Establishes a temporary blue ribbon commission to study bail and the bail industry; requires an interim report be issued one year after the effective date of this act including the commission's findings, conclusions and recommendations, and a final report of the same shall be issued two years after the effective date of this act including legislative proposals as it deems necessary to implement such recommendations.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11254
IN ASSEMBLY
June 20, 2018
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hooper) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to establish a temporary blue ribbon commission to study bail and
the bail industry; and providing for the repeal of such provisions
upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. 1. Establishment. There is hereby established the blue
2 ribbon commission on bail to examine, evaluate, and make recommendations
3 on the application of bail in the criminal justice system of the state.
4 2. Powers and duties. Such commission shall examine issues relating to
5 bail including, but not limited to:
6 a. Administration. (1) Determining the viability of allowing private
7 citizens and bail agents to post bail bonds for any case in a county or
8 borough while the arraignment parts are open, including the ability to
9 post a bail bond at night and on the weekends in the arraignment parts;
10 (2) Allowing bail bond agents to post bail bonds at correctional
11 facilities twenty-four hours a day in all counties;
12 (3) Allowing electronic transmittal of release orders to jails;
13 (4) Allowing court issued release orders to be listed by docket number
14 only; and
15 (5) Issuing state identification to qualified bail bond agents and
16 staff.
17 b. Arraignments. (1) Examining data regarding the number of individ-
18 uals arraigned on violations, misdemeanors and felonies, broken down by
19 county or borough on a monthly basis over the latest two-year period for
20 which the data is available. Such data shall include a breakdown of the
21 statistics described in subdivision a of this section, regarding the
22 number of cases:
23 (a) dismissed at arraignment;
24 (b) pled at arraignment;
25 (c) released without bail, including but not limited to individuals
26 released on their own recognizance, supervised releases, conditional
27 releases to probation or other conditional releases;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16230-02-8
A. 11254 2
1 (d) in which bail was set, including the bail amounts and the types of
2 crimes charged;
3 (e) whether defendants had holds; and
4 (f) whether bail was paid at arraignment;
5 (2) The number of cases in subparagraph one of this paragraph that
6 were disposed of on the next court appearance and the type of disposi-
7 tion;
8 (3) A breakdown by ethnicity of the individuals in cases listed in
9 subparagraphs one and two of this paragraph;
10 (4) A breakdown by economic status of the individuals in the cases
11 listed in subparagraphs one and two of this paragraph and how such
12 arrestee's economic status was determined based on an interview
13 performed by a criminal justice agency;
14 (5) The number of cases in subparagraphs one and two of this paragraph
15 in which bail was set using a form of bail other than cash and surety
16 bond;
17 (6) Warrant and return on warrant rates for individual arrestees list-
18 ed in subparagraphs one and two of this paragraph, broken down by the
19 type of securing order and level of crime; and
20 (7) Re-arrest rates for individual arrestees listed in subparagraphs
21 one and two of this paragraph, broken down by type of securing order,
22 amount of securing order and level of crime.
23 c. Charitable bail. Determining and examining data regarding how an
24 arrestee's indigence is determined when being considered for charitable
25 bail, including:
26 (1) How charitable bail organizations obtain clients;
27 (2) How resources are used to obtain background information on poten-
28 tial clients to make a proper determination about whether to use chari-
29 table bail;
30 (3) Failure to appear rates for individuals released on charitable
31 bail guarantees and, if applicable, number of returns on failure to
32 appear warrants; and
33 (4) Charitable bail organizations, including such information relating
34 to:
35 (a) funding sources;
36 (b) expenditures for administration;
37 (c) expenditures for actual bail;
38 (d) expenditures for lobbying;
39 (e) expenditures for forfeitures;
40 (f) expenditures for staff salaries; and
41 (g) how charitable bail organizations adhere to section 6805 of the
42 insurance law by which they are provided licensure.
