New York A 5492: Relates to establishing a judicial diversion program for young defendants

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A05492 Summary:

BILL NOA05492 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORJackson

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSR

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Add Art 217 §§217.00 & 217.05, CP L

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Relates to establishing a judicial diversion program for young defendants.

Go to top A05492 Actions:

BILL NOA05492 

&nbsp

02/14/2025referred to codes

01/07/2026referred to codes

Go to topA05492 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA05492 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA05492 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 5492

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 February 14, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. JACKSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
 tee on Codes

 AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to establishing
 a judicial diversion program for young defendants

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new arti-
 2 cle 217 to read as follows:
 3 ARTICLE 217
 4 JUDICIAL DIVERSION PROGRAM FOR YOUNG DEFENDANTS
 5 Section 217.00 Definitions.
 6 217.05 Judicial diversion program; court procedures.
 7 § 217.00 Definitions. The following definitions are applicable to this
 8 article:
 9 1. "Eligible defendant" shall mean any person under the age of twen-
 10 ty-four who stands charged with any non-violent felony or misdemeanor.
 11 For purposes of this section, "non-violent felony" shall mean and
 12 include any felony not defined in subdivision one of section 70.02 of
 13 the penal law. A defendant is not an "eligible defendant" if they:
 14 (a) within the preceding ten years, excluding any time during which
 15 the offender was incarcerated for any reason between the time of commis-
 16 sion of the previous offense and the time of commission of the present
 17 offense, has previously been convicted of: (i) a violent felony offense
 18 as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or (ii) any other offense
 19 for which a merit time allowance is not available pursuant to subpara-
 20 graph (ii) of paragraph (d) of subdivision one of section eight hundred
 21 three of the correction law; or
 22 (b) has previously been adjudicated a second violent felony offender
 23 pursuant to section 70.04 of the penal law or a persistent violent felo-
 24 ny offender pursuant to section 70.08 of the penal law.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD03991-01-5

 A. 5492 2

 1 A defendant who also stands charged with a violent felony offense as
 2 defined in section 70.02 of the penal law or an offense for which merit
 3 time allowance is not available pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of para-
 4 graph (d) of subdivision one of section eight hundred three of the
 5 correction law for which the court must, upon the defendant's conviction
 6 thereof, sentence the defendant to incarceration in state prison is not
 7 an eligible defendant while such charges are pending. A defendant who is
 8 excluded from the judicial diversion program pursuant to this paragraph
 9 or paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision may become an eligible
 10 defendant upon the prosecutor's consent.
 11 2. "Job training program" shall mean a program administered by the
 12 department of labor, including but not limited to programs that provide
 13 businesses with wage reimbursements or other stipends under the unem-
 14 ployment strikeforce, that provides participants with job training, job
 15 opportunities, and wages whose goal is to aid young and/or unemployed
 16 individuals' participation in the job market.
 17 § 217.05 Judicial diversion program; court procedures.
 18 1. At any time after the arraignment of an eligible defendant, but
 19 prior to the entry of a plea of guilty or the commencement of trial, the
 20 court may determine that an eligible defendant should be offered judi-
 21 cial diversion in a specified job training program or programs identi-
 22 fied by the court. An eligible defendant may decline to participate in
 23 such a program at any time. Prior to the court's issuing an order grant-
 24 ing judicial diversion, the eligible defendant shall be required to
 25 enter a p