What's happening
This bill requires courts to prioritize payment of traffic offense fines over mandatory surcharges when setting payment schedules.
Why it matters
Makes it easier for individuals to pay off actual fines for traffic offenses before being required to pay additional mandatory surcharges. , which can sometimes be higher than the original fine and create an added financial burden.
Could help reduce the risk of license suspension or additional penalties. for those who struggle to pay both fines and surcharges all at once, as courts will ensure payments first go toward the fine itself.
Shifts how payment plans are structured by courts. , potentially improving compliance rates and reducing court workloads related to unpaid surcharges and resulting enforcement actions.
Reflects an effort to address the disproportionate impact of court-imposed financial obligations on low-income individuals. , by prioritizing payment of the penalty most directly tied to the offense.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Fines Paid Before Surcharges
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Vetoed memo.239
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.638
- Substituted for A210
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1933
- Referred to rules
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.
Fines Paid Before Surcharges
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Donna Lupardo
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6684
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 13, 2017
Introduced by Sen. AKSHAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the payment of certain fines and mandatory surcharges
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 420.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new subdivision 9 to read as follows:
9. When the court imposes upon an individual both (a) a fine for an offense specified in subdivision nine of section eighteen hundred three of the vehicle and traffic law, and (b) a mandatory surcharge set forth in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section eighteen hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law, section eighteen hundred nine-c of the vehicle and traffic law or section eighteen hundred nine-e of the vehicle and traffic law, and imposes a schedule of payments, the court shall also direct that payment of the fine take priority over the payment of any such surcharge.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02168-01-7
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 the payment of certain fines and mandatory surcharges
Purpose or general idea of bill
To clarify that in instances where a court imposes a fine and a mandatory surcharge for a violation of the Vehicle and Traffic Law for an alcohol drug-related offense, the payment of the fine will take priority over payment of the surcharge.
Summary of specific provisions
This bill adds a new subdivision 9 to 420.10 of the Criminal Procedure Law to require that when a court imposes a fine for a drug or alcohol related offense under the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the payment of the fine will take priority in time over the payment of the surcharge.
Justification
The STOP-DWI Program was enacted by the Legislature in 1981 to empower local efforts to reduce alcohol and other drug-related crashes. The STOP-DWI Law (VTL S 1197) permits each of the States 57 counties and the City of New York to establish a STOP-DWI program which, in turn, qualifies the county/NYC for the return of all fines collected for alcohol and other drug-related traffic offenses occurring within its jurisdiction. The Program is funded exclusively by fines that are levied on convicted drunk drivers. Since its inception, the likelihood of being involved in a drunk driving crash has been reduced by almost 70%.
Nevertheless, over the years, ancillary legislation has chipped away at the viability of this landmark program. In 1983, in order to make up for a shortfall in the Crime Victims Compensation Fund, mandatory surcharges were imposed upon convictions for felonies, misdemeanors and offenses under the Penal Law and Vehicle & Traffic Law. Over the years, the surcharges have continued to proliferate as a result of subsequent State Budget shortfalls. Today, the three key surcharges that have been conjured up for budget relief add up to $5370 for misdemeanor DWI and $5495 for a felony DWI. Even the traffic infraction of DWAI includes $250 in surcharges. These do not include the $5750 "Driver Responsibility Assessment" imposed by DMV, or the $525 Crime Victims Fee imposed by the court along with the surcharges.
As the surcharges have increased, they have had the increasingly serious, unintended consequence of affecting both the imposition and collectability of underlying fines imposed for alcohol and other drug-related VTL convictions. With each increase, there has been a marked tendency by the courts to either cut back on the amount of fine set for the underlying charge or attempt to collect it through an installment plan. Moreover, because of the amount of the surcharge and the fact that it is collected first, the defendant is often unable or does not pay his fine in full (which serves as the primary punishment for this crime). In many of these situations, the courts are either unable or unwilling to track the increasing number of cases of uncollected fines. As a result, county programs receive less fine money to fund their successful prevention efforts. If not corrected, this will gradually undermine the financial backbone of the Program. To partly address this problem, this bill would require that when a fine and a surcharge are imposed by the court for alcohol and drag related offenses, the payment of the fine will take priority over payment of the surcharge.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
This bill will result in prioritizing funding to the county STOP-DWI Programs.
Effective date
The act shall take effect on the first of November after it becomes law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.