Bill Text: NY S02434 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the crimes of bribery and abuse of public trust.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-17 - REFERRED TO CODES [S02434 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S02434-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2434 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 17, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in relation to bribery and abuse of public trust The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 200.03 of the penal law, as amended by section 18 2 of subpart A of part H of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 § 200.03 Bribery in the second degree. 5 A person is guilty of bribery in the second degree when [he] such 6 person confers, or offers or agrees to confer, any benefit valued in 7 excess of [five] one thousand dollars upon a public servant [upon an8agreement or understanding] with an intent to influence that such public 9 servant's vote, opinion, judgment, action, decision or exercise of 10 discretion as a public servant will thereby be influenced. 11 Bribery in the second degree is a class C felony. 12 § 2. Section 200.04 of the penal law, as amended by section 19 of 13 subpart A of part H of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, is amended to 14 read as follows: 15 § 200.04 Bribery in the first degree. 16 A person is guilty of bribery in the first degree when [the] such 17 person confers, or offers or agrees to confer: (1) any benefit upon a 18 public servant [upon an agreement or understanding] with an intent to 19 influence that such public servant's vote, opinion, judgment, action, 20 decision or exercise of discretion as a public servant will thereby be 21 influenced in the investigation, arrest, detention, prosecution or 22 incarceration of any person for the commission or alleged commission of 23 a class A felony defined in article two hundred twenty of this part or 24 an attempt to commit any such class A felony; or (2) any benefit valued 25 in excess of [one hundred] three thousand dollars upon a public servant 26 [upon an agreement or understanding] with an intent to influence that 27 such public servant's vote, opinion, judgment, action, decision or exer- 28 cise of discretion as a public servant will thereby be influenced. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05642-01-5S. 2434 2 1 Bribery in the first degree is a class B felony. 2 § 3. Section 200.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 833 of the 3 laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows: 4 § 200.00 Bribery in the third degree. 5 A person is guilty of bribery in the third degree when [he] such 6 person confers, or offers or agrees to confer, any benefit upon a public 7 servant [upon an agreement or understanding] with an intent to influence 8 that such public servant's vote, opinion, judgment, action, decision or 9 exercise of discretion as a public servant will thereby be influenced. 10 Bribery in the third degree is a class D felony. 11 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 80.00 of the penal law, as amended by 12 section 27 of subpart A of part H of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, is 13 amended to read as follows: 14 1. A sentence to pay a fine for a felony shall be a sentence to pay an 15 amount, fixed by the court, not exceeding the higher of 16 a. five thousand dollars; or 17 b. double the amount of the defendant's gain from the commission of 18 the crime or, if the defendant is convicted of a crime defined in arti- 19 cle four hundred ninety-six of this chapter, any higher amount not 20 exceeding three times the amount of the defendant's gain from the 21 commission of such offense; or 22 c. if the conviction is for any felony defined in article two hundred 23 twenty [or two hundred twenty-one] of this chapter, according to the 24 following schedule: 25 (i) for A-I felonies, one hundred thousand dollars; 26 (ii) for A-II felonies, fifty thousand dollars; 27 (iii) for B felonies, thirty thousand dollars; 28 (iv) for C felonies, fifteen thousand dollars. 29 When imposing a fine pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, the 30 court shall consider the profit gained by defendant's conduct, whether 31 the amount of the fine is disproportionate to the conduct in which 32 defendant engaged, its impact on any victims, and defendant's economic 33 circumstances, including the defendant's ability to pay, the effect of 34 the fine upon [his or her] the defendant's immediate family or any other 35 persons to whom the defendant owes an obligation of support; or 36 d. for an abuse of public trust crime, as defined in section 196.00 of 37 this chapter, or any offense for which the offender's status as a public 38 servant constitutes an element of the offense as enumerated in paragraph 39 (b) of subdivision one of section 196.00 of this chapter, the court, in 40 addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to law, 41 shall impose a fine in accordance with the provisions of paragraph a or 42 b of this subdivision, whichever is greater. 43 § 5. Section 195.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 906 of the 44 laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows: 45 § 195.00 Official misconduct in the third degree. 46 A public servant is guilty of official misconduct in the third degree 47 when, with intent to obtain a benefit or deprive another person of a 48 benefit: 49 1. [He] the public servant commits an act relating to [his] such 50 public servant's office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of 51 [his] the official functions of the office, knowing that such act is 52 unauthorized; or 53 2. [He] the public servant knowingly refrains from performing a duty 54 which is imposed upon [him] the public servant by law or is clearly 55 inherent in the nature of [his] the office.S. 2434 3 1 Official misconduct in the third degree is a class [A misdemeanor] E 2 felony. 3 § 6. The penal law is amended by adding two new sections 195.03 and 4 195.04 to read as follows: 5 § 195.03 Official misconduct in the second degree. 6 A public servant is guilty of official misconduct in the second degree 7 when the public servant commits the crime of official misconduct in the 8 third degree and the public servant obtains any benefit or deprives 9 another person of a benefit valued in excess of one thousand dollars. 10 Official misconduct in the second degree is a class D felony. 11 § 195.04 Official misconduct in the first degree. 