A06202 Summary:
BILL NO | A06202C |
  | |
SAME AS | SAME AS S06341-B |
  | |
SPONSOR | Fahy |
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COSPNSR | Lentol, Aubry, McDonald, Steck, Gottfried, Magnarelli, Crespo, Sepulveda, Arroyo, Simotas, Magee, Colton, Duprey, Crouch, Montesano, Raia, Rosenthal, Woerner, Russell, Brindisi, Mosley, Palmesano, Lavine, Bronson, Skoufis, Barclay, Blankenbush, Cahill, Stec, Murray, Barrett, Peoples-Stokes, Butler, Lupardo, Lalor, Pichardo, Linares, Rivera, Stirpe, Walker, Jaffee, O'Donnell, Finch, Ramos, Ryan, Hunter, Davila, Graf, Rodriguez, Brabenec, Otis, Titus, Perry, Oaks, Mayer, Gunther, Englebright, Weprin, Kearns, Ortiz, Richardson, Hyndman, Abbate |
  | |
MLTSPNSR | Blake, Brennan, Cook, Galef, Giglio, Glick, Hawley, Hevesi, Hikind, Lifton, Lopez, Markey, Robinson, Schimel, Simon, Skartados, Weinstein |
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Amd §722-e, County L; amd §832, Exec L; amd §98-b, St Fin L | |
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Requires state reimbursement to counties and cities in which a county is located of the full amount of expenditures for indigent legal services. |
A06202 Actions:
BILL NO | A06202C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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03/17/2015 | referred to codes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
05/12/2015 | reported referred to ways and means | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
06/01/2015 | amend and recommit to ways and means | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
06/01/2015 | print number 6202a | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12/23/2015 | amend and recommit to ways and means | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12/23/2015 | print number 6202b | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
01/06/2016 | referred to codes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
04/22/2016 | amend (t) and recommit to codes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
04/22/2016 | print number 6202c | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
05/04/2016 | reported referred to ways and means | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
05/17/2016 | reported | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
05/19/2016 | advanced to third reading cal.670 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
06/02/2016 | passed assembly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
06/02/2016 | delivered to senate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
06/02/2016 | REFERRED TO FINANCE |
A06202 Committee Votes:
Farrell | Aye | Oaks | Aye | ||||||
Lentol | Aye | Crouch | Aye | ||||||
Schimminger | Aye | Barclay | Aye | ||||||
Gantt | Aye | Fitzpatrick | Aye | ||||||
Weinstein | Aye | Saladino | Aye | ||||||
Glick | Aye | Hawley | Aye | ||||||
Nolan | Aye | Duprey | Aye | ||||||
Pretlow | Aye | Corwin | Aye | ||||||
Perry | Aye | Malliotakis | Aye | ||||||
Colton | Aye | Walter | Aye | ||||||
Cook | Aye | ||||||||
Cahill | Aye | ||||||||
Aubry | Aye | ||||||||
Hooper | Aye | ||||||||
Thiele | Aye | ||||||||
Wright | Aye | ||||||||
Cusick | Aye | ||||||||
Ortiz | Aye | ||||||||
Benedetto | Aye | ||||||||
Markey | Aye | ||||||||
Moya | Aye | ||||||||
Weprin | Aye | ||||||||
Rodriguez | Excused | ||||||||
Ramos | Aye | ||||||||
Braunstein | Aye | ||||||||
Go to top
A06202 Floor Votes:
Yes
Abbate
Yes
Crespo
Yes
Gottfried
Yes
Lopez
Yes
Palumbo
Yes
Simon
Yes
Abinanti
Yes
Crouch
Yes
Graf
Yes
Lupardo
Yes
Paulin
Yes
Simotas
Yes
Arroyo
Yes
Curran
Yes
Gunther
Yes
Lupinacci
Yes
Peoples-Stokes
Yes
Skartados
Yes
Aubry
Yes
Cusick
Yes
Harris
Yes
Magee
Yes
Perry
Yes
Skoufis
Yes
Barclay
Yes
Cymbrowitz
Yes
Hawley
Yes
Magnarelli
Yes
Pichardo
Yes
Solages
Yes
Barrett
Yes
Davila
Yes
Hevesi
Yes
Malliotakis
Yes
Pretlow
Yes
Stec
Yes
Barron
Yes
DenDekker
ER
Hikind
Yes
Markey
Yes
Quart
Yes
Steck
Yes
Benedetto
Yes
Dilan
Yes
Hooper
Yes
Mayer
Yes
Ra
Yes
Stirpe
ER
Bichotte
Yes
Dinowitz
Yes
Hunter
Yes
McDonald
Yes
Raia
Yes
Tedisco
Yes
Blake
Yes
DiPietro
ER
Hyndman
Yes
McDonough
ER
Ramos
Yes
Tenney
Yes
Blankenbush
ER
Duprey
Yes
Jaffee
Yes
McKevitt
Yes
Richardson
Yes
Thiele
Yes
Brabenec
Yes
Englebright
Yes
Jean-Pierre
Yes
McLaughlin
Yes
Rivera
Yes
Titone
Yes
Braunstein
Yes
Fahy
Yes
Johns
Yes
Miller
Yes
Robinson
ER
Titus
ER
Brennan
Yes
Farrell
Yes
Joyner
Yes
Montesano
Yes
Rodriguez
Yes
Walker
Yes
Brindisi
Yes
Finch
ER
Katz
Yes
Morelle
Yes
Rosenthal
Yes
Walter
Yes
Bronson
Yes
Fitzpatrick
Yes
Kavanagh
Yes
Mosley
Yes
Rozic
Yes
Weinstein
Yes
Buchwald
Yes
Friend
Yes
Kearns
Yes
Moya
Yes
Russell
Yes
Weprin
ER
Butler
Yes
Galef
ER
Kim
Yes
Murray
ER
Ryan
Yes
Williams
Yes
Cahill
Yes
Gantt
Yes
Kolb
ER
Nojay
Yes
Saladino
Yes
Woerner
Yes
Cancel
ER
Garbarino
Yes
Lalor
Yes
Nolan
Yes
Santabarbara
Yes
Wozniak
Yes
Castorina
Yes
Giglio
Yes
Lavine
Yes
Oaks
ER
Schimel
ER
Wright
Yes
Ceretto
Yes
Gjonaj
Yes
Lawrence
Yes
O'Donnell
Yes
Schimminger
Yes
Zebrowski
Yes
Colton
Yes
Glick
Yes
Lentol
Yes
Ortiz
