What's happening
This bill allows district attorneys, with court approval, to electronically store certain records over ten years old, excluding homicide and some criminal case records.
Why it matters
Could modernize and streamline record-keeping. for district attorneys by allowing old, less-relevant paper records to be converted to electronic formats, potentially saving physical storage space and resources.
Provides safeguards by excluding homicide and permanent criminal case records. from electronic-only storage, ensuring that the most serious cases and historically significant records remain easily accessible in their original form.
Requires oversight from appellate courts and potentially other government agencies,. meaning district attorneys cannot unilaterally decide to digitize or dispose of records, adding a layer of accountability and protecting against accidental loss of valuable information.
May facilitate easier retrieval and sharing of older case files. (except those explicitly excluded), which could assist in appeals, post-conviction reviews, or research while reducing the administrative burden of maintaining large archives.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Digitize Old DA Case Records
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
2 Multi-sponsors
History
- Held for consideration in judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1968
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. CROUCH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, establishing guidelines for district attorneys with regard to electronic conversions of certain records, books or papers in the care, custody or control of the district attorney which are more than ten years old
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 89 of the judiciary law is amended by adding a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
3. Notwithstanding an other provisions of law, the justices of the appellate division of the supreme court in each judicial department may on application of the district attorney of any county within its judicial department, direct, by order, that the district attorney may electronically file, whether by electronic scan or microfiche, any records, books or papers in the care, custody or control of the district attorney which are more than ten years old, whether currently in use or not, the electronic filing of which in the opinion of the justices of the appellate division would serve no legal, practical or useful purpose, except any records, books or papers related to a homicide case, as defined under section 125.00 of the penal law, whether currently in use or not, as well as any permanent records of criminal cases, printed and bound volumes of cases on appeal and original indictments. The justices of the appellate division as a condition of such disposition may require the written consent of any state or local department or agency having an interest in such records, books or papers.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04704-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.