BILL NUMBER: S494

SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to
charitable bail organizations

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would amend the Insurance Law to enable charitable bail organ-
izations to provide more effective assistance to indigent persons in
need of such services.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of this bill would amend section 6805 of the Insurance Law to
reduce the certification fee required for non-profit organizations from
one thousand dollars to five hundred dollars, to raise the monetary
amount that such organizations may provide in bail assistance, to clari-
fy when such organizations may contribute to bail, and to remove the
geographical restriction that an organization may only offer bail in one
county.
              

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Every year millions of Americans are incarcerated while awaiting trial,
sometimes for very lengthy periods, simply because they can't afford to
post bail, including 45,000 people in New York City alone.  By assisting
with cash bail for New Yorkers who cannot afford it, charitable bail
organizations can help keep people out of jail, protect the presumption
of innocence and help keep families intact.

A period of incarceration can have a devastating effect on a person's
life. As a result of pretrial incarceration, families may be torn apart
and individuals may lose their employment, housing and dignity.  This
bill seeks to mitigate these possible collateral consequences by enabl-
ing more nonprofit organizations to establish bail funds in the state to
provide assistance to individuals in need.

Charitable bail organizations have been formally recognized in New York
since 2012; these nonprofit organizations are regulated by the New York
State Department of Financial Services. See L. 2012, c. 181.

Under the Criminal Procedure Law, a bail amount is set by the court,
when authorized, in each individual case. Bail posted during the penden-
cy of the case is returned to the surety when the case reaches a conclu-
sion, but bail may be forfeited if the person fails to appear in court
when required. Thus, a charitable bail organization has an incentive to
monitor the individual during the proceedings and help assure his or her
presence for every court appearance. Moreover, the presiding judge, in
any case, may conduct an inquiry for the purpose of determining the
reliability of the obligors posting cash bail. See Criminal Procedure
Law § 520.30.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-2018: S4776A

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal in relation to the reduction of the certification fee.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- ments
to subsection (b) of section 6805 of the insurance law made by section
one of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.