Amd §1193, add §1809-f, V & T L; amd §97-bb, St Fin L
Authorizes a statewide toll free hotline run by the state police with reward for reporting conduct of drivers leading to conviction of the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs; imposes an additional surcharge upon conviction of all criminally drunk or drugged drivers to fund expenses and rewards.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6899
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 18, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the state finance law,
in relation to a statewide hotline to the state police and a reward
for reporting the conduct of a driver subsequently convicted of a
crime for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol as a
result of such report, to be funded by an additional surcharge upon
drivers convicted of such offenses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 1193 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law is amended by adding a new paragraph (h) to read as follows:
3 (h) The division of state police shall establish, maintain and operate
4 a toll free statewide telephone hotline for the reporting by motorists
5 and others of persons who are driving under the influence of drugs and
6 alcohol and thus committing any of the crimes described in this subdivi-
7 sion. Subsequent to receiving such report on the hotline or in any other
8 manner, the state police shall notify the appropriate local or divi-
9 sional authority to apprehend any such person and make an arrest if
10 necessary. Upon conviction of any such person for driving in violation
11 of one of the crimes set forth in this subdivision, a reward of one
12 hundred dollars shall be paid out of the criminal justice improvement
13 account established by section ninety-seven-bb of the state finance law
14 to any person who has properly identified themself when reporting such
15 incident pursuant to this paragraph and whose report led to such appre-
16 hension and subsequent conviction.
17 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
18 1809-f to read as follows:
19 § 1809-f. Additional mandatory surcharge required for criminal
20 violations of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this chapter. 1.
21 Whenever proceedings in a court of this state result in a conviction for
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10254-01-5
A. 6899 2
1 a misdemeanor or felony pursuant to section eleven hundred ninety-two of
2 this chapter, there shall be levied a mandatory surcharge, in addition
3 to any sentence required or permitted by law, in the amount of one
4 hundred dollars.
5 2. Where a person is convicted of two or more such crimes committed
6 through a single act or omission, or through an act or omission which in
7 itself constituted one of the crimes and also was a material element of
8 the other, the court shall impose only one mandatory surcharge mandated
9 by subdivision one of this section.
10 3. The mandatory surcharge provided for in subdivision one of this
11 section shall be paid to the clerk of the court that rendered the
12 conviction. Within the first ten days of the month following collection
13 of the mandatory surcharge the collecting authority shall determine the
14 amount of mandatory surcharge collected and, if it is a town or village
15 justice court, it shall pay such money to the state comptroller who
16 shall deposit such money in the state treasury pursuant to section one
17 hundred twenty-one of the state finance law to the credit of the crimi-
18 nal justice improvement account established by section ninety-seven-bb
19 of the state finance law. If such collecting authority is any other
20 court of the unified court system, it shall, within such period, pay
21 such money to the state commissioner of taxation and finance to the
22 credit of the criminal justice improvement account established by
23 section ninety-seven-bb of the state finance law.
24 4. Any person who has paid a mandatory surcharge under the authority
25 of this section which is ultimately determined not to be required by
26 this section shall be entitled to a refund of such mandatory surcharge
27 upon application to the state comptroller. The state comptroller shall
28 require such proof as it is necessary in order to determine whether a
29 refund is required by law.
30 5. When a person who is convicted of a crime and sentenced to a term
31 of imprisonment has failed to pay the mandatory surcharge required by
32 this section, the clerk of the court that rendered the conviction shall
33 notify the superintendent or the municipal official of the facility
34 where the person is confined. The superintendent or the municipal offi-
35 cial shall cause any amount owing to be collected from such person
36 during such person's term of imprisonment from the moneys to the credit
37 of an incarcerated individuals' fund or such moneys as may be earned by
38 a person in a work release program pursuant to section eight hundred
39 sixty of the correction law. Such moneys shall be paid over to the state
40 comptroller to the credit of the criminal justice improvement account
41 established by section ninety-seven-bb of the state finance law. For the
42 purposes of collecting such mandatory surcharge, the state shall be
43 legally entitled to the money to the credit of an incarcerated individ-
44 uals' fund or money which is earned by an incarcerated individual in a
45 work release program. For purposes of this subdivision, the term
46 "incarcerated individuals' fund" shall mean moneys in the possession of
47 an incarcerated individual at the time of such incarcerated individual's
48 admission into such facility, funds earned by such incarcerated individ-
49 ual as provided for in section one hundred eighty-seven of the
50 correction law and any other funds received by such incarcerated indi-
51 vidual or on their behalf and deposited with such superintendent or
52 municipal official.
53 6. The provisions of subdivision four-a of section five hundred ten
54 and section five hundred of this chapter governing actions which may be
55 taken for failure to pay a fine or penalty shall be applicable to a
56 mandatory surcharge imposed pursuant to this section.
A. 6899 3
1 § 3. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 97-bb of the state finance law,
2 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 67 of the laws of 2008 and subdivi-
3 sion 3 as amended by section 38 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of
4 2010, are amended to read as follows:
5 2. The criminal justice improvement account shall consist of monies
6 received by the state pursuant to section 60.35 of the penal law [and],
7 monies received by the state pursuant to section eighteen hundred nine
8 of the vehicle and traffic law from any court of the unified court
9 system other than town or village courts, monies received by the state
10 pursuant to section eighteen hundred nine-f of the vehicle and traffic
11 law and all other fees, fines, grants, bequests or other monies credit-
12 ed, appropriated or transferred thereto from any other fund or source.
13 Such account shall also consist of all monies received by the division
14 of criminal justice services pursuant to subdivision ten of section one
15 hundred sixty-eight-b of the correction law.
16 3. Monies of the criminal justice improvement account, following
17 appropriation by the legislature and allocation by the director of the
18 budget shall be made available for the statewide hotline, expenses and
19 rewards required by section eleven hundred ninety-three of the vehicle
20 and traffic law, local assistance services and expenses of programs to
21 provide services to crime victims and witnesses, including operations of
22 the office of victim services, and for payments to victims in accordance
23 with the federal crime control act of 1984, as administered pursuant to
24 article twenty-two of the executive law.
25 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
26 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