43 d. Failure to appear. (1) Determining and examining data regarding the
44 number of failures to appear reconciled against the number of individ-
45 uals arraigned during a specific, defined period; and
46 (2) The attending costs of failure to appear, including but not limit-
47 ed to:
48 (a) expenditures related to the re-arrest of absconders; and
49 (b) municipalities' costs to replace police personnel in court.
50 e. Jail populations. Determining and examining data regarding method-
51 ologies used to determine the population of inmates and economic status
52 of a defendant held on bail. Such methodologies shall include:
53 (1) The ethnic breakdown of individuals held in jail on bail and of
54 those claiming to be indigent;
A. 11254 3
1 (2) A statistical breakdown of the number of defendants in jail broken
2 down by the type of securing order on which they are held, including
3 remands and sentenced prisoners;
4 (3) The number of defendants who have release holds other than bail
5 and the type of restriction; and
6 (4) The amount of time defendants spent in jail from arraignment to
7 release from custody, for the following reasons:
8 (a) bail posted;
9 (b) case dismissed;
10 (c) guilty plea;
11 (d) release without bail;
12 (e) remand or transport to other entity; and
13 (f) sentence imposed.
14 f. Pretrial release programs. (1) Examining data on current statewide
15 pretrial release numbers broken down by type of crime charged, includ-
16 ing, violations, misdemeanors, and violent and non-violent felonies.
17 Such pretrial release information shall include:
18 (a) securing order status;
19 (b) failure to appear rates;
20 (c) re-arrests and type of arrest; and
21 (d) disposition of the case, including the original charge;
22 (2) For each pretrial services program, an annual report describing
23 the rates of failures to appear, new crimes being committed while
24 released under pretrial supervision, and the total annual cost of the
25 pretrial services program within the jurisdiction;
26 (3) Statistics describing pretrial services programs' policies,
27 including:
28 (a) the methodology to determine indigence;
29 (b) listing of all fees charged for services provided to defendants;
30 and
31 (c) detailed listings of the total fees collected, by fee category;
32 (4) Effect on pretrial remand rates in states or jurisdictions that
33 have enacted bail reforms, implemented pretrial supervision programs, or
34 employed release algorithms;
35 (5) Statistics providing the total population of jails in this state
36 for the last five years, including:
37 (a) the total percentage of the jail population that is in pretrial
38 status;
39 (b) the percentage of those in pretrial status that are not bailable
40 and breakdown of the reasons such persons are not bailable; and
41 (c) the percentage of those who could post bail by posting a bond
42 which have not posted a bond, with a listing of the amounts of the bonds
43 pursuant to which such persons are being held;
44 (6) Effect on pretrial crime rates in states or jurisdictions that
45 have enacted bail reforms, implemented pretrial supervision programs, or
46 employed release algorithms;
47 (7) Drug overdose rates before and after implementation of reforms in
48 states or jurisdictions that have enacted automatic non-monetary release
49 for non-violent misdemeanor crimes; and
50 (8) Cost analysis to determine:
51 (a) startup and annual operating costs of pretrial supervision
52 programs;
53 (b) implementation and annual operating costs of pre-arraignment
54 screening programs;
55 (c) increase in funding to law enforcement to counter increased
56 warrants and crime rates;
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1 (d) cost to court system for extra staff and hours required for new
2 programs and related hearings;
3 (e) loss of tax revenue and licensing fees from bail bond industry;
4 (f) indirect costs of reforms, pension costs for supervision programs,
5 court officers and police, costs resulting from increased failure to
6 appear rates and recidivism; and
7 (g) determination of whether the state or local municipalities will
8 bear the total cost of reforms, and the cost to the taxpayer.
