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law [or], section 27.12 of the
parks, recreation and historic preservation law, OR UPON THE DATE A
DEFENDANT IS SENTENCED FOR THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME IN CONNECTION WITH
WHICH ANY MANDATORY SURCHARGE, SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FEE, SUPPLE-
MENTAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE FEE OR
DNA DATABANK FEE HAS OR WILL BE IMPOSED, a person upon whom a mandatory
surcharge, sex offender registration fee, SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER
REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE FEE or DNA databank fee was
levied shall have an opportunity to present on the record credible and
verifiable information establishing that [the mandatory surcharge, sex
offender registration fee or DNA databank fee] SUCH FEES should be
deferred, in whole or in part, because, due to the indigence of such
person the payment of [said surcharge, sex offender registration fee or
DNA databank fee] SUCH FEES would work an unreasonable hardship on the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09744-01-7
A. 7443 2
person or his or her immediate family. IN DETERMINING WHETHER THE IMPO-
SITION OF SUCH FEES WOULD CREATE AN "UNREASONABLE HARDSHIP" ON THE
PERSON OR HIS OR HER IMMEDIATE FAMILY, THE COURT SHALL CONSIDER BOTH THE
INTEREST SERVED BY THE IMPOSITION OF THE OBLIGATION AND THE CUMULATIVE
EFFECT OF FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS ON THE PERSON'S SUCCESSFUL AND LAW-ABID-
ING RE-ENTRY. THE COURT SHALL ASSESS EACH DEFENDANT'S CIRCUMSTANCES
INDIVIDUALLY, RATHER THAN COMPARING A DEFENDANT'S CIRCUMSTANCES TO THOSE
OF OTHER DEFENDANTS OR INMATES.
3. In assessing such information the superior court shall be mindful
of the mandatory nature of the surcharge, sex offender registration fee,
SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE
FEE and DNA databank fee, and the important criminal justice and victim
services sustained by such fees.
4. Where a court determines that it will defer part or all of a manda-
tory surcharge, sex offender registration fee, SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER
REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE FEE or DNA databank fee
imposed pursuant to subdivision one of section 60.35 of the penal law, a
statement of such finding and of the facts upon which it is based shall
be made part of the record.
5. A court which defers a person's obligation to pay a mandatory
surcharge, sex offender registration fee, SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER
REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE FEE or DNA databank fee
imposed pursuant to subdivision one of section 60.35 of the penal law
shall do so in a written order. Such order shall not excuse the person
from the obligation to pay the surcharge, sex offender registration fee,
SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSISTANCE
FEE or DNA databank fee. Rather, the court's order shall direct the
filing of a certified copy of the order with the county clerk of the
county in which the court is situate except where the court which issues
such order is the supreme court in which case the order itself shall be
filed by the clerk of the court acting in his or her capacity as the
county clerk of the county in which the court is situate. Such order
shall be entered by the county clerk in the same manner as a judgment in
a civil action in accordance with subdivision (a) of rule five thousand
sixteen of the civil practice law and rules. The order shall direct that
any unpaid balance of the mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration
fee, SUPPLEMENTAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FEE, CRIME VICTIMS' ASSIST-
ANCE FEE or DNA databank fee may be collected in the same manner as a
civil judgment. The entered order shall be deemed to constitute a judg-
ment-roll as defined in section five thousand seventeen of the civil
practice law and rules and immediately after entry of the order, the
county clerk shall docket the entered order as a money judgment pursuant
to section five thousand eighteen of such law and rules.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.