Senate Bill S4418

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to the removal of a criminal action to a veterans treatment court

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes 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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2019-S4418 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Codes
Law Section:
Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§170.15 & 180.20, CP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2021-2022: S2582
2023-2024: S2528

2019-S4418 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows for the removal of a criminal action against a veteran to a veterans treatment court in the same or an adjacent county.

2019-S4418 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S4418 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4418
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 11, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to  the  removal
   of a criminal action to a veterans treatment court
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature  finds  and  declares
 that New York, along with the rest of the country, owes an enduring debt
 to the brave men and women who have served in our nation's armed forces.
 Their  service  in  defense  of our country and its ideals must never be
 forgotten. We also must not fail to recognize that when veterans  return
 from  foreign  conflicts their transition to civilian life is not always
 an easy one and can be marked  by  depression,  other  forms  of  mental
 illness  and  substance  abuse.  Studies  have  shown  that the trauma a
 soldier suffers while deployed is a major  contributing  factor  to  low
 level, but often persistent, criminal activity.
   New  York  stands in the vanguard for treating veterans whose criminal
 conduct is linked to their military service. In 2008, the nation's first
 veterans treatment court was started  in  the  Buffalo  city  court.  By
 recognizing the root causes of many veterans' contacts with the criminal
 justice  system  and  applying  proven  resources, including counseling,
 treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, hands-on assistance with  hous-
 ing  needs and job training and placement, we have led the way in reduc-
 ing recidivism among returning veterans. Starting with that single court
 in Buffalo, the veterans treatment court has become the model  for  many
 other  states.  While  New York now has twenty veterans treatment courts
 and at least two additional courts in the planning stage, not all of New
 York's veterans live in a jurisdiction that currently has such a  court.
 We can do better.
   In  order  to broaden the availability of veterans treatment courts to
 qualified veterans, this act would authorize the transfer of a  criminal

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

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