Yes
Seawright
Yes
Mr. Speaker
Yes
Cook
Yes
Goldfeder
Yes
Lifton
Yes
Otis
ER
Sepulveda
Yes
Corwin
Yes
Goodell
Yes
Linares
Yes
Palmesano
Yes
Simanowitz
‡ Indicates voting via videoconference
A06202 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)   BILL NUMBER: A6202C SPONSOR: Fahy (MS)
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the county law, the executive law and the state finance law, in relation to indigent defense services   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To ensure that all persons accused of crimes in New York are able to receive effective legal representation whether or not they have the ability to pay for a lawyer by establishing a system of direct state funding at the requisite adequate level to eliminate the geographic disparity in representation.   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1: provides legislative findings and declaration. Section 2: amends Section 722-e of the County law to require the State to reimburse, over a seven year four year phase in period, counties and cities in which a county is wholly located the full amount of expenses of counsel services for indigent legal defendants. Section 3: "Subdivision 3 of section 832 of the executive law, as added by section 1 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended and a new paragraph (o) is added to read as follows: (o) to adopt, promul- gate, amend or rescind rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section, including to (i) ensure the presence of counsel at the first appearance of any eligible defendant charged with a crime, (ii) establish caseload/workload regulations for attorneys providing mandated representation that allow for meaningful and effective assistance of counsel, and (iii) improve the quality of mandated representation." Section 4: makes technical amendments to paragraph (1) and (m) of Section 832 of the Executive Law and adds a new paragraph (n) to subdi- vision 3 of section 832 of the Executive Law granting the office of Indigent Legal Services the power to approve reimbursement to counties to provide indigent legal services. Section 5: amends subdivision 3 of section 98-b of the state finance law, a amended by part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010 Section 6: effective date   JUSTIFICATION: The state has just recently settled a lawsuit with five counties - Suffolk, Washington, Ontario, Onondaga, and Schuyler - in which the settlement calls for the Office of Indigent Legal Services to be in charge of the public defense operations in the five counties. This would be the first time in New York that a statewide entity will be responsi- ble for legal representation of all indigent criminal defendants. Coun- ties statewide are currently responsible for funding indigent legal services by federal mandate but adherence is uneven and dependent on a particular county's ability or inability to properly fund the program. Many counties have no system for supervising caseloads or quality, no staffing formula to ensure an appropriate number of public defenders, and no standard ensuring comparable compensation for defenders. My legislation would amend the law to provide for the state to take over full funding of the program in 2023, and relieve all counties of this financial strain. As the Governor noted during the State of Opportunity agenda, local governments have been struggling while the state's finances have generally improved. Now is the time for the state to rein- vest in its counties and relieve the counties of this unfunded mandate.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New Bill   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately
A06202 Text:
Go to top STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6202--C 2015-2016 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 17, 2015 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. FAHY, LENTOL, AUBRY, McDONALD, STECK, GOTTFRIED, MAGNARELLI, CRESPO, SEPULVEDA, ARROYO, SIMOTAS, MAGEE, COLTON, DUPREY, CROUCH, MONTESANO, RAIA, ROSENTHAL, WOERNER, RUSSELL, BRINDISI, MOSLEY, PALMESANO, LAVINE, BRONSON, SKOUFIS, BARCLAY, BLANKENBUSH, CAHILL, STEC, MURRAY, BARRETT, PEOPLES-STOKES, BUTLER, LUPARDO, LALOR, PICHARDO, LINARES, RIVERA, STIRPE, WALKER, JAFFEE, O'DONNELL, FINCH, RAMOS, RYAN, HUNTER, DAVILA, GRAF, RODRIGUEZ, BRABENEC, OTIS, TITUS, PERRY, OAKS, MAYER, GUNTHER, ENGLEBRIGHT -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BLAKE, BRENNAN, COOK, GALEF, GIGLIO, GLICK, HAWLEY, HEVESI, HIKIND, LIFTON, LOPEZ, MARKEY, ROBINSON, SCHIMEL, SIMON, SKARTADOS, WEINSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes -- reported and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amend- ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the county law, the executive law and the state finance law, in relation to indigent defense services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. It is a fundamental 2 right of all persons in the United States to be represented by counsel 3 in all criminal prosecutions. In the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 4 U.S. 335, the United States Supreme Court ruled that indigent persons 5 accused in state felony cases who were unable to afford counsel had a 6 constitutional right to be defended by an appointed attorney paid by the 7 state. Subsequently, the Supreme Court determined that indigent persons 8 accused of any criminal charge that could result in imprisonment, wheth- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06929-10-6A. 6202--C 2 1 er a felony or misdemeanor, are entitled to counsel at the expense of 2 the state. 