Requires more specific data reporting by the chief administrator to include information relating to all courts in the unified court system, including town and village courts.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7737A
SPONSOR: Lavine 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 eviction proceedings.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph e 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 family offenses, proceedings, or actions.
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.
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 eviction filings, proceedings or actions in
all courts in the unified court system, including town and village
courts, disaggregated by county and by individual court.
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. 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."1 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 large part in response to legislation directing the chief administra-
tor to collect and publish data on certain categories of cases, includ-
ing 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 is not readily available for town and village
courts on the Office of Court Administration'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, 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:
New bill.
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-Village-Justice-Courts-Ideas-for-Improvement.pdf
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7737--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LAVINE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary -- recommitted to the Committee on Judiciary in accord-
ance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring data report-
ing by the chief administrator to delineate specific information
relating to all courts in the unified court system, including town and
village courts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judi-
2 ciary law, as amended by chapter 323 of the laws of 1987, the closing
3 paragraph as amended by chapter 349 of the laws of 1995, is amended to
4 read as follows:
5 (e) Prepare forms and compile and publish data on family offenses,
6 proceedings or actions in all courts[,] in the unified court system,
7 including town and village courts, including but not limited to the
8 following information:
9 (i) the offense alleged;
10 (ii) the relationship of the alleged offender to the petitioner or
11 complainant;
12 (iii) the court where the action or proceeding was instituted;
13 (iv) the disposition; and
14 (v) in the case of dismissal, the reasons therefor.
15 In executing this requirement, the chief administrator may adopt rules
16 requiring appropriate law enforcement or criminal justice agencies to
17 identify actions and proceedings involving family offenses and, with
18 respect to such actions and proceedings, to report, in such form and
19 manner as the chief administrator shall prescribe, the information spec-
20 ified herein.
21 The chief administrator of the courts shall adopt rules to facilitate
22 record sharing and other communication among [the supreme, criminal and
23 family] all courts in the unified court system, including town and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10553-04-4
A. 7737--A 2
1 village courts, subject to applicable provisions of the domestic
2 relations law, criminal procedure law and the family court act pertain-
3 ing to the confidentiality, expungement and sealing of records, where
4 such courts exercise concurrent jurisdiction over family offense
5 proceedings or proceedings involving orders of protection.
6 § 2. The opening paragraphs of paragraphs (u-1) and (v-1) of subdivi-
7 sion 2 of section 212 of the judiciary law, as added by chapter 102 of
8 the laws of 2020, are amended to read as follows:
9 Compile and publish data on misdemeanor offenses in all courts in the
10 unified court system including town and village courts, disaggregated by
11 county, and by individual court, including the following information:
12 Compile and publish data on violations, to the greatest extent practi-
13 cable, in all courts in the unified court system including town and
14 village courts, disaggregated by county, and by individual court,
15 including the following information:
16 § 3. Paragraph (w-1) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary
17 law, as added by chapter 102 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as
18 follows:
19 (w-1) The chief administrator shall include the information required
20 by paragraphs (u-1) [and], (v-1), and (ff) of this subdivision in the
21 annual report submitted to the legislature and the governor pursuant to
22 paragraph (j) of subdivision one of this section. The chief administra-
23 tor shall also make the information required by paragraphs (u-1) [and],
24 (v-1), and (ff) of this subdivision available to the public by posting
25 it on the website of the office of court administration and shall update
26 such information on a monthly basis. The information shall be posted in
27 alphanumeric form that can be digitally transmitted or processed and not
28 in portable document format or scanned copies of original documents.
29 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary law is amended by
30 adding two new paragraphs (ff) and (gg) to read as follows:
31 (ff) Prepare forms and compile and publish data on eviction filings,
32 proceedings or actions in all courts in the unified court system,
33 including town and village courts, disaggregated by county, and by indi-
34 vidual court, including but not limited to the following information:
35 (i) the total number of eviction filings in each court by month;
36 (ii) the number of holdover proceedings versus nonpayment proceedings;
37 (iii) the court where the action or proceeding was instituted;
38 (iv) the disposition of the proceeding, including whether a warrant of
39 eviction was issued or stayed; and
40 (v) in the case of dismissal, the reasons therefor.
41 (gg) In addition to the data reporting required under paragraphs (e),
42 (u-1), (v-1), (w-1), and (ff) of this subdivision, wherever the chief
43 administrator is required to compile, report, and make other court data
44 publicly available, or wherever the chief administrator opts to require
45 such collection, reporting, and public availability of data, this shall
46 include data from all courts in the unified court system, including town
47 and village courts, disaggregated by county and by individual court.
48 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
49 it shall have become a law; provided, however, sections one and two of
50 this act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a law;
51 and provided, further, the amendments to the opening paragraph of para-
52 graph (v-1) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary law made by
53 section two of this act shall take effect two years after it shall have
54 become a law.