9 3. Membership. a. Such commission shall consist of thirteen members
10 who shall serve a term of two years and shall be appointed as follows:
11 five members to be appointed by the governor, of which one member shall
12 serve as chair of the commission, one member shall be a representative
13 of the charitable bail organizations chartered in this state, and one
14 member shall be a representative of the commercial bail industry
15 licensed in this state; three members to be appointed by the temporary
16 president of the senate, of which one member shall be a representative
17 of the charitable bail organizations chartered in this state and one
18 member shall be a representative of the commercial bail industry
19 licensed in this state; three members shall be appointed by the speaker
20 of the assembly, of which one member shall be a representative of the
21 charitable bail organizations chartered in this state and one member
22 shall be a representative of the commercial bail industry licensed in
23 this state; one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
24 senate; and one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
25 assembly.
26 b. In addition to these voting members, the commission shall have six
27 non-voting, ex officio members. The following government agencies or
28 officials shall appoint one ex officio member each: the attorney gener-
29 al, the chief judge of the state, the executive director of the division
30 of criminal justice services, the commissioner of corrections and commu-
31 nity supervision, the state comptroller, and the superintendent of the
32 state police.
33 4. Meetings. The commission shall meet at least six times. The meet-
34 ings of the commission shall be held at the call of the chair or whenev-
35 er five or more members so request. The locations of the meetings shall
36 provide for representation of different geographic areas of the state.
37 The first meeting shall be within ninety days of the effective date of
38 this act. A majority of the members of the commission shall constitute a
39 quorum. Approval of any matter shall require the affirmative vote of a
40 majority of the members voting thereon. Members may designate and
41 authorize another person to act for him or her by proxy. Proxies shall
42 be revocable at the discretion of the member executing it.
43 5. Proceedings. The deliberations, meetings and other proceedings of
44 the commission and any committee thereof shall be governed by article 7
45 of the public officers law. Any one or more members may participate in a
46 meeting by means of a conference telephone call, conference video call
47 or similar communications equipment allowing all persons participating
48 in the meeting to hear each other at the same time. Participation by
49 such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting. At any
50 meetings of the commission conducted by means of a conference telephone
51 call, conference video call or similar communications equipment, other
52 than executive sessions, the public shall be given an opportunity to
53 listen. If a meeting other than an executive session is to be conducted
54 by means of a conference telephone call, conference video call or simi-
55 lar communications equipment, the public notice for the meeting shall
A. 11254 5
1 inform the public that such equipment will be used, and identify the
2 means by which the public may listen to such meeting.
3 6. Advisory committees. The commission may form such advisory commit-
4 tees as it deems necessary, convenient, or desirable to advise and
5 assist in performing the duties conferred by this act.
6 7. Hearings. The commission shall hold at least four public hearings
7 where members of the public shall be provided an opportunity to present
8 oral and/or written testimony relevant to the commission's study. Prior
9 to the public hearings, the commission shall request from, review, and
10 consider written input with respect to its mission from relevant stake-
11 holder organizations, including, but not limited to: Brooklyn Community
12 Bail Fund, Conference of Mayors, Correction Officers' Benevolent Associ-
13 ation, District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, New York
14 State Association of Counties, New York State Association of PBAs, New
15 York State Bail Bondsman Association, New York State Correction Officers
16 and Police Benevolent Association, New York State Court Clerks Associ-
17 ation, New York State Magistrates Association, Patrolmen's Benevolent
18 Association of the city of New York, Police Conference of New York, The
19 Association of Towns of the State of New York, and The Bronx Freedom
20 Fund.
21 8. Reimbursement. The members of the commission shall receive no
22 compensation for their services, but shall be allowed the actual and
23 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant
24 to this act. Such reimbursements shall be disbursed from the general
25 fund.
26 9. Report. The commission shall issue an interim report to the gover-
27 nor and the legislature of its findings, conclusions and recommendations
28 one year after the effective date of this act. A final report shall be
29 issued to the governor and legislature two years after the effective
30 date of this act including further findings, conclusions, and recommen-
31 dations by the commission and legislative proposals as it deems neces-
32 sary to implement such recommendations.
33 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019, and shall expire and
34 be deemed repealed two years after it shall have become a law. Effective
35 immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regu-
36 lation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
37 date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective
38 date.
