S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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1511--A
Cal. No. 1679
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
January 10, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. LIU -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation -- commit-
tee discharged and said bill committed to the Committee on Rules --
ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining
its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to electronic
appearances for parking violations; and providing for the repeal of
such provisions upon expiration thereof
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 237 of the vehicle and traffic
law, as added by chapter 715 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as
follows:
3. (A) To adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with any appli-
cable provision of law to carry out the purposes of this article,
including but not limited to rules and regulations prescribing the
internal procedures and organization of the bureau, the manner and time
of entering pleas, the conduct of hearings IN PERSON AND BY ELECTRONIC
APPEARANCE, and the amount and manner of payment of penalties.
(B) WITH RESPECT TO ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE: (I) SUCH RULES AND REGU-
LATIONS SHALL PROVIDE THAT THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF A PERSON CHARGED
WITH A PARKING VIOLATION MAY BE DISPENSED OF WHERE THE PERSON CHARGED OR
THEIR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS REQUESTED AN ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE;
(II) ANY HEARING CONDUCTED BY MEANS OF ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE SHALL
PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATE OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY ATTORNEY OR LEGAL ADVISOR OF
SUCH PERSON, IF ANY, TO CONFIDENTIALLY CONSULT WITH SUCH PERSON DURING
THE PROCEEDING;
(III) WHERE, DUE TO TECHNOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OR LIMITATIONS, A PARTY TO
AN ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE CAN HEAR AND BE HEARD BUT CANNOT SEE AND/OR
CANNOT BE SEEN, THE BUREAU MAY CONDUCT THE PROCEEDING NOTWITHSTANDING
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02077-03-5
S. 1511--A 2
SUCH LIMITATION, UNLESS A PARTY OBJECTS, IN WHICH CASE THE ELECTRONIC
APPEARANCE SHALL BE TERMINATED AND ADJOURNED;
(IV) IF, FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN THE CIRCUMSTANCES JUSTIFYING A
TERMINATION AND ADJOURNMENT PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF THIS
SUBDIVISION, A PARTY REQUESTS THAT AN ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE BE TERMI-
NATED AND ADJOURNED AFTER IT HAS COMMENCED, THE BUREAU SHALL GRANT THAT
APPLICATION FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN. UNDER THIS SUBPARAGRAPH, GOOD CAUSE
SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A DETERMINATION THAT DUE TO TECH-
NOLOGICAL PROBLEMS THE PROCEEDING CANNOT BE PROPERLY CONDUCTED, OR AN
ATTORNEY OR LEGAL ADVISOR DOES NOT HAVE AN ADEQUATE OPPORTUNITY TO
CONFIDENTIALLY CONSULT WITH A CLIENT;
(V) ELECTRONIC APPEARANCES SHALL BE RECORDED TO THE SAME EXTENT AS
WOULD BE REQUIRED WERE THE APPEARANCE CONDUCTED WITH SUCH INDIVIDUALS
PHYSICALLY PRESENT AT THE HEARING. NO RECORDING OF AN ELECTRONIC APPEAR-
ANCE SHALL BE MADE, VIEWED OR INSPECTED EXCEPT AS MAY BE AUTHORIZED BY
THIS ARTICLE;
(VI) WHERE A PERSON CHARGED WITH A PARKING VIOLATION IS UNDER THE AGE
OF EIGHTEEN AN ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE SHALL NOT BE CONDUCTED;
(VII) NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE CONSTRUED AS LIMITING A
BUREAU'S AUTHORITY TO EXCUSE A CHARGED PERSON'S APPEARANCE, EITHER WHERE
THEY WOULD BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT OR APPEARING BY ELECTRONIC MEANS,
DURING A PROCEEDING;
(VIII) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE, THE TERM "ELECTRONIC APPEAR-
ANCE" SHALL MEAN AN APPEARANCE IN WHICH ONE OR MORE OF THE PARTICIPANTS
IN THE HEARING ARE NOT PHYSICALLY PRESENT IN THE BUREAU WHERE THE HEAR-
ING IS CONVENED BUT RATHER APPEAR ELECTRONICALLY AT THE HEARING THROUGH
A COMPUTER OR OTHER DIGITAL MEDIUM IN A MANNER THAT ALLOWS PARTICIPANTS
TO SEE AND HEAR EACH OTHER; AND
(IX) NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE REQUIRE-
MENTS OF THIS ARTICLE RELATING TO ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE AT HEARINGS
SHALL NOT APPLY TO ANY LOCALITY WHICH ELECTS NOT TO PROVIDE PARKING
VIOLATION HEARINGS BY ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE PURSUANT TO A DULY ENACTED
OR ADOPTED LOCAL LAW, ORDINANCE OR REGULATION.
