NY State Senate Bill 2019-S6246

Senate Bill S6246

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Requires the court to provide a range of dates for a person pleading not guilty to a traffic infraction to appear

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Transportation 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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to transportation
May 29, 2019	referred to transportation

2019-S6246 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7626
Current Committee:: Senate Transportation
Law Section:: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §1806, V & T L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S6192, A5052
2023-2024: A4486

2019-S6246 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the court to provide a range of at least three different dates and times for a person pleading not guilty to a traffic infraction to appear.

2019-S6246 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S6246

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to requiring the court to provide a range of dates for a person
pleading not guilty to a traffic infraction to appear

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

In order to make it more feasible for those who have been charged with a
traffic infraction, and who have plead not guilty, to appear in court,
the courts shall now offer the defendants at least three possible dates
and times (instead of one) during which they will be able to make their
case.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends  section 1806 of the vehicle and traffic
law, making it so that "the court shall provide the defendant charged
with a traffic infraction with a range of dates to appear which shall
include at least three different dates and times at which the violator

may appear.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to data extracted from records of tickets on file with NYS
DMV, from 2014 to 2018 there were 14.4 million traffic tickets adminis-
tered in the state. In addition, the average total cost of a traffic
ticket in the U.S. is $150, while traffic tickets in New York can be as
high as $600. With 40% of Americans in 2017 not having enough savings to
cover an unexpected $400 expense, the hardships that come with not
having flexibility in the scheduling of a court hearing can be dire.

Failure to pay/respond to the traffic ticket and to appear in court, if
one decided to plea not-guilty, result in a default conviction and
potentially having one's license suspended. Furthermore, driving with a
suspended license is a crime, and a felony conviction may result in
fines of up to $5,000, jail, probation, or confiscation of one's vehi-
cle.

Many people in New York State cannot afford to pay their traffic tickets
and fines or may be given a ticket unjustly. Because of this, when the
one date and time appointed to you by the court does not coincide with
one's schedule, some are forced to choose between taking off from work,
in turn risking losing their job, or showing up to court. This decision
is made more difficult because the consequences of failing to show up to
the court hearing may be very damaging.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2019-S6246 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6246
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 29, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
   the court to provide a range of dates for a person pleading not guilty
   to a traffic infraction to appear

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 1806 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by
 section 1 of part C of chapter 55 of the laws of  2012,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   § 1806. Plea  of  not  guilty  by  a  defendant charged with a traffic
 infraction. In addition to appearing personally to enter a plea  of  not
 guilty to a violation of any provision of the tax law or the transporta-
 tion  law  regulating  traffic,  or  to  a  traffic  infraction  for the
 violation of any of the provisions of the vehicle and traffic law or  of
 any  local  law,  ordinance,  order,  rule or regulation relating to the
 operation of motor vehicles or motorcycles, a defendant may enter a plea
 of not guilty by mailing to the court of  appropriate  jurisdiction  the
 ticket  making  the  charge and a signed statement indicating such plea.
 Such plea must be sent: (a) by  registered  or  certified  mail,  return
 receipt  requested  or  by  first class mail; and (b) within forty-eight
 hours after receiving such ticket.  Upon  receipt  of  such  ticket  and
 statement,  the court shall advise the violator, by first class mail, of
 an appearance at which no testimony shall  be  taken.  THE  COURT  SHALL
 PROVIDE THE VIOLATOR WITH A RANGE OF DATES TO APPEAR WHICH SHALL INCLUDE
 AT  LEAST  THREE  DIFFERENT  DATES  AND  TIMES AT WHICH THE VIOLATOR MAY
 APPEAR. If the motorist requests a trial, the court shall  set  a  trial
 date  on  a  date  subsequent  to the date of the initial appearance and
 shall notify the defendant of the  date  by  first  class  mail  but  no
 warrant of arrest for failure to appear can be issued until the violator
 is  notified  of  a new court appearance date by registered or certified
 mail, return receipt requested, and fails to appear.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11283-01-9

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