Assembly Bill A2874

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Establishes New York state public defense commission and provides for its powers and duties, including local fiscal relief for public defense expenses

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions

2015-A2874 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Judiciary
Law Section:
County Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§719, 720, 722-c, 722-e & 722-f, County L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2009-2010: A2496
2011-2012: A2749
2013-2014: A3616
2017-2018: A3867
2019-2020: A3864
2021-2022: A3459
2023-2024: A3482

2015-A2874 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the New York state public defense commission to oversee the provision of public defense services in the state; such commission shall establish public defense services standards, provide financial assistance to local governments and public defense providers for expenses incurred in providing legal services to the indigent, provide training to persons in the public defense profession and oversee the provision of public defense services in the state.

2015-A2874 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2874

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 20, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
  tee on Judiciary

AN ACT establishing  the  New  York  state  public  defense  commission,
  providing  for  the  members, powers and duties thereof, and providing
  fiscal relief to localities; and to amend the county law, in  relation
  to public defense services

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature finds
and declares that in  certain  proceedings  the  state  is  required  to
provide  high  quality legal assistance to persons otherwise financially
unable to obtain counsel and/or afford the necessary expenses of  repre-
sentation.  Providing  public  defense  services  to  those  who face an
economic barrier to obtaining legal counsel serves the ends  of  justice
in  accordance with rights and privileges guaranteed by the constitution
of the state of New York and the constitution of the  United  States  of
America.  The  availability  of  high  quality  public  defense services
affirms the faith of our citizens in our government of laws.
  The legislature further finds that the  present  system  of  requiring
localities  to  provide public defense services with little state finan-
cial assistance and no state oversight does  not  and  cannot  meet  the
foregoing  objectives.  The existing statutory limit on fees for counsel
assigned to provide public defense services has resulted in  a  shortage
of  qualified  lawyers  to  provide defense services, thereby denying or
delaying the representation to which public defense  clients  are  enti-
tled.  The  present  system  has  caused court congestion and delay, and
eroded public trust and confidence in the legal system.
  The legislature further finds that localities are struggling to  carry
the increasing burden of fulfilling the state mandate to provide defense
services,  and  cannot  bear  alone the cost of raising assigned counsel

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05660-01-5

              

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.