S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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9452
I N S E N A T E
May 15, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. SALAZAR -- (at request of the Office of Court Admin-
istration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules and the criminal proce-
dure law, in relation to the waiver of costs, fees, and expenses for
persons of insufficient means and to eliminating the phrase "poor
person"
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The article heading of article 11 of the civil practice law
and rules is amended to read as follows:
[POOR PERSONS] WAIVER OF COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES
§ 2. The section heading and subdivision (a) of section 1101 of the
civil practice law and rules, as amended by chapter 216 of the laws of
1992, are amended to read as follows:
Motion [for permission to proceed as a poor person] TO WAIVE COSTS,
FEES, AND EXPENSES; affidavit OR AFFIRMATION; certificate; notice;
[waiver of fee;] when motion not required. (a) Motion; affidavit OR
AFFIRMATION. Upon motion of any [person] PARTY, the court in which an
action is triable, or to which an appeal has been or will be taken, may
[grant permission] WAIVE THE COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES IF SUCH PARTY HAS
INSUFFICIENT MEANS to [proceed as a poor person] PAY SUCH COSTS, FEES,
AND EXPENSES. Where a motion [for leave] to [appeal as a poor person]
WAIVE COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES is [brought to] MADE IN the court in
which an appeal has been or will be taken, such court shall hear such
motion on the merits and shall not remand such motion to the trial court
for consideration. The moving party shall file an affidavit OR AFFIRMA-
TION setting forth the amount and sources of [his or her] SUCH PARTY'S
income AND ASSETS and listing [his or her] ANY REAL property OWNED BY
SUCH PARTY with its value; that [he or she is unable] SUCH PARTY LACKS
SUFFICIENT MEANS to pay the costs, fees, and expenses necessary to pros-
ecute or defend the action or to maintain or respond to the appeal; the
nature of the action; sufficient facts so that the merit of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14252-02-4
S. 9452 2
contentions can be ascertained; and whether any other person is benefi-
cially interested in any recovery sought and, if so, whether every such
person is unable to pay such costs, fees, and expenses. An executor,
administrator, or other representative may move for [permission] A WAIV-
ER OF COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES on behalf of a deceased, infant, or
incompetent [poor] person.
§ 3. Section 1102 of the civil practice law and rules, subdivision (b)
as amended by chapter 681 of the laws of 1969, and subdivisions (c) and
(d) as amended by chapter 773 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as
follows:
§ 1102. Privileges of [poor person] PARTY WITH INSUFFICIENT MEANS TO
PAY COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES IN AN ACTION OR ON APPEAL. (a) Attorney.
[The] WHERE A court GRANTS A MOTION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (A) OF
SECTION ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED ONE OF THIS ARTICLE, THE COURT, in its
order [permitting a person to proceed as a poor person] DETERMINING THE
MOTION, may assign an attorney TO THE MOVING PARTY.
(b) Stenographic transcript. Where a [party has been permitted by
order to appeal as] COURT GRANTS a [poor person] MOTION PURSUANT TO
SUBDIVISION (A) OF SECTION ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED ONE OF THIS ARTICLE,
the court clerk, within two days after the filing of [said] SUCH COURT'S
order with [him] THE COURT CLERK, shall so notify the court stenogra-
pher, who, within twenty days of such notification shall make and certi-
fy two typewritten transcripts of the stenographic minutes of said trial
or hearing, and shall deliver one of said transcripts to the [poor
person] MOVING PARTY or [his] SUCH MOVING PARTY'S attorney, and file the
other with the court clerk together with an affidavit of the fact and
date of such delivery and filing. The expense of such transcripts shall
be a county charge or, in the counties within the city of New York, a
city charge, as the case may be, payable to the stenographer out of the
court fund upon the certificate of the judge presiding at the trial or
hearing. A [poor person] MOVING PARTY may be furnished with a steno-
graphic transcript without fee by order of the court in proceedings
other than appeal, the fee therefor to be paid by the county or, in the
counties within the city of New York by the city, as the case may be, in
the same manner as is paid for transcripts on appeal. Notwithstanding
this or any other provision of law, fees paid for stenographic tran-
scripts with respect to those proceedings specified in paragraph [(a)] A
of subdivision one of section thirty-five of the judiciary law shall be
paid by the state in the manner prescribed by subdivision four of
section thirty-five of the judiciary law.
(c) Appeals. On an appeal or motion for permission to appeal WHERE a
[poor person] COURT GRANTS A MOTION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (A) OF
SECTION ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED ONE OF THIS ARTICLE, THE MOVING PARTY
may submit typewritten briefs and appendices, furnishing one legible
copy for each appellate justice.
(d) Costs and fees. [A poor person] WHERE A COURT GRANTS A MOTION
PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (A) OF SECTION ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED ONE OF
THIS ARTICLE, THE MOVING PARTY shall not be liable for the payment of
any costs or fees unless a recovery by judgment or by settlement is had
in [his] SUCH MOVING PARTY'S favor, in which event the court may direct
[him] SUCH PARTY to pay out of the recovery all or part of the costs and
fees, a reasonable sum for the services and expenses of [his] ANY attor-
ney ASSIGNED TO SUCH PARTY and any sum expended by the county or city
under subdivision (b) OF THIS SECTION.
§ 4. Section 1103 of the civil practice law and rules is amended to
read as follows:
S. 9452 3
§ 1103. Distribution of recovery in favor of [poor person] PARTY WITH
INSUFFICIENT MEANS TO PAY COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES. [Any] WHERE A COURT
GRANTS A MOTION PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION (A) OF SECTION ONE THOUSAND ONE
HUNDRED ONE OF THIS ARTICLE, recovery by judgment or by settlement had
in favor of [a poor person,] THE MOVING PARTY shall be paid to the clerk
of the court in which the order [permitting] DETERMINING the [person to
proceed as a poor person] MOTION was entered, to await distribution
pursuant to court order.
§ 5. The section heading and subdivision 1 of section 380.55 of the
criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 616 of the laws of 2021,
are amended to read as follows:
Application for [poor person relief] WAIVER OF COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES
on appeal.
1. Where counsel has been assigned to represent a defendant in a crim-
inal action on the ground that the defendant is financially unable to
retain counsel, the court may in its discretion at the time of sentenc-
ing entertain an application to grant the defendant [poor person relief]
WAIVER OF COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES on appeal. As part of an application
for such relief, assigned counsel must represent that the defendant
continues to be eligible for assignment of counsel and that granting the
application will expedite the appeal. If the court grants the applica-
tion, it shall file a written order and shall provide a copy of the
order to the appropriate appellate court. The denial of an application
shall not preclude the defendant from making a de novo application for
[poor person relief] WAIVER OF COSTS, FEES, AND EXPENSES to the appro-
priate appellate court.
§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
