Bill Text: NY A03927 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Classifies falsely reporting child abuse or maltreatment or abuse or neglect of a vulnerable person as a family offense under the concurrent jurisdiction of the family court and the criminal courts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-30 - referred to judiciary [A03927 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-A03927-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3927 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the family court act and the criminal procedure law, in relation to false reports of child abuse or maltreatment or abuse or neglect of a vulnerable person The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 812 of the family court act, as 2 amended by chapter 541 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 1. Jurisdiction. The family court and the criminal courts shall have 5 concurrent jurisdiction over any proceeding concerning acts which would 6 constitute falsely reporting an incident in the third degree as set 7 forth in subdivision four of section 240.50 of the penal law, disorderly 8 conduct, unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image, 9 harassment in the first degree, harassment in the second degree, aggra- 10 vated harassment in the second degree, sexual misconduct, forcible 11 touching, sexual abuse in the third degree, sexual abuse in the second 12 degree as set forth in subdivision one of section 130.60 of the penal 13 law, stalking in the first degree, stalking in the second degree, stalk- 14 ing in the third degree, stalking in the fourth degree, criminal 15 mischief, menacing in the second degree, menacing in the third degree, 16 reckless endangerment, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circu- 17 lation, strangulation in the second degree, strangulation in the first 18 degree, assault in the second degree, assault in the third degree, an 19 attempted assault, identity theft in the first degree, identity theft in 20 the second degree, identity theft in the third degree, grand larceny in 21 the fourth degree, grand larceny in the third degree, coercion in the 22 second degree or coercion in the third degree as set forth in subdivi- 23 sions one, two and three of section 135.60 of the penal law between 24 spouses or former spouses, or between parent and child or between EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01673-01-5A. 3927 2 1 members of the same family or household except that if the respondent 2 would not be criminally responsible by reason of age pursuant to section 3 30.00 of the penal law, then the family court shall have exclusive 4 jurisdiction over such proceeding. Notwithstanding a complainant's 5 election to proceed in family court, the criminal court shall not be 6 divested of jurisdiction to hear a family offense proceeding pursuant to 7 this section. In any proceeding pursuant to this article, a court shall 8 not deny an order of protection, or dismiss a petition, solely on the 9 basis that the acts or events alleged are not relatively contemporaneous 10 with the date of the petition, the conclusion of the fact-finding or the 11 conclusion of the dispositional hearing. For purposes of this article, 12 "disorderly conduct" includes disorderly conduct not in a public place. 13 For purposes of this article, "members of the same family or household" 14 shall mean the following: 15 (a) persons related by consanguinity or affinity; 16 (b) persons legally married to one another; 17 (c) persons formerly married to one another regardless of whether they 18 still reside in the same household; 19 (d) persons who have a child in common regardless of whether such 20 persons have been married or have lived together at any time; 21 (e) persons who are not related by consanguinity or affinity and who 22 are or have been in an intimate relationship regardless of whether such 23 persons have lived together at any time. Factors the court may consider 24 in determining whether a relationship is an "intimate relationship" 25 include but are not limited to: the nature or type of relationship, 26 regardless of whether the relationship is sexual in nature; the frequen- 27 cy of interaction between the persons; and the duration of the relation- 28 ship. Neither a casual acquaintance nor ordinary fraternization between 29 two individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed to 30 constitute an "intimate relationship"; and 31 (f) persons who are related by consanguinity or affinity to parties 32 who are or have been in an intimate relationship as defined in paragraph 33 (e) of this subdivision. 34 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 530.11 of the criminal procedure law, as 35 amended by chapter 541 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as 36 follows: 37 1. Jurisdiction. The family court and the criminal courts shall have 38 concurrent jurisdiction over any proceeding concerning acts which would 39 constitute falsely reporting an incident in the third degree as set 40 forth in subdivision four of section 240.50 of the penal law, disorderly 41 conduct, unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image, 42 harassment in the first degree, harassment in the second degree, aggra- 43 vated harassment in the second degree, sexual misconduct, forcible 44 touching, sexual abuse in the third degree, sexual abuse in the second 45 degree as set forth in subdivision one of section 130.60 of the penal 46 law, stalking in the first degree, stalking in the second degree, stalk- 47 ing in the third degree, stalking in the fourth degree, criminal 48 mischief, menacing in the second degree, menacing in the third degree, 49 reckless endangerment, strangulation in the first degree, strangulation 50 in the second degree, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circu- 51 lation, assault in the second degree, assault in the third degree, an 52 attempted assault, identity theft in the first degree, identity theft in 53 the second degree, identity theft in the third degree, grand larceny in 54 the fourth degree, grand larceny in the third degree, coercion in the 55 second degree or coercion in the third degree as set forth in subdivi- 56 sions one, two and three of section 135.60 of the penal law betweenA. 3927 3 1 spouses or former spouses, or between parent and child or between 2 members of the same family or household except that if the respondent 3 would not be criminally responsible by reason of age pursuant to section 4 30.00 of the penal law, then the family court shall have exclusive 5 jurisdiction over such proceeding. Notwithstanding a complainant's 6 election to proceed in family court, the criminal court shall not be 7 divested of jurisdiction to hear a family offense proceeding pursuant to 8 this section. For purposes of this section, "disorderly conduct" 9 includes disorderly conduct not in a public place. For purposes of this 10 section, "members of the same family or household" with respect to a 11 proceeding in the criminal courts shall mean the following: 12 (a) persons related by consanguinity or affinity; 13 (b) persons legally married to one another; 14 (c) persons formerly married to one another regardless of whether they 15 still reside in the same household; 16 (d) persons who have a child in common, regardless of whether such 17 persons have been married or have lived together at any time; 18 (e) persons who are not related by consanguinity or affinity and who 19 are or have been in an intimate relationship regardless of whether such 20 persons have lived together at any time. Factors the court may consider 21 in determining whether a relationship is an "intimate relationship" 22 include but are not limited to: the nature or type of relationship, 23 regardless of whether the relationship is sexual in nature; the frequen- 24 cy of interaction between the persons; and the duration of the relation- 25 ship. Neither a casual acquaintance nor ordinary fraternization between 26 two individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed to 27 constitute an "intimate relationship"; and 28 (f) persons who are related by consanguinity or affinity to parties 29 who are or have been in an intimate relationship as defined in paragraph 30 (e) of this subdivision. 31 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
