NY State Senate Bill 2021-S6192

Senate Bill S6192

2021-2022 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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to transportation
Apr 14, 2021	referred to transportation

2021-S6192 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5052
Current Committee:: Senate Transportation
Law Section:: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §1806, V & T L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S6246, A7626
2023-2024: A4486

2021-S6192 (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.

2021-S6192 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S6192

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:

To require courts to offer defendants who have been charged with a traf-
fic infraction and who have pleaded not guilty at least three possible
dates and times to appear in court.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 1806 the vehicle and traffic law to require
courts to provide a violator with a range of dates which shall include
at least three different dates and times at which the violator may
appear.

Section 2 states the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

From 2014 to 2018, 14.4 million traffic tickets were administered in New
York State as evidenced by data extracted from records of tickets on
file with the NYS DMV. Fines for traffic infractions in New York can be
as high as $600, which can be severely damaging for individuals consid-
ering in 2017 40% of Americans did not have enough savings to cover an
unexpected $400 expense.

Violators can hope to reduce the fine by pleading not guilty and appear-
ing in court. However, the ability to do so is dependent on a number of
factors such as the ability to miss work or find childcare.  These
factors are especially prohibitive for those who would have difficulty
paying such fines if they chose not to plead guilty, but may lose their
job if they do not go to work. Failure to pay fines, respond to the
traffic ticket, or appear in court after pleading guilty can result in a
default conviction and suspension of one's driver's license. Driving
with a suspended license may result in a felony conviction including
fines of up to $5,000, incarceration, probation, or the confiscation of
one's vehicle.

Providing multiple days and times to appear in court after pleading not
guilty to a traffic violation will give greater flexibility to anyone
who chooses to do so. This is especially important for those who must
choose between a fine they cannot afford, or potential job loss or lack
of childcare. This bill will thus help create a more fair justice
system.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S6264 of 2019-20 referred to Transportation

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S6192 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6192
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 14, 2021
                                ___________
 
 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.
                                                            LBD07998-01-1

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.