BILL NUMBER: S1121

SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to elec-
tronic citation fees

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To insure law enforcement safety and court efficiency by creating elec-
tronic citations, which will be printed instead of hand-written.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Provides that the
clerks of the county in the state shall be entitled to charge and
collect an electronic citation fee of $5, which shall be paid by the
defendant in any traffic, misdemeanor, municipal ordinance, or conserva-
tion case upon a plea of guilty, judgment of guilty, or grant of super-
vision. Provides that 60% of the fee shall be deposited into the "Elec-
              

tronic Citation Fund," established by each county, and 40% of the fee
shall be disbursed to the arresting agency to defray expenses related to
the establishment and maintenance of electronic citations. Contains
provisions that establish the county clerk as the custodian of the Elec-
tronic Citation Fund, and accounts for the duties that are required by
the office for establishing and maintaining electronic citations.
Provides that the county clerk shall not charge and collect an electron-
ic citation fee if the county has by ordinance elected not to be subject
to this section.

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Nationally, the leading cause of death for police officers over the past
decades has been being struck by a vehicle during a traffic stop,
according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The
purpose of administering electronic citations is to increase law
enforcement safety in the state. Instead of being hand-written, elec-
tronic citations will be printed. Electronic citations will enable
police officers to issue citations in a quicker manner, spend less time
alongside the road and in harm's way, and concentrate more fully on the
stop. In addition to increasing officer safety, electronic citations
will also aid courts by reducing data entry and processing costs. With
electronic citations. courts will have greater efficiency because they
will be sent electronically by the issuing officer directly to the court
clerk. Furthermore, electronic citations will relieve the issues with
illegible hand-written citations, also making future citations free of
handwriting errors, as well as easily reproducible unlike difficult to
read carbon copies of documents.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2018: S.6150 - Referred to Judiciary/A.7415 - Referred to Judiciary
2017: S.6150 - Referred to Judiciary/A.7415 - Referred to Judiciary
2016: S.5724 - Referred to Judiciary/A.3165 - Referred to Judiciary
2015: S.5724 - Referred to Judiciary/A.3165 - Referred to Judiciary

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become law.