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- Referred to codes
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Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to sealing petty offenses
This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his Advisory Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure.
The measure would amend CPL 160.55 to clarify that where a court sentences a defendant convicted of a petty offense to a term of a conditional discharge, the criminal action or proceeding does not terminate for purposes of sealing until the defendant has satisfied the conditions imposed by the court at the time of sentence.
Read the full memo (607 words)
When an individual is convicted of a petty offense, the Criminal Procedure Law provides for sealing all official records and papers relating to the arrest or prosecution on file with the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the police and the prosecutor's office
(CPL 160.55). This sealing protocol is triggered "(u)pon the termination of a criminal action or proceeding against a person by the conviction of a . . . violation" (see CPL 160.55(1)). In this context, the word "conviction" means "the entry of a plea of guilty to, or a verdict of guilty upon, an accusatory instrument . . . " (CPL 1.20(13)). Thus, a defendant is "convicted" when he or she pleads guilty. In contrast, a "criminal action terminates with the imposition of sentence or some other final disposition in a criminal court (CPL 1.20(16)), whereas a "criminal proceeding" means any proceeding which constitutes a part of a criminal action or occurs in a criminal court and is related to a prospective, pending or completed criminal action (CPL 1.20(18)).
The ambiguous language of CPL 160.55 for the timing of the sealing of the conviction has led to an inconsistent application of sealing rules, especially as it applies to sentences of a conditional discharge, which are rarely monitored by any agency. Many courts seal the case upon sentence in accordance with the statutory language requiring sealing on the date the criminal action has terminated (CPL 1.20(16)). However, where the case is sealed on the date of sentence, official records are no longer available for review. If the defendant is rearrested on an unrelated offense during the term of the conditional discharge, the sealed conviction will not be reflected, and in most cases the court will never learn that the defendant has violated a critical condition of his or her sentence. In recognition of this result, some courts administratively withhold sealing until the sentence of conditional discharge is satisfied, reasoning that the "criminal proceeding" has not terminated (CPL 1.20(18)). Other courts avoid the issue by ordering the file to remain unsealed "in the interests of justice" so that any re-arrest will be properly brought to the attention of the court. This procedure, however, may unduly delay sealing, even after the conditional discharge sentence is completed, and may require a defendant to bring a separate proceeding to later seal the case when the period of conditional discharge ends.
This measure resolves both the statutory ambiguity and the procedural inconsistency by making it plain that sentences of conditional discharge do not terminate until the completion of all conditions imposed by the court. The measure leaves intact, however, the court's authority to terminate the sentence of conditional discharge "in the interests of justice." Our Advisory Committee has reasoned that any other result gives an unwarranted advantage to a defendant by suppressing any meaningful use of the record to monitor defendant's compliance with the sentence of conditional discharge.
This measure, which would have no fiscal impact, would take effect immediately.
Legislative history
None. New proposal.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.