12 A public servant is guilty of official misconduct in the first degree 13 when the public servant commits the crime of official misconduct in the 14 third degree and the public servant obtains any benefit or deprives 15 another person of a benefit valued in excess of three thousand dollars. 16 Official misconduct in the first degree is a class C felony. 17 § 7. The penal law is amended by adding a new article 196 to read as 18 follows: 19 ARTICLE 196 20 ABUSE OF PUBLIC TRUST 21 Section 196.00 Abuse of public trust crime. 22 § 196.00 Abuse of public trust crime. 23 1. (a) A person commits an abuse of public trust crime when such 24 person commits a felony offense and either: 25 (i) intentionally uses such person's position as a public servant in a 26 manner that significantly facilitates the commission or concealment of 27 the offense; or 28 (ii) attempts, conspires or solicits another to commit any felony, and 29 in such attempt, conspiracy or solicitation intentionally uses such 30 person's position as a public servant to significantly facilitate the 31 commission or concealment of the offense. 32 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subdivision, an abuse of 33 public trust crime shall not include any offense for which the 34 offender's status as a public servant constitutes an element of the 35 offense, including, but not limited to, the following provisions of this 36 chapter: paragraph (g) of subdivision three of section 135.35 (labor 37 trafficking); subdivision eight of section 135.60 (coercion in the third 38 degree); section 135.61 (coercion in the second degree); paragraph (c) 39 of subdivision two of section 135.65 (coercion in the first degree); 40 paragraph (c) of subdivision two of section 155.40 (grand larceny in the 41 second degree); section 175.40 (issuing a false certificate); section 42 195.00 (official misconduct); section 200.10 (bribe receiving in the 43 third degree); section 200.11 (bribe receiving in the second degree); 44 section 200.12 (bribe receiving in the first degree); section 200.25 45 (receiving reward for official misconduct in the second degree); section 46 200.27 (receiving reward for official misconduct in the first degree); 47 section 200.35 (receiving unlawful gratuities); section 200.50 (bribe 48 receiving for public office); paragraph (g) of subdivision five of 49 section 230.34 (sex trafficking); or any attempt or conspiracy to commit 50 any of the foregoing offenses. 51 2. When a person is convicted of an abuse of public trust crime pursu- 52 ant to subdivision one of this section and the specified offense is a 53 class C, D or E felony, the crime shall be deemed to be one category 54 higher than the specified offense the defendant committed, or one cate- 55 gory higher than the offense level applicable to the defendant'sS. 2434 4 1 conviction for an attempt or conspiracy to commit a specified offense, 2 whichever is applicable. 3 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is 4 convicted of a crime pursuant to subdivision one of this section and the 5 specified offense is a class B felony: 6 (a) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence must be at least 7 six years if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.00 of 8 this chapter; 9 (b) the term of the determinate sentence must be at least eight years 10 if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.02 of this chapter; 11 (c) the term of the determinate sentence must be at least twelve years 12 if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.04 of this chapter; 13 (d) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence must be at least 14 four years if the defendant is sentenced pursuant to section 70.05 of 15 this chapter; and 16 (e) the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence or the term of the 17 determinate sentence must be at least ten years if the defendant is 18 sentenced pursuant to section 70.06 of this chapter. 19 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is 20 convicted of a crime pursuant to subdivision one of this section and the 21 specified offense is a class A-I felony, the minimum period of the inde- 22 terminate sentence shall be not less than twenty years. 23 § 8. Subdivision 4 of section 200.50 of the criminal procedure law, as 24 amended by section 15 of subpart A of part H of chapter 55 of the laws 25 of 2014, is amended to read as follows: 26 4. A statement in each count that the grand jury, or, where the accu- 27 satory instrument is a superior court information, the district attor- 28 ney, accuses the defendant or defendants of a designated offense, 29 provided that in any prosecution under article four hundred eighty-five 30 of the penal law, the designated offense shall be the specified offense, 31 as defined in subdivision three of section 485.05 of the penal law, 32 followed by the phrase "as a hate crime", and provided further that in 33 any prosecution under section 490.25 of the penal law, the designated 34 offense shall be the specified offense, as defined in subdivision three 35 of section 490.05 of the penal law, followed by the phrase "as a crime 36 of terrorism"; and provided further that in any prosecution under 37 section 130.91 of the penal law, the designated offense shall be the 38 specified offense, as defined in subdivision two of section 130.91 of 39 the penal law, followed by the phrase "as a sexually motivated felony"; 40 and provided further that in any prosecution under section 496.06 of the 41 penal law, the designated offense shall be the specified offense, as 42 defined in subdivision two of such section, followed by the phrase "as a 43 public corruption crime"; and provided further that in any prosecution 44 under article one hundred ninety-six of the penal law, the designated 45 offense shall be the designated felony offense, as defined in subdivi- 46 sion two of section 196.00 of the penal law, followed by the phrase "as 47 an abuse of public trust crime"; and 48 § 9. Subdivision 7 of section 200.50 of the criminal procedure law is 49 amended by adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows: 50 (f) in the case of an abuse of public trust crime, as defined in 51 section 196.00 of the penal law, specifies, as applicable, that the 52 defendant or defendants committed, or attempted, conspired or solicited 53 another to commit, a felony and intentionally used the defendant's posi- 54 tion as a public servant in a manner that significantly facilitated the 55 commission or concealment of the offense; and 56 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.
