Relates to orders of protection where the respondent is a minor who resides with a parent or other legally responsible person or other party; prohibits courts from issuing an order of protection that directs a minor respondent to stay away from the home of a parent or other person legally responsible for the respondent if the respondent would not have an appropriate alternative residence; provides that such a respondent shall have the right to have a guardian ad litem appointed, if appropriate; authorizes suspended judgment in certain cases provided that the respondent participate in a batterer's education program.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10556
IN ASSEMBLY
March 13, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to orders of
protection where the respondent is a minor who resides with a parent
or other legally responsible person or other party
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 759 of the family court act, as
2 amended by chapter 483 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 (a) to stay away from the home, school, business or place of employ-
5 ment of any other party, the other spouse, the other parent or the
6 child, and to stay away from any other specific location designated by
7 the court; provided, however, that where the respondent resides with a
8 parent, other person legally responsible or other party, no order of
9 protection or temporary order of protection may be issued that directs
10 the respondent to stay away from the home of such individual if, after
11 inquiry, the court determines that the effect of such order would leave
12 the respondent without an appropriate alternative residence either with
13 a relative or other suitable person or in pre-dispositional or disposi-
14 tional placement under section seven hundred forty or seven hundred
15 fifty-six of this article;
16 § 2. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subdivision 3 of section 821-a of the
17 family court act, as added by chapter 222 of the laws of 1994, are
18 amended and a new subdivision 7 is added to read as follows:
19 (a) advise the parties of the right to retain legal representation or,
20 if indigent, the right to have counsel appointed pursuant to section two
21 hundred sixty-two of this act and, if the respondent is under the age of
22 eighteen and the petitioner is a parent or other person legally respon-
23 sible for the respondent, the right to have a guardian ad litem
24 appointed, if the court deems it appropriate;
25 (c) provide the respondent with a copy of such petition; and the court
26 may:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14968-01-6
A. 10556 2
1 (i) order the release of the respondent on [his or her] the respond-
2 ent's own recognizance pending further appearances as required by the
3 court;
4 (ii) if the respondent is under the age of eighteen, appoint a guardi-
5 an ad litem for the respondent if the court deems it appropriate;
6 (iii) where the respondent is over the age of eighteen, direct that
7 the respondent post bail in a manner authorized pursuant to section one
8 hundred fifty-five-a of this act in an amount set by the court; or
9 [(iii)] (iv) where the respondent is over the age of eighteen, issue a
10 commitment order directing that the respondent be remanded to the custo-
11 dy of the county sheriff or other appropriate law enforcement official
12 until such time as bail is posted as required by the court.
13 7. At any time upon or after the filing of a petition under this arti-
14 cle by a parent or other person legally responsible against a child
15 under the age of eighteen, the court may, on its own motion or on motion
16 of any party, substitute a petition alleging that the child is a person
17 in need of supervision; provided, however, that if the petition has been
18 filed by a parent or other person legally responsible against a child
19 under the age of twelve, the court shall substitute a petition alleging
20 that the child is a person in need of supervision at such time as the
21 petitioner first appears in court.
22 § 3. Subdivisions (b) and (c) of section 841 of the family court act,
23 subdivision (b) as amended by chapter 706 of the laws of 1988 and subdi-
24 vision (c) as amended by chapter 222 of the laws of 1994, are amended to
25 read as follows:
26 (b) suspending judgment for a period not in excess of six months and
27 requiring respondent to participate in a batterer's education program
28 designed to help end violent behavior, and may include referral to drug
29 and alcohol and mental health counseling, and to pay the costs thereof
30 if respondent has the means to do so, provided however that nothing
31 contained herein shall be deemed to require payment of the costs of any
32 such program by the petitioner, the state or any political subdivision
33 thereof; or
34 (c) placing the respondent on probation for a period not exceeding one
35 year, and requiring respondent to participate in a batterer's education
36 program designed to help end violent behavior, [which] and may include
37 referral to drug and alcohol and mental health counseling, and to pay
38 the costs thereof if respondent has the means to do so, provided however
39 that nothing contained herein shall be deemed to require payment of the
40 costs of any such program by the petitioner, the state or any political
41 subdivision thereof; or
42 § 4. Section 842 of the family court act is amended by adding a new
43 undesignated paragraph to read as follows:
44 Where the respondent was under the age of eighteen at the time of the
45 filing of the petition and resides with the petitioner or other party
46 who seeks the respondent's exclusion from the home, the court shall
47 inquire whether the respondent has a relative or other suitable person
48 with whom to reside. In such cases, no order of protection or temporary
49 order of protection may be issued under subdivision (a) of this section
50 directing the respondent to stay away from such home if the court deter-
51 mines that the effect of such order would leave the respondent without
52 an appropriate alternative residence.
53 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
54 it shall have become a law.
