2022 New York Laws
CPL - Criminal Procedure
Part 2 - The Principal Proceedings
Title L - Sentence
Article 420 - Fines, Restitution and Reparation
420.35 - Mandatory Surcharge and Crime Victim Assistance Fee; Applicability to Sentences Mandating Payment of Fines.
§ 420.35 Mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee;
applicability to sentences mandating payment of fines.
1. The provisions of section 420.10 of this article governing the
collection of fines and the provisions of section 420.40 of this article
governing deferral of mandatory surcharges, sex offender registration
fees, DNA databank fees and financial hardship hearings and the
provisions of section 430.20 of this chapter governing the commitment of
a defendant for failure to pay a fine shall be applicable to a mandatory
surcharge, sex offender registration fee, DNA databank fee and a crime
victim assistance fee imposed pursuant to subdivision one of section
60.35 of the penal law, subdivision twenty-a of section three hundred
eighty-five of the vehicle and traffic law, subdivision nineteen-a of
section four hundred one of the vehicle and traffic law, or a mandatory
surcharge imposed pursuant to section eighteen hundred nine of the
vehicle and traffic law or section 27.12 of the parks, recreation and
historic preservation law. When the court directs that the defendant be
imprisoned until the mandatory surcharge, sex offender registration fee
or DNA databank fee is satisfied, it must specify a maximum period of
imprisonment not to exceed fifteen days; provided, however, a court may
not direct that a defendant be imprisoned until the mandatory surcharge,
sex offender registration fee, or DNA databank fee is satisfied or
otherwise for failure to pay the mandatory surcharge, sex offender
registration fee or DNA databank fee unless the court makes a
contemporaneous finding on the record, after according defendant notice
and an opportunity to be heard, that the payment of the mandatory
surcharge, sex offender registration fee or DNA databank fee upon
defendant will not work an unreasonable hardship upon him or her or his
or her immediate family.
2. Except as provided in this subdivision or subdivision two-a of this
section, under no circumstances shall the mandatory surcharge, sex
offender registration fee, DNA databank fee or the crime victim
assistance fee be waived. A court shall waive any mandatory surcharge,
DNA databank fee and crime victim assistance fee when: (i) the defendant
is convicted of prostitution under section 230.00 of the penal law; (ii)
the defendant is convicted of a violation in the event such conviction
is in lieu of a plea to or conviction for prostitution under section
230.00 of the penal law; (iii) the court finds that a defendant is a
victim of sex trafficking under section 230.34 of the penal law or a
victim of trafficking in persons under the trafficking victims
protection act (United States Code, Title 22, Chapter 78); or (iv) the
court finds that the defendant is a victim of sex trafficking of a child
under section 230.34-a of the penal law.
2-a. A court may waive any mandatory surcharge, additional surcharge,
town or village surcharge, the crime victim assistance fee, DNA databank
fee, sex offender registration fee and/or supplemental sex offender
victim fee when the court finds that the defendant was under the age of
twenty-one at the time the offense was committed and: (a) the imposition of such surcharge or fee would work an unreasonable
hardship on the defendant, his or her immediate family, or any other
person who is dependent on such defendant for financial support; or
(b) after considering the goal of promoting successful and productive
reentry and reintegration as set forth in subdivision six of section
1.05 of the penal law, the imposition of such surcharge or fee would
adversely impact the defendant's reintegration into society; or
(c) the interests of justice.
3. It shall be the duty of a court of record or administrative
tribunal to report to the division of criminal justice services on the
disposition and collection of mandatory surcharges, sex offender
registration fees or DNA databank fees and crime victim assistance fees.
Such report shall include, for all cases, whether the surcharge, sex
offender registration fee, DNA databank fee or crime victim assistance
fee levied pursuant to subdivision one of section 60.35 of the penal law
or section eighteen hundred nine of the vehicle and traffic law has been
imposed pursuant to law, collected, or is to be collected by probation
or corrections or other officials. The form, manner and frequency of
such reports shall be determined by the commissioner of the division of
criminal justice services after consultation with the chief
administrator of the courts and the commissioner of the department of
motor vehicles.
