What's happening
This bill creates the crime of aggravated criminal conduct, making it a felony for repeat offenders with four or more prior misdemeanors in five years.
Why it matters
Targets repeat misdemeanor offenders. The bill specifically escalates punishment for individuals who have been convicted of four or more qualifying misdemeanors within five years, signaling a focus on repeat, lower-level offenders rather than first-time or occasional offenders.
Expands what counts toward prior offenses. Prior convictions can include similar out-of-state crimes and a range of sentencing outcomes (including probation, parole, and conditional discharge), broadening the net for who can be charged under this new felony.
Adjusts lookback period for incarceration. The five-year window for counting prior offenses is extended by any time the defendant spent incarcerated, meaning time in jail or prison does not count against the five-year calculation, making it easier to reach the threshold.
Felony consequences for misdemeanors. The law significantly raises the stakes by reclassifying a subsequent misdemeanor as a class E felony for repeat offenders, potentially leading to state prison time and long-term impacts on employment, housing, and civil rights.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Make Repeat Misdemeanors a Felony
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to codes
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to codes
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 44–18
- Ordered to third reading cal.1388
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to codes
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1178
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 6, 2017
Introduced by Sen. MARCELLINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to creating the crime of aggravated criminal conduct where an individual commits a misdemeanor and has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.78 to read as follows: § 240.78 Aggravated criminal conduct.
1. A person is guilty of aggravated criminal conduct when such person commits a class A misdemeanor defined in this chapter after having been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years.
2. The provisions of section 200.60 of the criminal procedure law shall apply to any prosecution under this section.
3. For the purposes of this section, in determining whether a person has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years, the following criteria shall apply:
(a) Each conviction must have been in this state and be a class A misdemeanor as defined in this chapter, or of a crime in any other jurisdiction for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment of at least one year was authorized and is a crime in this state irrespective of whether such sentence was imposed;
(b) Sentence upon each such prior conviction must have been imposed before commission of the present misdemeanor;
(c) Suspended sentence, suspended execution of sentence, sentence of probation, sentence of parole supervision, and sentence of conditional
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05843-01-7
S. 1178 2
discharge or of unconditional discharge shall be deemed to be a sentence;
(d) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this subdivision, each sentence must have been imposed not more than five years before commission of the present misdemeanor;
(e) In calculating the five year period under paragraph (d) of this subdivision, any period of time during which the defendant was incarcerated for any reason between the time of commission of any of the previous convictions and the time of commission of the present misdemeanor shall be excluded and such five year period shall be extended by a period or periods equal to the time served;
(f) An offense for which the defendant has been pardoned on the ground of innocence shall not be deemed a previous misdemeanor conviction;
(g) When multiple sentences for two or more convictions were imposed at the same time, all convictions shall be deemed to constitute only one conviction.
4. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to preclude a prosecution or conviction for any other offense, a necessary element of which is a previous conviction for an offense.
Aggravated criminal conduct is a class E felony.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to creating the crime of aggravated criminal conduct where an individual commits a misdemeanor and has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years
Purpose
This legislation would create the crime of aggravated criminal conduct where an individual commits a misdemeanor and has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years.
Summary of provisions
Adds a new section 240.75 to the New York State Penal Law to create the crime of aggravated criminal conduct where an individual commits a misdemeanor and has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years.
Each conviction must have been a crime in New York State and be a class A misdemeanor. In calculating the five year period, any period of time during which the defendant was incarcerated for any reason between the time of commission of any of the previous convictions and the time of the present misdemeanor will be excluded for the five year period timeframe.
Aggravated criminal conduct is a class E felony.
Justification
The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services reports that 8,824 individuals had been convicted of five or more misdemeanors within the three years that ended Dec. 31, 2010. Of those more than 8,000 criminals, 1,600 of them had 10 or more convictions in the same time frame, and a staggering 169 criminals had 20 or more convictions.
Something must be done to remove these perpetual repeat offenders off the streets of New York State and behind bars. This legislation would create the crime of aggravated criminal conduct where an individual commits a misdemeanor and has been previously subjected to four or more qualifying misdemeanor convictions within the preceding five years.
Legislative history
S.447 of 2015/16
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.