3 New York state has chosen to fulfill its obligation to provide repre- 4 sentation to indigent persons accused of a crime by requiring each coun- 5 ty outside New York city and New York city to implement and fund a plan 6 to provide such representation. In 2006 the Commission on the Future of 7 Indigent Legal Services concluded that a system of county operated and 8 funded indigent defense services failed to satisfy the constitutional 9 obligation to protect the rights of indigent persons accused of a crime. 10 Such Commission recommended that funding for indigent legal services 11 come from the State's general fund rather than from the counties. 12 New York state has entered into an agreement to settle a class action 13 lawsuit that alleged deprivation of the right to counsel in five coun- 14 ties. The agreement acknowledges that the Office of Indigent Legal 15 Services and the Indigent Legal Services Board are authorized "to moni- 16 tor and study indigent legal services in the state, to recommend meas- 17 ures to improve those services, to award grant monies to counties to 18 support their indigent representation capability, and to establish 19 criteria for the distribution of such funds." While the settlement 20 agreement pertains to only five counties, its criteria establish a stan- 21 dard for providing indigent legal services that should apply statewide. 22 The legislature finds and declares that in all criminal proceedings 23 against people unable to afford counsel, New York state is constitu- 24 tionally required to provide public defense services. The legislature 25 further finds that the state is obligated to undertake initiatives to 26 improve the quality of indigent defense, ensure representation at 27 arraignment, implement caseload standards for providers of indigent 28 legal services, and implement statewide standards for determining eligi- 29 bility for mandated representation. Mandating counties to finance the 30 state's obligation to provide indigent legal services imposes a signif- 31 icant uncontrollable financial burden on counties dependent on real 32 property taxes to fund needed services, and subject to a state imposed 33 tax cap. 34 The legislature finds and declares that in order to fulfill its 35 constitutional obligation to provide indigent legal services, the state 36 shall pay counties the full amount necessary to ensure the delivery of 37 quality legal services for indigent criminal defendants in a consistent 38 manner throughout the State. 39 § 2. Section 722-e of the county law, as added by chapter 878 of the 40 laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows: 41 § 722-e. Expenses. All expenses for providing counsel and services 42 other than counsel hereunder shall be a county charge or in the case of 43 a county wholly located within a city a city charge to be paid out of an 44 appropriation for such purposes and shall be reimbursed by the state to 45 the county or city providing such services, provided, however, that in 46 the state fiscal year beginning: 47 (a) April first, two thousand seventeen, the state shall provide 48 reimbursement for not less than twenty-five percent of such expenses; 49 and 50 (b) April first, two thousand eighteen, the state shall provide 51 reimbursement for not less than thirty-five percent of such expenses; 52 and 53 (c) April first, two thousand nineteen, the state shall provide 54 reimbursement for not less than forty-five percent of such expenses; and 55 (d) April first, two thousand twenty, the state shall provide 56 reimbursement for not less than fifty-five percent of such expenses; andA. 6202--C 3 1 (e) April first, two thousand twenty-one, the state shall provide 2 reimbursement for not less than sixty-five percent of such expenses; and 3 (f) April first, two thousand twenty-two, the state shall provide 4 reimbursement for not less than seventy-five percent of such expenses; 5 and 6 (g) every year thereafter, the state shall provide reimbursement for 7 the full amount of such expenses. 8 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 832 of the executive law is amended by 9 adding a new paragraph (o) to read as follows: 10 (o) to adopt, promulgate, amend or rescind rules and regulations to 11 carry out the provisions of this section, including to (i) ensure the 12 presence of counsel at the first appearance of any eligible defendant 13 charged with a crime, (ii) establish caseload/workload regulations for 14 attorneys providing mandated representation that allow for meaningful 15 and effective assistance of counsel, and (iii) improve the quality of 16 mandated representation. 