BILL NUMBER: S9731

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing an amendment
to sections 11 and 16 of article 6 of the constitution, in relation to
the civil jurisdiction of county and district courts

 
SOURCE OF BILL:

This concurrent resolution is being introduced at the request of Judici-
ary.

 
PURPOSE OF BILL::

This concurrent resolution would amend Article VI of the State Constitu-
tion to recognize the effects of inflation by increasing the maximum
civil monetary jurisdiction of the County Courts from $25,000 to
$50,000, and of the District Courts from $15,000 to $35,000.

 
              

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::

Section 1 of the resolution amends section 11(a) of Article VI to
increase the maximum civil monetary jurisdiction of the County Courts
from $25,000 to $50,000.

Section 2 of the resolution amends section 16(d) of Article VI to
increase the maximum civil monetary jurisdiction of the District Courts
from $15,000 to $35,000.

Section 3 of the resolution provides that, once approved by the Legisla-
ture, the amendments to sections 11(a) and 16(d) must be referred to the
legislative session convening after the next general election of members
of the Legislature.

 
JUSTIFICATION::

At present, sections 11(a) and 16(d) of Article VI fix the maximum civil
monetary jurisdiction of the County Courts and District Courts at
$25,000 and $15,000, respectively.

These caps were fixed in 1983, replacing the $6,000 cap that had then
been in effect for both courts since 1962. The 1983 changes were to
adjust for inflation over the preceding two decades.

Today, more than 40 years have elapsed since the $25,000 and $15,000
caps were fixed. During that time, inflation has decreased the value of
the dollar by over 200%.1 This concurrent resolution proposes a 100%
increase in the County Court jurisdictional limit (from $25,000 to $50,
000) and a 133% increase in the District Court jurisdictional limit
(from $15,000 to $35,000). Both increases seek to strike a balance
between adjusting for inflation and making sure that the County and
District courts remain able to handle the increased workload that will
result from increasing the jurisdictional limit.  In addition, the
change will ensure that the County Courts and the District Courts are
able to handle a meaningful amount of the civil litigation, thereby
relieving Supreme Court of some of the caseload burden that it now must
bear.
The increases called for by this concurrent resolution are consistent
with the 100% increase (from $25,000 to $50,000) in the civil jurisdic-
tion of the New York City Civil Court adopted by the voters in November
2021 and effective January 1, 2022. In that Court, the jurisdictional
cap had last been fixed in 1983, and the 2020 and 2021 Legislatures
believed it necessary to increase it to adjust for four decades' worth
of inflation.

If approved by the Legislature in 2024, this concurrent resolution will
then be submitted for second passage in 2025 and, if again approved by
the Legislature, the constitutional amendments for which it provides
will then be submitted to the State's voters for their approval. See NY
Const., Art. XIX, § 1. If approved by the voters, these amendments would
take effect on January first next thereafter.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::

None. This is a new proposal.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::

This concurrent resolution would have no State fiscal impact. 8.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE::

The amendments proposed in this concurrent resolution would take effect
on January Pt next following ratification by the voters.

(1) See CPI Inflation Calculator:
https://www.officialdata.orgius/intlation/.