NY State Senate Bill 2011-S3008

Senate Bill S3008

2011-2012 Legislative Session

Authorizes police agencies to charge fees for searching, copying, and mailing police agency generated records

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 13, 2012	committee discharged and committed to rules notice of committee consideration - requested
Jan 04, 2012	referred to finance
Feb 07, 2011	referred to finance

co-Sponsors

2011-S3008 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Add §837-s, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S2291
2013-2014: S1816
2015-2016: S3859

2011-S3008 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes police agencies to charge fees for searching, copying, and mailing police agency generated records.

2011-S3008 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S3008

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the executive law, in relation to authorizing police agencies
to include administrative costs in fees for copies of police agency
records

PURPOSE:
Enactment of this legislation would authorize police agencies to
charge certain fees for searching, copying and mailing police agency
generated records.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the executive law by adding a new section 837 -s by
authorizing local police agencies to charge a fee for searching
police agency records, copying said documents, and preparing such
documents for mailing. No fee shall be charged for any public
officer, board or other specified public entity.

Subsection 2 states that such fee shall be five dollars per request
for searches conducted manually, and three dollars for searches
undertaken by electronic medium.

Subsection 3 provides that the fee for copies of documents other than
accident reports shall be one dollar per page, and the fee for an

accident report shall be fifteen dollars.

EXISTING LAW:
Current law limits the amount a local police agency may charge for
such records to twenty-five cents.

JUSTIFICATION:
Currently a local police department, receiving a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIL) request from an insurance company for a copy of
an accident report, may only charge a maximum of twenty five cents for
a copy of that report. Those persons actually involved in an accident
cannot be charged any fee or a copy of the report. Obviously, the
costs involved in searching, copying, handling and mailing
these documents far exceed the current fee structure.

The State Legislature recognized this inequity in the past, by making
an exception to the statutes governing this fee structure, in that
section 202.3 of the vehicle and traffic law allows the NYS
Department of Motor Vehicles to charge fifteen dollars for a copy of
an accident report.

Local governments are under extreme pressure to cut costs and do more
with less personnel. It is not unreasonable to provide local police
agencies the same fee structure as provided to the NYS Department of
Motor Vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.


FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to New York State.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Favorable for local governments.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall become
law.

2011-S3008 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3008

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 7, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced by Sen. ESPAILLAT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

AN  ACT  to  amend  the executive law, in relation to authorizing police
  agencies to include administrative costs in fees for copies of  police
  agency records

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section  837-s
to read as follows:
  S  837-S.  FEES  FOR  COPIES  OF POLICE AGENCY RECORDS. 1. EXCEPT   AS
PROVIDED BY LAW THAT NO FEE SHALL BE CHARGED, LOCAL POLICE AGENCIES  MAY
CHARGE  A  FEE  FOR  SEARCHING  THE  POLICE  AGENCY RECORDS, COPYING THE
RESULTING  DOCUMENTS,  AND  PREPARING  SUCH  DOCUMENTS  FOR  MAILING  AS
PROVIDED  IN  THIS  SECTION.  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  THAT  NO FEE SHALL BE
CHARGED ANY PUBLIC OFFICER, BOARD, BODY, AGENCY, OR DEPARTMENT OR VOLUN-
TEER FIRE COMPANY, FOR SEARCHES OR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS TO BE USED FOR  A
PUBLIC PURPOSE.
  2.  FEES  FOR  SEARCHES  OF  POLICE  AGENCY RECORDS. (A) THE FEE FOR A
SEARCH WHICH IS MADE MANUALLY BY THE POLICE AGENCY SHALL BE FIVE DOLLARS
PER REQUEST.
  (B) THE FEE FOR A SEARCH WHICH IS CONDUCTED BY MEANS OF AN  ELECTRONIC
MEDIUM SHALL BE THREE DOLLARS PER REQUEST.
  3.  FEES FOR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS AND PREPARATION FOR MAILING. THE FEES
FOR COPIES OF DOCUMENTS, OTHER  THAN  ACCIDENT  REPORTS,  SHALL  BE  ONE
DOLLAR  PER PAGE. A PAGE SHALL CONSIST OF EITHER A SINGLE OR DOUBLE-SIDE
OF ANY DOCUMENT. THE FEE FOR A COPY  OF  AN  ACCIDENT  REPORT  SHALL  BE
FIFTEEN  DOLLARS. ALL COPIES OF DOCUMENTS SHALL BE CERTIFIED AT NO ADDI-
TIONAL FEE. WHENEVER A  SEARCH  OF  RECORDS  OF  THE  POLICE  AGENCY  IS
REQUIRED  IN CONJUNCTION WITH A COPY OF A DOCUMENT, THE FEE SHALL BE THE
FEE FOR THE SEARCH AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS  SECTION.  THE
RESULT  OF  SUCH  SEARCH  WILL BE THE LOCATING OF THE DOCUMENT, OR IF NO

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06758-01-1

S. 3008                             2

DOCUMENT CAN BE LOCATED, A CERTIFICATION TO  THAT  EFFECT  WILL  BE  THE
RESULT  OF  SUCH  SEARCH.  THE  FEE  FOR THE PREPARATION FOR MAILING, IF
NECESSARY, SHALL BE TWO DOLLARS PER REQUEST.
  S  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.

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Senate Bill S3008

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Sponsored By

Adriano Espaillat