17 § 4. Paragraphs (l) and (m) of subdivision 3 of section 832 of the 18 executive law, as added by section 1 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws 19 of 2010, are amended and a new paragraph (n) is added to read as 20 follows: 21 (l) to present findings and make recommendations for consideration by 22 the indigent legal services board established pursuant to section eight 23 hundred thirty-three of this article; [and] 24 (m) to execute decisions of the indigent legal services board estab- 25 lished pursuant to section eight hundred thirty-three of this article, 26 including the distribution of funds[.]; 27 (n) to review the public defense operations of any county for compli- 28 ance with applicable professional standards promulgated by the office 29 and to ensure that recipients of services provided pursuant to article 30 eighteen-B of the county law are provided with meaningful and effective 31 representation before making reimbursement pursuant to section seven 32 hundred twenty-two-e of the county law and before making payment pursu- 33 ant to paragraph (b) of subdivision three of section ninety-eight-b of 34 the state finance law; and 35 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 98-b of the state finance law, as 36 amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is 37 amended to read as follows: 38 3. Amounts distributed from such fund shall be limited to amounts 39 appropriated therefor and shall be distributed as follows: 40 (a) The office of court administration may expend a portion of the 41 funds available in such fund to provide assigned counsel paid in accord- 42 ance with section thirty-five of the judiciary law, up to an annual sum 43 of twenty-five million dollars. 44 (b) [An] In addition to the amounts paid to each county and the city 45 of New York pursuant to section seven hundred twenty-two-e of the county 46 law and in accordance with sections eight hundred thirty-two and eight 47 hundred thirty-three of the executive law an annual amount [of forty48million dollars shall be made available to the city of New York from49such fund for the provision of services pursuant to article eighteen-B50of the county law; provided that the city of New York shall continue to51provide at minimum the aggregate amount of funding for public defense52services including, but not limited to, the amount of funding for53contractors of public defense services and individual defense attorneys,54that it provided, pursuant to article eighteen-B of the county law55during its two thousand nine--two thousand ten fiscal year] shall beA. 6202--C 4 1 paid to such counties and city equal to the amount paid from such fund 2 to such counties and city in March two thousand ten. 3 (c) [Within the first fifteen days of March two thousand eleven, each4county other than a county wholly contained within the city of New York,5shall receive ninety percent of the amount paid to such county in March6two thousand ten. Within the first fifteen days of March two thousand7twelve, each county other than a county wholly contained within the city8of New York shall receive seventy-five percent of the amount paid to9such county in March two thousand ten. Within the first fifteen days of10March two thousand thirteen, each county other than a county wholly11contained within the city of New York shall receive fifty percent of the12amount paid to such county in March two thousand ten. Within the first13fifteen days of March two thousand fourteen, each county other than a14county wholly contained within the city of New York shall receive twen-15ty-five percent of the amount paid to such county in March two thousand16ten. For all state fiscal years following the two thousand thirteen--two17thousand fourteen fiscal year, there shall be no required annual18payments pursuant to this paragraph. Notwithstanding the provisions of19this paragraph, for each of the four required payments made to counties20within the first fifteen days of March two thousand eleven, two thousand21twelve, two thousand thirteen and two thousand fourteen, Hamilton and22Orleans counties shall receive such percentage payments based on the23amounts that each county would have received in March two thousand ten24had it satisfied the maintenance of effort requirement set forth in25paragraph (c) of subdivision four of this section in effect on such26date.27(d)] Remaining amounts within such fund, after accounting for annual 28 payments required in paragraphs (a)[,] and (b) [and (c)] of this subdi- 29 vision and subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of 30 this section shall be distributed in accordance with sections eight 31 hundred thirty-two and eight hundred thirty-three of the executive law. 32 § 6. This act shall take effect April 1, 2017.