What's happening
This bill shifts the cost of psychiatric examinations for defendants from the county to the state in New York.
Why it matters
Shifting the financial responsibility for psychiatric examinations from counties to the state could help alleviate budget pressures on local governments. , potentially freeing up resources for other county-level needs or services.
Standardizing payment at the state level may lead to more consistent access to psychiatric evaluations for defendants across New York. , reducing disparities between wealthier and less-resourced counties in the criminal justice process.
This change could incentivize counties to order necessary psychiatric evaluations without concern for local cost burdens. , possibly resulting in better identification and treatment of mental health issues among defendants and more equitable justice outcomes.
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Who cares
County governments
The bill would shift court-approved costs of defendants’ mental fitness examinations, including examiner fees, travel and related transport and maintenance costs, from the county where the defendant is being tried to the state.
New York State fiscal officials
The state would become responsible for these expenses when they occur on or after the bill’s immediate effective date.
Psychiatric examiners
The bill would make the state responsible for their court-approved fees and travel expenses while leaving existing fee limits and restrictions on state employees unchanged.
Headline styles
State Pays Mental Exam Costs
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 62
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to codes
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to codes
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1940
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
State Pays for Psych Exams
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Aileen Gunther
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1154
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 6, 2017
Introduced by Sen. ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to payment of certain costs associated with the psychiatric examination of defendants to determine mental fitness
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 730.20 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 692 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
7. A psychiatric examiner is entitled to his reasonable traveling expenses, a fee of fifty dollars for each examination of a defendant and a fee of fifty dollars for each appearance at a court hearing or trial but not exceeding two hundred dollars in fees for examination and testimony in any one case; except that if such psychiatric examiner be an employee of the state of New York he shall be entitled only to reasonable traveling expenses, unless such psychiatric examiner makes the examination or appears at a court hearing or trial outside his hours of state employment in a county in which the director of community mental health services certifies to the fiscal officer thereof that there is a shortage of qualified psychiatrists available to conduct examinations under the criminal procedure law in such county, in which event he shall be entitled to the foregoing fees and reasonable traveling expenses. Such fees and traveling expenses and the costs of sending a defendant to another place of detention or to a hospital for examination, of his maintenance therein and of returning him shall, when approved by the court, be a charge of the [county in which the defendant is being tried] state.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to expenses occurring on and after such date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03742-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to payment of certain costs associated with the psychiatric examination of defendants to determine mental fitness
Purpose or general idea of bill
This legislation would require the State as opposed to the County to pay for the cost for a psychiatric evaluation under Section 730.2 of the CPL.
Summary of specific provisions
Subdivision 7 of section 730.20 of the CPL is amended to remove the language county in which the defendant is being tried to be replaced by the state.
Section 2 is the effective date.
Justification
Current law requires county in which the individual is being tried to pay for the costs of a psychiatric evaluation. However with all costs included this amount can range into the tens of thousands of dollars. Many Counties cannot afford these excessive amounts within their budgets and can often lead to extraneous pressure to not seek fitness examinations by looking for alternate forms of punishment solely as these examinations are too expensive. Shifting this cost burden to the State will ensure that these artificial barriers are removed.
Prior legislative history
S. 6993; Passed Senate
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.