NY State Senate Bill 2025-S3452

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
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Delivered to Governor
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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 27, 2025	referred to codes

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Criminal Procedure Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §180.20, CP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S4418
2021-2022: S2582
2023-2024: S2528

2025-S3452 (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.

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S3452

SPONSOR: HELMING
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the removal
of a criminal action to a veterans treatment court

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of the bill is to allow for the removal of a criminal action
against a veteran to a veterans' court in the same or adjacent county.
The measure only applies to counties outside New York City and removal
may only be done with the consent of the court, the defendant and prose-
cutor.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Establishes the legislative fmdings.

Sections 2: Amend the Criminal Procedure Law to authorize for the
removal of a criminal action against a veteran to a veteran's court in

the same or adjacent county. Such court must be designated as a veter-
ans' treatment court by the Chief Administrator of the Courts.

Section 3: States that the Chief Administrator of the Courts shall
establish an appropriate amount of veterans treatment courts to fulfill
the purposes of this legislation

Section 4: Sets an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Studies have shown that at least twenty percent of the 1.6 million
troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001-2008 have faced
serious mental health injuries such as post-traumatic stress-disorder,
traumatic brain injury or major depression (Invisible Wounds of war,
Summary and Recommendations for Addressing Psychological and Cognitive
Injuries, Rand Corporation, Center for Military Health Policy Research,
2008). These veterans often do not have access to the support services
that may be available to them.  Their disorders lead to higher rates of
divorce, drug and alcohol abuse and incarceration. After recognizing a
growing problem with low level criminal conduct committed by servicemen
returning from military service, Erie County started the nation's first
veterans' court in 2008. That experience has established that veterans
are ideal candidates for diversion because they are often able to be
connected to benefits and treatment earned through military service. The
court has been the model for veterans courts instituted in other coun-
ties in New York and throughout the nation.

The veterans court is a hybrid drug and mental health court that serves
veterans who are struggling with addiction, mental illness or other
problems. When a qualified veteran is identified, usually at or before
arraignment, the qualifying defendant is diverted from the traditional
criminal prosecution into the more specialized treatment path of the
veterans' court. Offenders are assessed by the Veterans Administration
in their local area, enrolled in a program that addresses their mental
health or substance abuse issues and then meet with a team including the
judge, veteran mentors and other service providers. Judges see the
veterans once a week or every two weeks as they progress toward mental
fitness or sobriety until their treatment program is completed. The
process usually extends from 14 to 18 months, and recidivism rates for
veterans who complete the program are consistently low.

Although there are 37 veterans courts in New York State, veterans who
are arrested in jurisdictions that do not have a veterans' court are not
able to use the special services such courts provide. This measure is
designed to help alleviate that problem by allowing these services to be
made available to veterans in nearby communities that technically fall
outside a court's regular, jurisdiction.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: S.2528 referred to Codes

2021-2022: S.2582 referred to Codes

2019-2020: S.4418 referred to Codes

2016: S.5677 committed to Rules

2015: S.5677 passed Senate

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None. There is potential for savings over long term use of these courts.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3452
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 27, 2025
                                ___________
 
 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 people who have served in our nation's armed forces.  Their
 service  in  defense of our country and its ideals must never be forgot-
 ten. 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.
                                                            LBD07211-01-5

 S. 3452                             2
 
 case  against  a  qualified veteran whose charges are pending in a local
 criminal court that is not a veterans treatment court to  another  local
 criminal  court  within  the  same  county  that is a veterans treatment
 court.  Following  the successful "drug hub court" model, the case could
 only be transferred on the application of the defendant,  and  with  the
 consent  of  the  court and district attorney. Recognizing that resource
 constraints and the need for extensive planning and  coordination  among
 the  judiciary  and  local,  state and federal agencies have limited the
 availability of veterans treatment courts in  certain  jurisdictions  in
 the  state,  this measure also would permit a qualified veteran to apply
 to have their criminal case transferred to a  veterans  treatment  court
 located  in  an adjoining county. This will ensure the broadest possible
 reach of every existing veterans treatment court, and send a signal that
 New York and its courts are committed to acknowledging and  serving  the
 special needs of the greatest number of qualified veterans. In practical
 terms, the act would immediately more than double the number of counties
 where  veterans  charged with criminal offenses would have access to the
 proven benefits of a veterans treatment court.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 180.20 of the criminal procedure law, as
 amended by chapter 67 of the  laws  of  2000,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   3.  Notwithstanding  any provision of this section to the contrary, in
 any county outside a city having a population of one  million  or  more,
 upon  or  after arraignment of a defendant on a felony complaint pending
 in a local criminal court having preliminary jurisdiction thereof,  such
 court  may,  upon  motion  of  the defendant and with the consent of the
 district attorney, order that the action be removed from  the  court  in
 which  the matter is pending to another local criminal court in the same
 county which has been designated a drug court by the chief administrator
 of the courts, OR TO ANOTHER COURT IN THE SAME COUNTY  OR  AN  ADJOINING
 COUNTY  THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNATED A VETERANS TREATMENT COURT BY THE CHIEF
 ADMINISTRATOR OF THE COURTS, and such drug court OR  VETERANS  TREATMENT
 COURT  may  then dispose of such felony complaint pursuant to this arti-
 cle; provided, however, that an  order  of  removal  issued  under  this
 subdivision  shall  not  take  effect until five days after the date the
 order is issued unless, prior to such effective date, the drug court  OR
 VETERANS TREATMENT COURT notifies the court that issued the order that:
   (a)  it will not accept the action, in which event the order shall not
 take effect, or
   (b) it will accept the action on a date prior to such effective  date,
 in which event the order shall take effect upon such prior date.
   Upon  providing  notification pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this
 subdivision, the drug court OR VETERANS TREATMENT COURT  shall  promptly
 give  notice to the defendant, [his or her] SUCH DEFENDANT'S counsel and
 the district attorney.
   § 3. To the extent practicable, the chief administrator of the  courts
 shall  establish  such  number  of  veterans  treatment courts as may be
 necessary to fulfill the purposes of this act.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S3452

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Actions

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Pamela Helming

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Actions

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S3452 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments