§ 227 — Hearings; determinations

§ 227. Hearings; determinations. 1. Every hearing for the adjudication\nof a traffic infraction, as provided by this article, shall be held\nbefore a hearing officer appointed by the commissioner. The burden of\nproof shall be upon the people, and no charge may be established except\nby clear and convincing evidence. The commissioner may prescribe, by\nrule or regulation, the procedures for the conduct of such hearings.\n 2. In any case wherein the people are not ready for the hearing on the\nscheduled hearing date, the hearing officer may order a dismissal of the\ncharge or the adjournment of the hearing to a subsequent time. In any\ncase wherein the people are not ready for the hearing at an ordered\nadjourned time and do not provide a minimum of seven days' notice to the\ndepartment after having been not ready for a hearing on the charge for\nany reason previously, the charge shall be dismissed unless the hearing\nofficer determines that a substantial traffic safety hazard would result\nfrom the dismissal. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations\nconcerning the adjournment of hearings which may permit the dismissal of\ncases by a hearing officer for reasons not prescribed herein.\n 3. After due consideration of the evidence and arguments offered in a\ncontested case, the hearing officer shall determine whether the charges\nhave been established. Where the charges have not been established, an\norder dismissing the charges shall be entered. Where a determination is\nmade that a charge has been established, either in a contested case or\nin an uncontested case where there is an appearance before a hearing\nofficer, or if an answer admitting the charge otherwise has been\nreceived, an appropriate order shall be entered in the department's\nrecords.\n 4. a. An order entered upon the failure to answer or appear or after\nthe receipt of an answer admitting the charge or where a determination\nis made that the charge has been established shall be civil in nature,\nbut shall be treated as a conviction for the purposes of this chapter.\nThe commissioner or his designee may include in such order an imposition\nof any penalty authorized by any provision of this chapter for a\nconviction of such violation, except that no penalty therefore shall\ninclude imprisonment, nor, if monetary, exceed the amount of the fine\nwhich could have been imposed had the charge been heard by a court. If\nthe charge involves a violation of section three hundred eighty-five of\nthis chapter, the driver's license or privileges may be suspended\npending the payment of any penalty so imposed, or, if the charge\ninvolves a violation of section three hundred eighty-five of this\nchapter by a registrant who was not the operator of the vehicle, the\nregistration of such vehicle or privilege of operation of any motor\nvehicle owned by such registrant may be suspended pending the payment of\nany penalty so imposed. Any suspension issued pursuant to this paragraph\nshall be subject to the provisions of paragraph (j-1) of subdivision two\nof section five hundred three of this chapter.\n b. Unpaid fines may be recovered by the commissioner in a civil action\nin the name of the commissioner. In addition, as an alternative to such\ncivil action, and provided that no appeal is pending, the commissioner\nmay file with the county clerk of the county in which the person resides\na final order of the commissioner containing the amount of the fine or\nfines. The filing of such final order shall have the full force and\neffect of a judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk and may\nbe enforced in the same manner and with the same effect as that provided\nby law in respect to execution issued against property upon judgments of\na court of record. No such civil action shall be commenced nor shall\nsuch final order be filed until at least thirty days after the\ndepartment has posted by ordinary mail to the person at the address of\nsuch person on file with the department or at the current address\nprovided by the United States postal service notice of the amount of\nsuch fine or fines and that such fine or fines are due and owing.\n * 5. All penalties and forfeited security collected pursuant to the\nprovisions of this article shall be paid to the department of audit and\ncontrol to the credit of the justice court fund and shall be subject to\nthe applicable provisions of section eighteen hundred three of this\nchapter. After such audit as shall reasonably be required by the\ncomptroller, such penalties and forfeited security shall be paid\nquarterly or, in the discretion of the comptroller, monthly, to the\nappropriate jurisdiction in which the violation occurred in accordance\nwith the provisions of section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law,\nexcept that the sum of four dollars for each violation occurring in such\njurisdiction for which a complaint has been filed with the\nadministrative tribunal established pursuant to this article shall be\nretained by the state. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary an\nadditional annual sum of three million dollars collected from fines and\nassessed to the city of New York, shall be deposited into the general\nfund. Provided, however, that if the full costs of administering this\narticle shall exceed the amounts received and retained by the state for\nany period specified by the commissioner, then such additional sums as\nshall be required to offset such costs shall be retained by the state\nout of the penalties and forfeited security collected pursuant to this\narticle.\n * NB Effective until April 1, 2019\n * 5. All penalties and forfeited security collected pursuant to the\nprovisions of this article shall be paid to the department of audit and\ncontrol to the credit of the justice court fund and shall be subject to\nthe applicable provisions of section eighteen hundred three of this\nchapter. After such audit as shall reasonably be required by the\ncomptroller, such penalties and forfeited security shall be paid\nquarterly or, in the discretion of the comptroller, monthly, to the\nappropriate jurisdiction in which the violation occurred in accordance\nwith the provisions of section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law,\nexcept that the sum of four dollars for each violation occurring in such\njurisdiction for which a complaint has been filed with the\nadministrative tribunal established pursuant to this article shall be\nretained by the state. Provided, however, that if the full costs of\nadministering this article shall exceed the amounts received and\nretained by the state for any period specified by the commissioner, then\nsuch additional sums as shall be required to offset such costs shall be\nretained by the state out of the penalties and forfeited security\ncollected pursuant to this article.\n * NB Effective April 1, 2019\n 6. Unless a hearing officer shall determine that a substantial traffic\nsafety hazard would result therefrom, he shall, pursuant to the\nregulations of the commissioner, delay for a period of thirty days the\neffective date of any suspension or revocation of a drivers license or\nvehicle registration imposed after a hearing pursuant to this article,\nunless such suspension was imposed because of the failure to pay a\nmonetary penalty. Provided, however, the commissioner's regulations may\nprovide for the immediate surrender of any item to be suspended or\nrevoked and the issuance of appropriate temporary documentation to be\nused during such thirty day period.\n