Senate Bill S1849A

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1849

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring data report-
ing by the chief administrator to delineate specific information relat-
ing to all courts in the unified court system, including town and
village courts

 
PURPOSE OF BILL::

To provide for the compilation and reporting of case data from town and
village courts by the chief administrator of the courts in the same form
and to the same extent as that required of state courts in the unified
court system, specifically with regard to family offenses, misdemeanor
offenses, violations, and landlord-tenant proceedings, and to require
reporting of such data by all courts, including town and village courts.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS::

Section 1 amends paragraph e of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the
              

judiciary law to clarify the meaning of "family offenses," and to
specifically include town and village courts among those courts for
which the chief administrator is required to compile and publish data on
family offenses, proceedings, or actions, and to require reporting of
such data by all courts, including town and village courts.

Section 2 amends paragraphs u-1 and v-1 of subdivision 2 of section 212
of the judiciary law to specifically include town and village courts
among those courts for which the chief administrator is required to
compile and report data on misdemeanor offenses and violations, and to
require reporting of such data by all courts, including town and village
courts.

Section 3 amends paragraph w-1 of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the
judiciary law to require the chief administrator to include information
collected from town and village courts pursuant to this act in the annu-
al report submitted to the legislature and governor, and to make such
information available to the public by posting it on the website of the
office of court administration, updated on a monthly basis.

Section 4 amends subdivision 2 by adding new paragraphs ff and gg.
Paragraph ff requires the chief administrator to prepare forms and
compile and publish data on landlord-initiated eviction filings,
proceedings or actions, and on tenant-initiated filings, proceedings or
actions in all courts in the unified court system, including town and
village courts, disaggregated by county and by individual court, and
requires reporting of such data by all courts, including town and
village courts.

Paragraph gg provides that wherever the chief administrator is required
to compile, report, and make court data publicly available, or wherever
the chief administrator opts to require such collection, reporting, and
public availability of data, this shall include data from town and
village courts to the extent practicable. This includes the reporting
required by judiciary law section 216 subsection 5 regarding pretrial
release and detention.

Section 5 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION::

New York's town and village courts, also known as "justice courts," may
be the only court a New York resident ever finds themselves in as a
defendant or petitioner, whether to contest a moving or parking
violation, a local code violation, a misdemeanor charge, or an eviction,
or to request an order of protection. An arraignment in town or village
court, and the setting of bail or release on conditions, may be the
first step of a felony prosecution before transfer to a higher court.
Family offenses and related requests for orders of protection may also
first be addressed in a village or town court.

The NYS Unified Court System 2022 Annual Report, refers to town and
village courts as the "courts closest to the people."' As of 2022, there
were 1,189 town and village courts in the 57 counties outside New York
City.

According to the NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct, "Collectively, the
town and village courts throughout New York State hear approximately two
million cases a year, such as speeding tickets and driving while intoxi-
cated, small claims, landlord-tenant proceedings and misdemeanors. Town
and village court justices may also preside at the arraignment of
defendants charged with most felonies, set bail and issue or deny orders
of protection."2

According to the Fund for Modern Courts,"Every year, New York's Town and
Village Courts preside over a large number of summary (i.e., eviction)
proceedings, each of which can result in significant disruptions to
families and the loss of a necessity of life: one's home."3

Despite their key role in our justice system, and the part they play in
many New Yorkers' lives, data regarding the operation of these courts
and the processing of cases within them is hard to come by.  This was
brought home during the Covid-19 pandemic, when legislators struggled to
find useful data on eviction proceedings in village and town courts to
guide them in decision-making.

In response to legislation directing the chief administrator to collect
and publish data on certain categories of cases, including arraignments,
family offenses, misdemeanors, and violations, the court's Division of
Technology & Court Research (DoTCR) has created publicly accessible data
dashboards. DoTCR has also created a statewide landlord tenant eviction
dashboard.

However, the data made available regarding town and village court case
filings and case outcomes remains insufficient. For instance, warrants
of eviction issued are available only for city and district courts
statewide; town and village data are not available. Moreover, the
collection and reporting of such eviction case data from town and
village courts is not required by statute. Likewise provisions in judi-
ciary law requiring compilation and reporting of case data on family
offenses, misdemeanors, and violations does not explicitly reference
town and village courts. And despite the mandate in judiciary law
section 216, subsection 5, to include town and village court data,
pretrial release data for town and village courts is not as readily

available as data for other courts on the Office of Court Adminis-
tration's pretrial release data dashboard.

This bill would remedy that gap, by mandating compilation and reporting
of evictions and other court data from all courts, expressly including
town and village courts, by requiring all courts, including town and
village courts, to report the data, and by requiring that all such data
be made publicly available.

Wherever the chief administrator is required to compile, report, and
make court data publicly available, or wherever the chief administrator
opts to require such compilation, reporting, and public availability of
data, this shall include data from all courts in the unified court
system, including town and village courts, disaggregated by county, and
by individual court.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::

2023-2024: S6210B/A7737A, Passed Senate, died in Assembly.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE::

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law; provided, however, sections one and two of this
act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a law; and
provided, further, the amendments to the opening paragraph of paragraph
(v-1) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary law made by
section two of this act shall take effect two years after it shall have
become a law.

1 NYS Unified Court System, 2022 Annual Report, at 43, available at
https://www.nycourts.gov/legacyPDFS/22 UCS-Annual Report.pdf

2 New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Assistance for Town and
Village Justices, available at https://cjc.ny.gov/Policy.Statements/town
& village courts.html

3 Fund for Modern Courts, Summary Proceedings in New York's Town and
Village Courts: Ideas for Improvement, at 1, available at
http://moderncourts.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/10/Summary-Proceedings-in- New-York-Town-and-Villa-
geJustice-Courts- Ideas-for-Improvement.pdf