§ 216 — Additional duties of the chief administrator; certain cases

§ 216. Additional duties of the chief administrator; certain cases. 1.\nThe chief administrator of the courts shall designate the appropriate\npersons, including but not limited to district attorneys, criminal and\nfamily court clerks, corporation counsels, county attorneys, victims\nassistance unit staff, probation officers, warrant officers, sheriffs,\npolice officers or any other law enforcement officials, to inform any\npetitioner bringing a proceeding under article eight of the family court\nact or a complainant in an action which would be subject to the\nprovisions of section 530.11 of the criminal procedure law, before such\nproceeding or action is commenced, of the procedures available for the\ninstitution of family offense proceedings, including but not limited to\nthe following:\n (a) That there is concurrent jurisdiction with respect to family\noffenses in both family court and the criminal courts;\n (b) That a family court proceeding is a civil proceeding and is for\nthe purpose of attempting to keep the family unit intact. Referrals for\ncounseling, or counseling services, are available through probation for\nthis purpose;\n (c) That a proceeding in the criminal courts is for the purpose of\nprosecution of the offender and can result in a criminal conviction of\nthe offender;\n (d) That a proceeding or action subject to the provisions of this\nsection is initiated at the time of the filing of an accusatory\ninstrument or filing a family court petition, not at the time of arrest,\nor request for arrest, if any;\n (f) That an arrest may precede the commencement of a family court or a\ncriminal court proceeding, but an arrest is not a requirement for\ncommencing either proceeding.\n 2. No official or other person designated pursuant to subdivision one\nof this section shall discourage or prevent any person who wishes to\nfile a petition or sign or initiate a proceeding in a criminal court\nfrom having access to any court for that purpose.\n 3. The chief administrator shall prescribe an appropriate form to\nimplement subdivision two of this section.\n 4. The chief administrator of the courts shall collect data in\nrelation to the number of cases in which the basic child support\nobligation, as defined in section two hundred forty of the domestic\nrelations law and section four hundred thirteen of the family court act,\nwas ordered; the number of cases in which the order deviated from such\nbasic child support obligation and the reasons therefor; the incomes of\nthe parties; the number of children, and the amount of child support\nawarded pursuant to the child support standards act; and amounts of\nalimony or maintenance, or allocations of property included in orders or\njudgments that include a provision for child support pursuant to the\nchild support standards act, and shall report such data to the temporary\npresident of the senate, speaker of the assembly, chairpersons of the\njudiciary and children and families committees, and the governor on or\nbefore the first day of April of each year. In collecting such data, the\nchief administrator shall not disclose the identities of the parties or\ndisclose information that would tend to reveal the identities of the\nparties.\n 5. The chief administrator of the courts, in conjunction with the\ndivision of criminal justice services, shall collect data and report\nevery six months regarding pretrial release and detention. Such data and\nreport shall contain information categorized by age, gender, racial and\nethnic background; regarding the nature of the criminal offenses,\nincluding the top charge of each case; the number and type of charges in\neach defendant's criminal record; whether a hate crime was charged;\nwhether the prosecutor requested that the court fix bail, the amounts\nand forms of bail requested by the prosecutor, and the amounts and forms\nof bail set by the court; the number of individuals released on\nrecognizance; the number of individuals released on non-monetary\nconditions, including the conditions imposed; the number of individuals\ncommitted to the custody of a sheriff prior to trial; the rates of\nfailure to appear and rearrest; the outcome of such cases or\ndispositions; the length of the pretrial detention stay and any other\nsuch information as the chief administrator and the division of criminal\njustice services may find necessary and appropriate. Further, the chief\nadministrator of the courts shall collect data and report every month\nregarding pretrial commitments to local correctional facilities. Such\ndata shall include but not be limited to age, gender, racial and ethnic\nbackground of the principal; both beginning and end dates of pretrial\ncommitment to the custody of the sheriff; total days of pretrial\ncommitment to the custody of the sheriff; the type of commitment ordered\nby the court; the top charge at arrest and arraignment; and whether the\nprincipal had been previously released from custody in the case. Such\nreport shall aggregate the data collected by county; court, including\ncity, town and village courts; and judge. The data shall be aggregated\nin order to protect the identity of individual defendants. The report\nshall be released publicly and published on the websites of the office\nof court administration and the division of criminal justice services.\nThe first report shall be published twelve months after this subdivision\nshall have become a law, and shall include data from the first six\nmonths following the enactment of this section. Reports for subsequent\nperiods shall be published every six months thereafter; provided,\nhowever, that the pretrial detention admissions and discharges report\nwill be published every month.\n 6. The chief administrator of the courts, in conjunction with the\ndivision of criminal justice services, shall collect data and report\nannually regarding the impact of article two hundred forty-five of the\ncriminal procedure law. Such data and report shall contain information\nregarding the implementation of article two hundred forty-five of the\ncriminal procedure law, including procedures used to implement the\narticle, resources needed for implementation, monies received pursuant\nto section ninety-nine-hh of the state finance law, including the amount\nof money utilized for the services and expenses eligible pursuant to\nsubdivision three of such section, information regarding cases where\ndiscovery obligations are not met, and information regarding case\noutcomes. The report shall be released publicly and published on the\nwebsites of the office of court administration and the division of\ncriminal justice services. The first report shall be published eighteen\nmonths after the effective date of this section, and shall include data\nfrom the first twelve months following the enactment of this section.\nReports for subsequent years shall be published annually thereafter.\n