NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6782
SPONSOR: Romero TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring the chief
administrator of the courts to establish an online payment option for
posting bail
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would require the Office of Court Administration to develop a
system to allow for the option of posting bail, and paying all monetary
court fines, surcharges and fees online.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends subdivision 2(j) of Section 212 of the
Judiciary Law is amended to require the Office of Court Administration
to develop a system that would give people the option of paying court
monies online.
Section two of the bill states the act shall take effect on the one
hundred eightieth day after becoming law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently in New York, most court fees, fines and surcharges must be
paid either by mail or in person, with no option for online payment.
Most State agencies, as well as courts across the country have adopted
secure online payment systems: our courts should enter the twenty-first
century and do the same.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
Indigent individuals and people of color often are unable to take time
off from work to appear in person and are less likely to have access to
resources to pay online. Creating an alternate payment method will help
make interactions with Courts more easier and more convenient.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A2279 (2023-2024)
A4599 (2021-2022)
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 180 days after becoming law, to provide time
for implementation,
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6782
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROMERO -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring the chief
administrator of the courts to establish an online payment option for
posting bail
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (j) of subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judi-
2 ciary law, as amended by chapter 457 of the laws of 2005, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (j) Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
5 contrary, establish a system, including an option for online payment,
6 for the posting of bail and the payment of fines, mandatory surcharges,
7 court fees, and other monies payable to a court, county clerk in [his or
8 her] their capacity as clerk of court, or the office of court adminis-
9 tration, or to a sheriff upon enforcing a court order or delivering a
10 court mandate pursuant to article eighty of the civil practice law and
11 rules, by means of a credit card or similar device. Notwithstanding any
12 provision of law to the contrary, the chief administrator may require a
13 party making a payment in such manner also to pay a reasonable adminis-
14 trative fee. In establishing such system, the chief administrator shall
15 seek the assistance of the state comptroller who shall assist in devel-
16 oping such system so as to ensure that such funds shall be returned to
17 any jurisdiction which, by law, may be entitled to them. The chief
18 administrator shall periodically accord the head of each police depart-
19 ment or police force and of any state department, agency, board, commis-
20 sion or public authority having police officers who fix pre-arraignment
21 [bail pursuant to section 150.30 of the criminal procedure law] an
22 opportunity to have the system established pursuant to this paragraph
23 apply to the posting of pre-arraignment bail with police officers under
24 [his or her] their jurisdiction.
25 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
26 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07871-01-5