§ 2. Subdivision 1 of section 238 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
added by chapter 715 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
1. (A) The notice of violation shall contain information advising the
person charged of the manner and the time in which [he] SUCH PERSON may
plead either guilty or not guilty to the violation alleged in the
notice. Such notice of violation shall also contain a warning to advise
the person charged that failure to plead in the manner and time provided
shall be deemed an admission of liability and that a default judgment
may be entered thereon.
(B) The form and wording of the notice of violation shall be
prescribed by the director. A duplicate of each notice of violation
shall be served on the person charged in the manner hereinafter
provided. The original or a facsimile thereof shall be filed and
retained by the bureau, and shall be deemed a record kept in the ordi-
nary course of business, and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts
contained therein.
(C) IF A PERSON CHARGED WITH A PARKING VIOLATION DENIES ALL OR PART OF
THE VIOLATION AS CHARGED IN THE NOTICE OF VIOLATION, THEY MAY ENTER A
PLEA OF NOT GUILTY, PERSONALLY OR THROUGH AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE,
IN PERSON AT ANY PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU OFFICE OR IN ANY OTHER FORM
AND MANNER AUTHORIZED BY SUCH BUREAU, WITHIN THE TIME ALLOWED FOR ENTRY
OF SUCH PLEA, AND REQUEST A HEARING. THE PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU SHALL
ADVISE THE PARTY ENTERING THE PLEA THAT THE HEARING SHALL BE AVAILABLE
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EITHER IN PERSON OR BY ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE, AT THE OPTION OF THE
PERSON CHARGED OR THEIR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE.
§ 3. Subdivision 1 of section 240 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
amended by section 4 of part N of chapter 58 of the laws of 2025, is
amended to read as follows:
1. Notice of hearing. Whenever a person charged with a parking
violation enters a plea of not guilty; or a person alleged to be liable
in accordance with any provisions of law specifically authorizing the
imposition of monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure
of an operator thereof: to comply with traffic-control indications in
violation of subdivision (d) of section eleven hundred eleven of this
chapter through the installation and operation of traffic-control signal
photo violation-monitoring systems, in accordance with article twenty-
four of this chapter; or to comply with certain posted maximum speed
limits in violation of subdivision (b), (c), (d), (f) or (g) of section
eleven hundred eighty of this chapter through the installation and oper-
ation of photo speed violation monitoring systems, in accordance with
article thirty of this chapter; or to comply with bus lane restrictions
as defined by article twenty-four of this chapter through the installa-
tion and operation of bus lane photo devices, in accordance with article
twenty-four of this chapter; or to comply with toll collection regu-
lations of certain public authorities through the installation and oper-
ation of photo-monitoring systems, in accordance with the provisions of
section two thousand nine hundred eighty-five of the public authorities
law and sections sixteen-a, sixteen-b and sixteen-c of chapter seven
hundred seventy-four of the laws of nineteen hundred fifty; or to stop
for a school bus displaying a red visual signal in violation of section
eleven hundred seventy-four of this chapter through the installation and
operation of school bus photo violation monitoring systems, in accord-
ance with article twenty-nine of this chapter; or to comply with certain
posted maximum speed limits in violation of subdivision (b), (d), (f) or
(g) of section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter within a highway
construction or maintenance work area through the installation and oper-
ation of photo speed violation monitoring systems, in accordance with
article thirty of this chapter; or to comply with gross vehicle weight
and/or axle weight restrictions in violation of section three hundred
eighty-five of this chapter and the rules of the applicable covered
agency or covered authority as such terms are defined in article ten of
this chapter through the installation and operation of weigh in motion
violation monitoring systems, in accordance with article ten of this
chapter; or to comply with bus operation-related traffic regulations as
defined by article twenty-four of this chapter in violation of the rules
of the department of transportation of the city of New York through the
installation and operation of bus operation-related photo devices, in
accordance with article twenty-four of this chapter, contests such alle-
gation, the bureau shall advise such person personally by such form of
first class mail as the director may direct of the date on which such
person must appear, EITHER IN PERSON OR THROUGH ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE,
AT THE OPTION OF SUCH PERSON, to answer the charge at a hearing. The
form and content of such notice of hearing shall be prescribed by the
director, and shall contain (A) a warning to advise the person so plead-
ing or contesting that failure to appear EITHER IN PERSON OR THROUGH
ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE on the date designated, or on any subsequent
adjourned date, shall be deemed an admission of liability, and that a
default judgment may be entered thereon; (B) A STATEMENT ADVISING THE
PERSON THAT THEY MAY REQUEST THAT THE HEARING BE EITHER IN PERSON OR
S. 1511--A 4
HELD BY ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE; AND (C) A STATEMENT OF THE HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCESS TO AN ELECTRONIC APPEARANCE.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law; and shall expire and be deemed repealed
September 1, 2028.