§ 19. Uniform navigation summons and complaint. 1. The commissioner
shall be authorized to prescribe the form of summons and/or complaint in
all cases involving a violation of any provision of this chapter or of
any ordinance, rule or regulation relating to navigation, or of any
class or category of such cases, and to establish procedures for proper
administrative controls over the disposition thereof. The provisions of
this subdivision shall not apply to offenses specified in paragraph b of
subdivision four of section forty-nine of this chapter.

2. The chief executive officer of each local police force including
county, town, city and village police departments, sheriffs, and the
superintendent of state police shall prepare or cause to be prepared
such records and reports as may be prescribed hereunder.

3. The commissioner shall have the power from time to time to adopt
such rules and regulations as may be necessary to accomplish the
purposes and enforce the provisions of this section including
requirements for reporting by trial courts having jurisdiction over
navigation violations.

4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to or supersede any
ordinance, rule or regulation heretofore or hereafter made, adopted or
prescribed pursuant to law in Nassau or Suffolk counties or in any city
having a population of one million or over.

5. Any person who disposes of any uniform navigation summons and/or
complaint in any manner other than that prescribed by law, rule or
regulation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

6. If a person charged with a violation desires to plead guilty to the
violation as charged in the summons, he shall submit to the magistrate
having jurisdiction, in person, by duly authorized agent or by
registered mail, a verified application or in lieu thereof, an
application affirmed under penalty of perjury setting forth (a) the
nature of the charge, (b) the violations, if any, of the navigation law
or of any local law or ordinance governing or regulating navigation, of
which the defendant has been convicted within a period of two years
immediately preceding the date of the impending charge, together with
the date, the name and place of the court and the disposition, with
respect to each violation, (c) the information or instructions required
by section one thousand eight hundred seven of the vehicle and traffic
law to be given defendant upon arraignment, (d) that defendant waives
arraignment in open court and the aid of counsel, (e) that he pleads
guilty to the offense as charged, (f) that defendant elects and requests
that the charge be disposed of and the fine or penalty fixed by the
court, pursuant to this subdivision, and (g) any statement or
explanation that the defendant may desire to make concerning the offense
charged. The application shall be in such form as the commissioner shall
prescribe and a copy thereof shall be handed to the defendant by the
person charging him with such violation. Thereupon the magistrate may
proceed as though the defendant had been convicted upon a plea of guilty
in open court, provided, however, that any imposition of fine or penalty
hereunder, without suspension of execution of sentence, shall be deemed
tentative until such fine or penalty shall have been paid and discharged
in full, prior to which time the magistrate, in his discretion, may
annul any proceedings hereunder, including such tentative imposition of
fine or penalty, and deny the application, in which event the charge
shall be disposed of pursuant to the applicable provisions of law, as
though no proceedings had been had under this subdivision. If upon
receipt of the aforesaid application the magistrate shall deny the same,
he shall thereupon inform the defendant of this fact, and that he is
required to appear before the said magistrate at a stated time and place
to answer the charge which shall thereafter be disposed of pursuant to
the applicable provisions of law.