NY State Senate Bill 2021-S1820

Senate Bill S1820

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Authorizes police agencies to charge fees for searching, copying, and mailing police agency generated records

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance 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
Jan 05, 2022	referred to finance
Jan 16, 2021	referred to finance

co-Sponsors

2021-S1820 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10670
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Add §837-w, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S1629
2023-2024: S2864, A4407

2021-S1820 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes police agencies to charge fees for searching, copying, and mailing police agency generated records except for where the requesting party is a victim to or was charged with the crime related to such documents.

2021-S1820 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1820

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to authorizing police
agencies to include administrative costs in fees for copies of police
agency records

 
PURPOSE:

Enactment of this legislation would authorize police agencies to charge
certain fees for searching, copying and mailing police agency generated
records.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the executive law by adding a new section 837-s by
authorizing local police agencies to charge a fee for searching police
agency records, copying said documents, and preparing such documents for
mailing. No fee shall be charged for any public officer, board or other

specified public entity. No fee shall be charged to a victim of a crime,
an individual accused of a crime, or any such person's attorney. States
that such fee shall be five dollars per request for searches conducted
manually, and three dollars for searches undertaken by electronic medi-
um. Provides that the fee for copies of documents other than accident
reports shall be one dollar per page, and the fee for an accident report
shall be fifteen dollars.

Section 2: Effective Date

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently a local police department, receiving a Freedom of Information
Act (FOIL) request from an insurance company for a copy of an accident
report, may only charge a maximum of twenty five cents for a copy of
that report. Those persons actually involved in an accident cannot be
charged any fee or a copy of the report.  Obviously, the costs involved
in searching, copying, handling and mailing these documents far exceed
the current fee structure.

The State Legislature recognized this inequity in the past, by making an
exception to the statutes governing this fee structure, in that section
202.3 of the vehicle and traffic law allows the NYS Department of Motor
Vehicles to charge fifteen dollars for a copy of an accident report.

Local governments are under extreme pressure to cut costs and do more
with fewer personnel. It is not unreasonable to provide local police
agencies the same fee structure as provided to the NYS Department of
Motor Vehicles.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Senate:

2020 (1629A) Referred to Finance Assembly:

2017/18 (A1623) - Referred to Governmental Operations 2020 No Assembly
Same-as
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after becoming law.

2021-S1820 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1820
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  SKOUFIS, BIAGGI, PARKER, THOMAS -- read twice and
   ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
   Finance
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the executive law, in relation to authorizing police
   agencies to include administrative costs in fees for copies of  police
   agency records

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section  837-w
 to read as follows:
   § 837-W. FEES FOR COPIES OF POLICE AGENCY RECORDS. 1.  FEES GENERALLY.
 EXCEPT    AS  PROVIDED BY LAW THAT NO FEE SHALL BE CHARGED, LOCAL POLICE
 AGENCIES MAY CHARGE A FEE FOR SEARCHING THE POLICE AGENCY RECORDS, COPY-
 ING THE RESULTING DOCUMENTS, AND PREPARING SUCH DOCUMENTS FOR MAILING AS
 PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION.  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT  NO  FEE  SHALL  BE
 CHARGED  TO  ANY  PUBLIC  OFFICER, BOARD, BODY, AGENCY, OR DEPARTMENT OR
 VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY, FOR SEARCHES OR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS TO  BE  USED
 FOR  A  PUBLIC PURPOSE.  PROVIDED FURTHER, HOWEVER, THAT NO FEE SHALL BE
 CHARGED TO A VICTIM OF A CRIME, TO AN INDIVIDUAL CHARGED WITH  A  CRIME,
 OR  SUCH PERSON'S ATTORNEY WHERE THE SEARCHES OR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS ARE
 RELATED TO THE CRIME SUCH PERSON IS A VICTIM TO OR CHARGED WITH.
   2. FEES FOR SEARCHES OF POLICE AGENCY  RECORDS.  (A)  THE  FEE  FOR  A
 SEARCH WHICH IS MADE MANUALLY BY THE POLICE AGENCY SHALL BE FIVE DOLLARS
 PER REQUEST.
   (B)  THE FEE FOR A SEARCH WHICH IS CONDUCTED BY MEANS OF AN ELECTRONIC
 MEDIUM SHALL BE THREE DOLLARS PER REQUEST.
   3. FEES FOR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS AND PREPARATION FOR MAILING. THE  FEES
 FOR  COPIES  OF  DOCUMENTS,  OTHER  THAN  ACCIDENT REPORTS, SHALL BE ONE
 DOLLAR PER PAGE. A PAGE SHALL CONSIST OF EITHER A SINGLE OR  DOUBLE-SIDE
 OF  ANY  DOCUMENT.  THE  FEE  FOR  A COPY OF AN ACCIDENT REPORT SHALL BE
 FIFTEEN DOLLARS. ALL COPIES OF DOCUMENTS SHALL BE CERTIFIED AT NO  ADDI-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD05634-01-1

 S. 1820                             2
 
 TIONAL  FEE.  WHENEVER  A  SEARCH  OF  RECORDS  OF  THE POLICE AGENCY IS
 REQUIRED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A COPY OF A DOCUMENT, THE FEE SHALL BE  THE
 FEE  FOR  THE SEARCH AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION. THE
 RESULT  OF  SUCH  SEARCH  WILL BE THE LOCATING OF THE DOCUMENT, OR IF NO
 DOCUMENT CAN BE LOCATED, A CERTIFICATION TO  THAT  EFFECT  WILL  BE  THE
 RESULT  OF  SUCH  SEARCH.  THE  FEE  FOR THE PREPARATION FOR MAILING, IF
 NECESSARY, SHALL BE TWO DOLLARS PER REQUEST.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.

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Senate Bill S1820

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Sponsored By

James Skoufis