STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6707
IN SENATE
March 3, 2014
___________
Introduced by Sen. DeFRANCISCO -- (at request of the Office of Court
Administration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to
be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to sanctions for will-
ful failure to comply with court orders for child support
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 454 of the family
2 court act, as amended by chapter 892 of the laws of 1986 and as relet-
3 tered by chapter 699 of the laws of 1996, is amended and a new paragraph
4 (d) is added to read as follows:
5 (c) place the respondent on probation [under] pursuant to section four
6 hundred fifty-six of this part upon such conditions as the court may
7 determine and in accordance with the provisions of the criminal proce-
8 dure law[.]; or
9 (d) combine a sentence or a suspended sentence of incarceration pursu-
10 ant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision with a requirement that the
11 respondent participate in a rehabilitative program or be placed on
12 probation pursuant to paragraph (b) or (c) of this subdivision, respec-
13 tively.
14 § 2. Section 456 of the family court act, subdivision (a) as amended
15 by chapter 809 of the laws of 1963, is amended to read as follows:
16 § 456. Probation. (a) No person may be placed on probation under this
17 article unless the court makes an order to that effect, either at the
18 time of the making of an order of support or under section four hundred
19 fifty-four of this part. The order of probation my contain such condi-
20 tions as the court may determine. The maximum period of probation may
21 [continue so long as an order of support, order of protection or order
22 of visitation applies to such person] not be greater than two years or,
23 where the court finds that aggravating circumstances exist, a period not
24 greater than five years. If the court finds, at the conclusion of the
25 original period, upon notice and an opportunity to be heard, that excep-
26 tional circumstances require an additional year of probation, the court
27 may continue probation for a period not greater than one year. For
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13807-01-4
S. 6707 2
1 purposes of this section, "aggravating circumstances" shall include, but
2 not be limited to: (i) a prior willful violation of a child support
3 order or of a prior order of probation in conjunction with a proceeding
4 under this article; (ii) a prior incident or incidents of the respondent
5 concealing his or her whereabouts and being produced involuntarily
6 pursuant to the issuance of a warrant; or (iii) actions by the respond-
7 ent or a level of arrearages so high that a longer period of supervision
8 is necessary to ensure long term continuing compliance with the order of
9 support.
10 (b) [The] If the court [may at any time, where circumstances warrant
11 it, revoke an order of] finds, after a hearing, that a party who has
12 been placed on probation[. Upon such revocation, the probationer shall
13 be brought to court, which may, without further hearing,] in accordance
14 with this section, has willfully violated any term or condition of
15 probation, the court, after giving notice and an opportunity to be heard
16 to the parties and the attorney for the child, if any, may revoke such
17 order of probation and may make any order [that might have been made at
18 the time the order of probation was made] authorized by section four
19 hundred fifty-four of this part. No such finding may be made unless a
20 verified petition subscribed to by the probation service or the appro-
21 priate government agency has been filed and duly served upon the
22 parties. The petition must stipulate the condition or conditions of the
23 order violated and a reasonable description of the time, place, and
24 manner in which the violation occurred. Non-hearsay allegations or alle-
25 gations made upon information and belief of the factual part of the
26 petition or of any supporting deposition must establish, if true, every
27 violation charged. The period of probation shall be deemed tolled as of
28 the date of filing of the probation violation petition, but, in the
29 event that the court does not find that the order of probation was will-
30 fully violated, the period of such interruption shall be credited to the
31 period of probation.
32 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
