NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4536
SPONSOR: Levenberg TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing
a plea of guilty and payment of fines or penalties electronically via
the internet
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to authorize that a plea of guilty,
and the payment of a fine or penalty may be made electronically via the
Internet.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Section 1805, of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, Pleas of Guil-
ty, is amended by adding the following language: "...or electronically
via the internet, which method shall include instructions relating to
the use of an electronic signature." Section 1805 (g) of the Vehicle and
Traffic Law is also amended by adding the following language: "Such fine
or penalty may be paid electronically via the internet in a manner and
condition prescribed by the court."
Section 2. Establishes the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
This portion of this memorandum is not applicable at this time.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, traffic law violators can plead guilty and pay the associated
fines by mailing payments to the court where the violation took place.
This type of plea process is time consuming and inefficient. In allowing
pleas and payments through electronic means, the payment process is
streamlined, saving time and therefore reducing costs. This legislation
would permit municipal courts to process a guilty plea and the associ-
ated payments via the Internet. Throughout the last year, we have
learned the basic actions that we use to take for granted, such as
socializing and being in contact with others, may not always exist.
Therefore, now more than ever, in a time when we are utilizing the
Internet so much more, this legislation is needed.
New York City has adopted an electronic payment system for traffic tick-
ets which allows for courts in the area to focus on prosecuting criminal
cases such as driving under the influence or driving with a suspended
license. Electronic payment of tickets can only be processed for non-
criminal moving traffic violations included but not limited to; speed-
ing, running a stop sign, or running a red light. The pleas and
payments are accepted through the Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB), an
administrative court of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Their online
system gives users the ability to plead "Not Guilty" and schedule a TVB
hearing in the jurisdiction in which the ticket was issued, "Guilty" and
immediately pay the fees associated with their ticket, or change a
previous plea of "Not Guilty" to "Guilty" and pay the ticket's associ-
ated fees. The Traffic Violations Bureau has made an effort to safeguard
the online payment system by requiring multiple forms of identification
to make a plea including the user's New York State ID number, the last
four digits of their social security number, as well as their Traffic
Ticket Number. Requiring this amount of authorization to plead guilty
greatly reduces the risk of an individual making a fraudulent plea and
payment of fines associated with the ticket.
It is our hope that by allowing municipalities to operate in a similar
fashion as the TVEls, our system will be streamlined in an efficient
manner.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A. 5655 and S. 4128 of 2023/2024
A. 5920 and S. 4809 of 2021/2022
A. 4276 and S. 3131 of 2019/2020
A. 5205 and S. 1640 of 2017/2018
A. 7455-A and S. 5567-A of 2015/2016
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
There are no fiscal implication to the state in connected with the
passage of this legislation. Potentially, there could be savings to
municipal courts.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 120th day after it shall have become a
law.
