STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9544
IN SENATE
August 31, 2022
___________
Introduced by Sen. SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to criminal contempt and
escape; and to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to arrest
and securing orders for persons charged with certain contempt offenses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 215.50 of the penal law, as
2 amended by chapter 702 of the laws of 1972, is amended and a new subdi-
3 vision 8 is added to read as follows:
4 7. On or along a public street or sidewalk within a radius of two
5 hundred feet of any building established as a courthouse, he calls
6 aloud, shouts, holds or displays placards or signs containing written or
7 printed matter, concerning the conduct of a trial being held in such
8 courthouse or the character of the court or jury engaged in such trial
9 or calling for or demanding any specified action or determination by
10 such court or jury in connection with such trial[.]; or
11 8. Violates any terms or conditions of court ordered supervision,
12 either before or after a conviction, and such violation involves:
13 a. violating any curfew set by the court or supervising entity;
14 b. entering a location such person is prohibited from entering under
15 the terms of the supervision;
16 c. absconding from court ordered supervision;
17 d. possessing a firearm, destructive device or dangerous weapon; or
18 e. tampering with or destroying electronic monitoring equipment.
19 § 2. Subdivision (d) of section 215.51 of the penal law, as amended by
20 chapter 597 of the laws of 1998, is amended and a new subdivision (e) is
21 added to read as follows:
22 (d) in violation of a duly served order of protection, or such order
23 of which the defendant has actual knowledge because he or she was pres-
24 ent in court when such order was issued, or an order issued by a court
25 of competent jurisdiction in this or another state, territorial or
26 tribal jurisdiction, he or she intentionally or recklessly damages the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16242-01-2
S. 9544 2
1 property of a person for whose protection such order was issued in an
2 amount exceeding two hundred fifty dollars[.]; or
3 (e) he or she commits the crime of criminal contempt in the second
4 degree as defined in subdivision eight of section 215.50 of this article
5 and has previously been convicted of the crime of aggravated criminal
6 contempt or criminal contempt in the first or second degree within the
7 preceding five years.
8 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 205.10 of the penal law, as added by
9 chapter 118 of the laws of 1980, is amended and a new subdivision 4 is
10 added to read as follows:
11 3. Having been adjudicated a youthful offender, which finding was
12 substituted for the conviction of a felony, he or she escapes from
13 custody[.]; or
14 4. While under court ordered supervision involving electronic monitor-
15 ing, he or she absconds from supervision while still in possession of
16 equipment for such electronic monitoring.
17 § 4. Paragraph (h) subdivision 4 section 510.10 of the criminal proce-
18 dure law, as amended by section 2 of part UU of chapter 56 of the laws
19 of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
20 (h) criminal contempt in the second degree as defined in subdivision
21 three or subdivision eight of section 215.50 of the penal law, criminal
22 contempt in the first degree as defined in subdivision (b), (c) [or],
23 (d), or (e) of section 215.51 of the penal law or aggravated criminal
24 contempt as defined in section 215.52 of the penal law[, and the under-
25 lying allegation of such charge of criminal contempt in the second
26 degree, criminal contempt in the first degree or aggravated criminal
27 contempt is that the defendant violated a duly served order of
28 protection where the protected party is a member of the defendant's same
29 family or household as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of
30 this title];
31 § 5. Subparagraph (viii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section
32 530.20 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by section 3 of part UU
33 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
34 (viii) criminal contempt in the second degree as defined in subdivi-
35 sion three or subdivision eight of section 215.50 of the penal law,
36 criminal contempt in the first degree as defined in subdivision (b), (c)
37 [or], (d), or (e) of section 215.51 of the penal law or aggravated crim-
38 inal contempt as defined in section 215.52 of the penal law[, and the
39 underlying allegation of such charge of criminal contempt in the second
40 degree, criminal contempt in the first degree or aggravated criminal
41 contempt is that the defendant violated a duly served order of
42 protection where the protected party is a member of the defendant's same
43 family or household as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of
44 this article];
45 § 6. Paragraph (h) of subdivision 4 of section 530.40 of the criminal
46 procedure law, as amended by section 4 of part UU of chapter 56 of the
47 laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
48 (h) criminal contempt in the second degree as defined in subdivision
49 three or subdivision eight of section 215.50 of the penal law, criminal
50 contempt in the first degree as defined in subdivision (b), (c) [or],
51 (d), or (e) of section 215.51 of the penal law or aggravated criminal
52 contempt as defined in section 215.52 of the penal law [, and the under-
53 lying allegation of such charge of criminal contempt in the second
54 degree, criminal contempt in the first degree or aggravated criminal
55 contempt is that the defendant violated a duly served order of
56 protection where the protected party is a member of the defendant's same
S. 9544 3
1 family or household as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of
2 this article];
3 § 7. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 140.10 of the criminal
4 procedure law, as amended by chapter 4 of the laws of 1997, is amended
5 and a new paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:
6 (c) a misdemeanor constituting a family offense, as described in
7 subdivision one of section 530.11 of this chapter and section eight
8 hundred twelve of the family court act, has been committed by such
9 person against such family or household member, unless the victim
10 requests otherwise. The officer shall neither inquire as to whether the
11 victim seeks an arrest of such person nor threaten the arrest of any
12 person for the purpose of discouraging requests for police intervention.
13 Notwithstanding the foregoing, when an officer has reasonable cause to
14 believe that more than one family or household member has committed such
15 a misdemeanor, the officer is not required to arrest each such person.
16 In such circumstances, the officer shall attempt to identify and arrest
17 the primary physical aggressor after considering: (i) the comparative
18 extent of any injuries inflicted by and between the parties; (ii) wheth-
19 er any such person is threatening or has threatened future harm against
20 another party or another family or household member; (iii) whether any
21 such person has a prior history of domestic violence that the officer
22 can reasonably ascertain; and (iv) whether any such person acted defen-
23 sively to protect himself or herself from injury. The officer shall
24 evaluate each complaint separately to determine who is the primary phys-
25 ical aggressor and shall not base the decision to arrest or not to
26 arrest on the willingness of a person to testify or otherwise partic-
27 ipate in a judicial proceeding[.]; or
28 (d) such person has committed the offense of criminal contempt in the
29 second degree, as defined in section 215.50 of the penal law, criminal
30 contempt in the first degree, as defined in section 215.51 of the penal
31 law, or aggravated criminal contempt, as defined in section 215.52 of
32 the penal law.
33 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
34 orders of protection regardless of when such orders were issued;
35 provided, however, that the amendments to subdivision 4 of section
36 140.10 of the criminal procedure law, made by section seven of this act,
37 shall not affect the repeal of such subdivision, and shall be deemed
38 repealed therewith.