A10139 Summary:

BILL NOA10139
 
SAME ASSAME AS S07883
 
SPONSORRules (Weinstein)
 
COSPNSRRosenthal, Peoples-Stokes, Lupardo, Buchwald, Bronson, Jaffee, O'Donnell, Brindisi, Santabarbara, Fahy, Weprin, Ramos, Pretlow, Steck, Otis, Abinanti, Morelle, McDonald, Mayer, Schimel, Lavine, Englebright, Thiele, Weisenberg, Ryan, Hooper, Solages, Paulin, Hennessey, Barrett, Cahill, Dinowitz, Glick, Goodell, Nolan, Palumbo, Saladino, Sweeney
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd SS121 & 131, Fam Ct Act
 
Relates to the number of judges of the family court in certain counties.
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A10139 Actions:

BILL NOA10139
 
06/16/2014referred to judiciary
06/18/2014reported referred to ways and means
06/18/2014reported referred to rules
06/18/2014reported
06/19/2014rules report cal.521
06/19/2014ordered to third reading rules cal.521
06/19/2014passed assembly
06/19/2014delivered to senate
06/19/2014REFERRED TO RULES
06/20/2014SUBSTITUTED FOR S7883
06/20/20143RD READING CAL.1574
06/20/2014PASSED SENATE
06/20/2014RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
06/23/2014delivered to governor
06/26/2014signed chap.44
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A10139 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A10139
 
SPONSOR: Rules (Weinstein)
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the family court act, in relation to the number of judges of the family court   PURPOSE OF BILL: This measure would amend the Family Court Act to establish 25 new Family Court judgeships.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF BILL: Section 1: Would amend § 121 of the Family Court Act to increase the number of Family Court Judges in the City of New York from 47 to 56. Section 2: Would amend § 131 of the Family Court Act to increase the number of Family Court Judges, each by one, in the following counties: Albany, Broome, Chautauqua, Franklin, Nassau, Oneida, Oswego, Schenecta- dy, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester. Section 3: Would amend § 131 of the Family Court Act to increase the number of family court judges in 2016, each by one, in the following counties: Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, and Warren. Section 4: Establishes a special petitioning period for the judges to be elected in November, 2014. Section 5: Includes a severability clause.   EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL WOULD ALTER: Amends § 121 and § 131 of the Family Court Act.   JUSTIFICATION: This measure would amend the Family Court Act to estab- lish 25 new Family Court judgeships. While the past several decades have seen increasing legislative recogni- tion of the needs of children and families in New York, in the form of landmark statutes promoting child permanency and enhancing family justice, these salutary efforts have not been matched by provision for a corps of Family Court Judgeships sufficiently large to meet the greater caseloads and complexity of proceedings in our courts today. The conse- quences of this neglect, if not attended to soon, will be disturbing, indeed heartbreaking - and utterly unacceptable: justice delayed for children and families whose safety and welfare can require immediate intervention, children growing up in foster care instead of permanent homes, children graduating from Family Court to Criminal Court instead of high school and college, missed opportunities and spiraling ineffi- ciency for juvenile and legal defense agencies. This measure will go a long way toward redressing this unintended and lamentable condition. If enacted, it would represent the first major infusion of new Family Court Judges in New York in over three decades and begin to provide the state's family justice system with the resources needed to protect the most vulnerable members of our communi- ty.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill, 2014.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: $5 million for the period from January 1, 2015 through March 31, 2015.   EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately, provided that the judges created by section two will first take office on January 1,2015 and the judges created by section,3 will first take office on January 1, 2016.
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A10139 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          10139
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      June 16, 2014
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Weinstein,
          Rosenthal,  Peoples-Stokes,  Lupardo,   Buchwald,   Bronson,   Jaffee,
          O'Donnell,  Brindisi,  Santabarbara,  Fahy,  Weprin,  Ramos,  Pretlow,
          Steck, Otis, Abinanti,  Morelle,  McDonald,  Mayer,  Schimel,  Lavine,
          Englebright,   Thiele,  Weisenberg,  Ryan,  Hooper,  Solages,  Paulin,

          Hennessey, Barrett, Cahill, Glick, Goodell, Nolan, Palumbo,  Saladino,
          Sweeney) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
 
        AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to the number of judg-
          es of the family court
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 121 of the family court act, as amended by  chapter
     2  209 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  121. Number of judges. The family court within the city of New York
     4  shall consist of [forty-four judges and,  as  of  July  first,  nineteen
     5  hundred  ninety,  shall  consist  of  forty-five judges and, as of April
     6  first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-one,  shall  consist  of  forty-seven]

     7  fifty-six  judges,  effective  January  first, two thousand fifteen. [At
     8  least one of the persons appointed to the office of judge of the  family
     9  court  created  by  this  section,  shall be a resident of the county of
    10  Richmond and hereafter there] There shall be at least one  family  court
    11  judge  resident  in  each county of the city of New York. [The amount of
    12  compensation for such new family court judges  shall  be  equal  to  the
    13  compensation  payable to existing family court judges in the city of New
    14  York.]
    15    § 2. Section 131 of the family court act is amended by  adding  a  new
    16  subdivision (u) to read as follows:
    17    (u)  There  shall  be an additional family court judge for each of the

    18  following counties:  Albany, Broome, Chautauqua, Franklin, Nassau, Onei-
    19  da, Oswego, Schenectady, Suffolk, Ulster and  Westchester.  The  compen-
    20  sation  of  each such additional family court judge shall be the same as
    21  the compensation paid to each existing family court judge in the  county
    22  for which it is established or, if there is no separately-elected family
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15483-07-4

        A. 10139                            2
 
     1  court judge in such county, the same as the compensation paid to a judge
     2  of the county court in such county.

     3    §  3.  Section  131 of the family court act is amended by adding a new
     4  subdivision (v) to read as follows:
     5    (v) There shall be an additional family court judge for  each  of  the
     6  following  counties:   Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, and Warren. The
     7  compensation of each such additional family court  judge  shall  be  the
     8  same as the compensation paid to each existing family court judge in the
     9  county for which it is established or, if there is no separately-elected
    10  family  court judge in such county, the same as the compensation paid to
    11  a judge of the county court in such county.
    12    § 4. Notwithstanding provisions of the election law related to  desig-
    13  nating  petitions,  the  following  rules  shall  apply  to  designating

    14  petitions filed in 2014 for the offices created by section two  of  this
    15  act:
    16    1. A designating petition for the offices created under this act shall
    17  be  filed  not  earlier than the eighth Monday before and not later than
    18  the seventh Thursday preceding the primary election.
    19    2. A signature made earlier than thirteen days before the last day  to
    20  file  the  designating  petitions for the offices created under this act
    21  for the primary election shall not be counted.
    22    3. Petitions must be signed by not less than one and three-quarter per
    23  centum, as determined by the preceding enrollment, of the then  enrolled
    24  voters of the party residing within the county of the family court posi-
    25  tion  created  by  this  act  (excluding  voters  in  inactive  status),
    26  provided, however, that the number of signatures  need  not  exceed  the
    27  following limits:

    28    (a)  For  the  offices  to  be  filled  by  all the voters of counties
    29  containing more than two hundred fifty thousand inhabitants according to
    30  the last preceding federal enumeration, seven hundred signatures,
    31    (b) For the offices to be filled by all  of  the  voters  of  counties
    32  containing  more than twenty-five thousand and not more than two hundred
    33  fifty thousand inhabitants, according  to  the  last  preceding  federal
    34  enumeration, three hundred fifty signatures,
    35    (c) For the offices to be filled by all the voters for any other coun-
    36  ty, one hundred seventy-five signatures.
    37    4.  All  other  rules related to designating petitions in the election
    38  law, not inconsistent with these provisions shall apply to  such  desig-
    39  nating petitions.
    40    § 5. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-

    41  sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by a court of compe-
    42  tent  jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair
    43  or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its opera-
    44  tion to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,  section  or  part
    45  thereof  directly  involved  in  the  controversy in which such judgment
    46  shall have been rendered.  It is hereby declared to be the intent of the
    47  legislature that this act would have been enacted even if  such  invalid
    48  provisions had not been included herein.
    49    §  6.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
    50  the additional family court judges provided for by section two  of  this
    51  act  shall first be elected at the general election to be held in Novem-
    52  ber 2014 and shall first take office January 1, 2015; provided, further,

    53  that the additional family court judges provided for by section three of
    54  this act shall first be elected at the general election to  be  held  in
    55  November 2015 and shall first take office January 1, 2016.
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