STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8596
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
December 3, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, the judiciary law and the election
law, in relation to protecting people from civil arrest while going
to, remaining at, or returning from polling places
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 29
2 to read as follows:
3 § 29. Civil arrest; polling places. 1. A person duly and in good faith
4 being present at a polling place in the state, is privileged from civil
5 arrest while going to, remaining at, and returning from, the polling
6 place, unless such civil arrest is supported by a judicial warrant or
7 judicial order authorizing such civil arrest.
8 2. It is a contempt of the court and false imprisonment for any person
9 to willfully violate subdivision one of this section, or an order of the
10 court issued pursuant to section four-a of the judiciary law, by execut-
11 ing an arrest prohibited by subdivision one of this section or section
12 four-a of the judiciary law, or willfully assisting an arrest prohibited
13 by subdivision one of this section or section four-a of the judiciary
14 law; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall affect
15 any right or defense of any person, police officer, peace officer or
16 public officer pursuant to article thirty-five of the penal law acting
17 lawfully pursuant to their duty to maintain safety and order.
18 3. (a) A person described in subdivision one of this section may bring
19 a civil action for appropriate equitable and declaratory relief if such
20 person has reasonable cause to believe a violation of subdivision one of
21 this section, as described in subdivision two of this section, or a
22 violation of section four-a of the judiciary law, has occurred or may
23 occur.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14007-02-5
S. 8596 2
1 (b) The attorney general may bring a civil action in the name of the
2 people of the state of New York to obtain appropriate equitable and
3 declaratory relief if the attorney general has reasonable cause to
4 believe that a violation of subdivision one of this section, as
5 described in subdivision two of this section, or a violation of section
6 four-a of the judiciary law, has occurred or may occur.
7 4. In any successful action pursuant to subdivision three of this
8 section, a plaintiff or petitioner may recover costs and reasonable
9 attorneys' fees.
10 5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to narrow, or in any way
11 lessen, any common law or other right or privilege of a person privi-
12 leged from arrest pursuant to this article or otherwise.
13 6. As used in this section:
14 (a) "civil arrest" shall mean an arrest that is not for the sole or
15 primary purpose of preparing the person subject to such arrest for crim-
16 inal prosecution, for an alleged violation of the criminal law of:
17 (A) this state, or another state, for which a sentence of a term of
18 imprisonment is authorized by law; or
19 (B) the United States, for which a sentence of a term of imprisonment
20 is authorized by law, and for which federal law requires an initial
21 appearance before a federal judge, federal magistrate or other judicial
22 officer, pursuant to the federal rules of criminal procedure that govern
23 initial appearances.
24 (b) "judicial warrant or judicial order authorizing such civil arrest"
25 means an arrest warrant or other judicial order, issued by a magistrate
26 sitting in the judicial branch of a local or state government or of the
27 federal government, authorizing a civil arrest and issued by the court
28 in which proceedings following such arrest will be heard and determined.
29 § 2. Section 4-a of the judiciary law, as added by chapter 322 of the
30 laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
31 § 4-a. Certain powers of the courts regarding civil arrests. 1. In
32 order to maintain access to the court and open judicial proceedings for
33 all persons in their individual capacity and to prevent interference
34 with the needs of judicial administration, a court has the power to
35 issue appropriate judicial orders to protect the privilege from civil
36 arrest, in accordance with article three of the civil rights law.
37 2. In order to maintain access to polling places in the state for all
38 persons in their individual capacity and to prevent disenfranchisement,
39 a court has the power to issue appropriate judicial orders to protect
40 the privilege from civil arrest, in accordance with article three of the
41 civil rights law.
42 § 3. Section 3-102 of the election law is amended by adding a new
43 subdivision 19 to read as follows:
44 19. (a) promulgate rules and regulations in order to maintain access
45 to polling places for all persons in their individual capacity and to
46 prevent disenfranchisement, consistent with section twenty-nine of the
47 civil rights law and section four-a of the judiciary law, by ensuring
48 the following:
49 (i) any representative of a law enforcement agency who, while acting
50 in an official capacity, enters a polling place within the state intend-
51 ing to observe an individual or take an individual into custody shall
52 identify themself to polling place personnel and state their specific
53 law enforcement purpose and the proposed enforcement action to be taken;
54 any such representative who has a warrant or order concerning such
55 intended arrest shall provide a copy of such warrant or order to such
56 polling place personnel;
S. 8596 3
1 (ii) information about any such proposed enforcement action shall be
2 transmitted to and promptly reviewed by appropriate court system person-
3 nel in the election district of such polling place, including the judge
4 presiding over any case involving the subject of that enforcement
5 action;
6 (iii) except in extraordinary circumstances, no arrest may be made by
7 a representative of a law enforcement agency in a polling place or while
8 going to, remaining at, and returning from, such polling place absent
9 leave of the court;
10 (iv) no civil arrest shall be executed inside a polling place or while
11 going to, remaining at, and returning from, such polling place except
12 pursuant to a judicial warrant or judicial order authorizing the arrest;
13 (v) an unusual occurrence report shall be filed by polling place
14 personnel for every enforcement action taken inside the polling place,
15 including the observation of voting proceedings by a representative of a
16 law enforcement agency acting in such person's official capacity; and
17 (vi) copies of all judicial warrants and judicial orders authorizing
18 an arrest and provided to polling place personnel pursuant to this para-
19 graph and the rules promulgated thereunder shall be maintained by the
20 state board of elections in a central record repository, appropriately
21 indexed or filed alphabetically by name.
22 (b) The state board of elections shall publish on its website and
23 provide to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary
24 president of the senate an annual report compiling statistics, aggre-
25 gated by county, setting forth the date each such judicial warrant or
26 judicial order was signed, the judge and court which issued such judi-
27 cial warrant or judicial order and the location of such court as shown
28 by such document, the date such judicial warrant or judicial order was
29 presented to polling place personnel, a description of the type of judi-
30 cial warrant or judicial order and, to the extent known to polling place
31 personnel, whether or not an arrest occurred with respect to such
32 warrant and the date and specific location of such arrest.
33 § 4. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
34 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
35 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
36 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
37 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
38 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
39 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
40 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
41 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
42 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
