STATE OF NEW YORK
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9695
IN SENATE
May 21, 2024
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Introduced by Sen. BRISPORT -- (at request of the Office of Court Admin-
istration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to representation of
adults and children in family court proceedings; and to amend the
social services law, in relation to access by attorneys for adults and
children to records of the statewide registry of child abuse and
maltreatment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The part heading of part 6 of article 2 and section 261 of
2 the family court act, as added by chapter 682 of the laws of 1975, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 COUNSEL FOR [INDIGENT] ADULTS IN
5 FAMILY COURT PROCEEDINGS WHO ARE FINANCIALLY UNABLE TO OBTAIN
6 COUNSEL
7 § 261. Legislative findings and purpose. Persons involved in certain
8 family court proceedings may face the infringements of fundamental
9 interests and rights, including the loss of a child's society and the
10 possibility of criminal charges, and therefore have a constitutional
11 right to counsel in such proceedings. Counsel is often indispensable to
12 a practical realization of due process of law and [may be helpful to] in
13 helping the court [in making] to make reasoned determinations of fact
14 and proper orders of disposition. The purpose of this part is to provide
15 a means for implementing the right to assigned counsel for [indigent
16 persons] adults in proceedings under this act who are financially unable
17 to obtain counsel.
18 § 2. The section heading and subdivision (c) of section 262 of the
19 family court act, as added by chapter 682 of the laws of 1975, are
20 amended to read as follows:
21 Assignment of counsel for [indigent] persons who are financially
22 unable to obtain counsel.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14547-01-4
S. 9695 2
1 (c) Implementation. (i) Any order for the assignment of counsel issued
2 under this part shall be implemented as provided in article eighteen-B
3 of the county law.
4 (ii) The determination of whether persons are financially eligible for
5 assignment of counsel under this part shall be made in accordance with
6 rules promulgated by the chief administrator of the courts.
7 (iii) Where representation is provided to an eligible adult prior to
8 the filing of a petition under article ten or ten-A of this act or to a
9 parent, caretaker or interested adult prior to the filing of a petition
10 under article ten-C of this act, such representation shall be eligible
11 for compensation under paragraph (i) of this subdivision.
12 § 3. The family court act is amended by adding a new section 1016-a to
13 read as follows:
14 § 1016-a. Representation for adults subject to a child protective
15 services investigation and/or child protective proceeding. (a) An adult
16 who is the subject of a child protective services investigation has the
17 right to counsel prior to the initiation of any court proceeding. If
18 such a person appears in court without counsel at the first appearance
19 for any matter under this article, the court, at the outset of the
20 proceeding, shall inform the person of the right to be represented by
21 counsel of their own choosing, of the right to have an adjournment to
22 confer with counsel, and of the right to publicly funded legal represen-
23 tation if the person is financially unable to obtain counsel. For
24 purposes of this section, such person shall be referred to as an "eligi-
25 ble person".
26 (b) Whenever a person has been provided with publicly funded legal
27 representation under this article, such representation shall continue
28 during (i) the period in which an order of disposition issued by the
29 court pursuant to section one thousand fifty-two of this article direct-
30 ing supervision or protection or suspending judgment, or any extension
31 thereof, is in effect; (ii) an adjournment in contemplation of dismiss-
32 al, as provided for in section one thousand thirty-nine of this article,
33 or any extension thereof; (iii) a permanency hearing pursuant to subdi-
34 vision (b) of section one thousand ninety of this act; and (iv) the
35 pendency of a supplemental or related proceeding, including any period
36 of continuing jurisdiction.
37 (c) All notices and reports required by law and all motions made by
38 any other party to the proceeding or the attorney for the child shall be
39 served upon the attorney for the eligible person.
40 (d) Representation of the eligible person terminates only if the court
41 relieves the attorney, or a final order is issued and the eligible
42 person is informed of any existing right to appeal and declines to exer-
43 cise any existing right to appeal and where no further jurisdiction
44 continues under section one thousand eighty-eight of this act or any
45 other provision of law.
46 (e) The attorney for the eligible person may be relieved as counsel
47 upon application to the court for termination of the appointment. If
48 the application is approved and the person remains eligible for publicly
49 funded counsel, the court shall immediately appoint another attorney
50 pursuant to section two hundred sixty-two of this act, upon whom all
51 notices and reports required by law and all motions made by any other
52 party to the proceeding or the attorney for the child shall be served.
53 (f) The attorney for the eligible person shall be entitled to compen-
54 sation pursuant to applicable provisions of law for services rendered
55 prior to and subsequent to the filing of a petition under this article,
56 including disposition of the petition, as well as all permanency and
S. 9695 3
1 other post-dispositional, supplemental and related proceedings. The
2 court may receive and approve periodic requests by attorneys for payment
3 for all such services provided.
4 § 4. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (a) of section 1094 of the family
5 court act, as amended by chapter 3 of the laws of 2012, is amended to
6 read as follows:
7 (1) appoint an attorney to represent the child in accordance with
8 section two hundred forty-nine of this act, and appoint an attorney to
9 represent a parent, caretaker or interested adult in accordance with
10 paragraph (ix) of subdivision (a) of section two hundred sixty-two of
11 this act, if [he or she] such parent, caretaker or interested adult is
12 financially unable to obtain counsel; provided, however, that where
13 publicly funded representation was provided prior to the initial appear-
14 ance, including any period prior to the filing of a petition under this
15 article, such representation shall be eligible for compensation under
16 section two hundred sixty-two of this act;
17 § 5. Subparagraph (t) of paragraph (A) of subdivision 4 of section 422
18 of the social services law, as amended by chapter 41 of the laws of
19 2010, is amended to read as follows:
20 (t) an attorney [for] representing a child[, appointed pursuant to the
21 provisions of section one thousand sixteen of] or an adult in any
22 proceeding under the family court act, social services law or domestic
23 relations law, or an attorney representing an adult who is the subject
24 of, or is another person named in the report, as defined in subdivisions
25 four and five, respectively, of section four hundred twelve of this
26 title, at any time such [appointment is in effect, in relation to any
27 report in which the respondent in the proceeding in which the attorney
28 for a child has been appointed is the subject or another person named in
29 the report, pursuant to sections one thousand thirty-nine-a and one
30 thousand fifty-two-a of the family court act] attorney provides repre-
31 sentation; provided, however, that a prospective attorney for a child or
32 for an adult who is the subject of, or is another person named in, the
33 report may have access to a report made pursuant to this title where
34 necessary to ascertain whether any conflict of interest would prevent
35 their representation; to assist the child or adult during the investi-
36 gation of such report; and to prepare for initial proceedings that
37 accompany the filing of a petition under the family court act, social
38 services law or domestic relations law;
39 § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
40 have become a law.