Bill Text: NY S04796 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to the proper venue for an impounding organization to file a petition for a security to be paid by the owner of a seized animal currently in the care of such organization.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-04-30 - SUBSTITUTED BY A62A [S04796 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S04796-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4796
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                      March 1, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  LANZA  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture
        AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets  law,  in  relation  to  the
          posting  of security by a person against whom certain criminal charges
          are pending
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Paragraph a and subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivi-
     2  sion 6 of section 373 of the agriculture and markets law, as amended  by
     3  chapter 531 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
     4    a. If any animal is seized and impounded pursuant to the provisions of
     5  this  section,  section three hundred fifty-three-d [of this article] or
     6  [section] three hundred seventy-five of this article for  any  violation
     7  of  this  article,  [upon arraignment of charges, or within a reasonable
     8  time thereafter,] the duly incorporated society for  the  prevention  of
     9  cruelty to animals, humane society, pound, animal shelter or any author-
    10  ized  agents  thereof,  hereinafter referred to for the purposes of this
    11  section as the "impounding organization", may file a petition, with  the
    12  court in which criminal charges have or will be brought, requesting that
    13  the  person  [from  whom an animal is seized or the owner of the animal]
    14  against whom criminal charges are pending ("the defendant")  be  ordered
    15  to  post a security. If the defendant is issued an appearance ticket, as
    16  defined in subdivision twenty-six of section 1.20 of the criminal proce-
    17  dure law, the petition may be filed upon the issuance of such appearance
    18  ticket or within a reasonable time  thereafter.  In  all  other  circum-
    19  stances, the petition may be filed upon arraignment of charges or within
    20  a  reasonable  time  thereafter.  The  district attorney prosecuting the
    21  charges may file and obtain  the  requested  relief  on  behalf  of  the
    22  impounding  organization  if requested to do so by the impounding organ-
    23  ization. The security shall be in an amount sufficient to secure payment
    24  for all reasonable expenses expected to be incurred  by  the  impounding
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06444-01-7
        S. 4796                             2
     1  organization  in caring and providing for the animal pending disposition
     2  of the charges. Reasonable expenses shall include, but  not  be  limited
     3  to, estimated medical care and boarding of the animal for at least thir-
     4  ty  days. The amount of the security, if any, shall be determined by the
     5  court after taking into consideration all of the facts and circumstances
     6  of the case including, but not limited  to  the  recommendation  of  the
     7  impounding organization having custody and care of the seized animal and
     8  the  cost  of  caring  for  the animal. If a security has been posted in
     9  accordance with this section, the impounding organization may draw  from
    10  the  security  the actual reasonable costs to be incurred by such organ-
    11  ization in caring for the seized animal.
    12    (1) Upon receipt of a petition pursuant to paragraph a of this  subdi-
    13  vision  the  court  shall  set a hearing on the petition to be conducted
    14  within ten business days of the filing of such petition. The  petitioner
    15  shall  serve  a  true  copy  of  the petition upon the defendant and the
    16  district attorney if the district attorney has not filed the petition on
    17  behalf of the petitioner.  If the petition is filed after  the  issuance
    18  of an appearance ticket but prior to arraignment on charges, service may
    19  be  effectuated  by  serving  a  true  copy  thereof personally upon the
    20  defendant, or by sending a true copy thereof by certified  mail  to  the
    21  address of the defendant. The petitioner shall also serve a true copy of
    22  the petition on any interested person. For purposes of this subdivision,
    23  interested  person  shall  mean  an individual, partnership, firm, joint
    24  stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate  or  other  legal
    25  entity  who  the court determines may have [a] an ownership or pecuniary
    26  interest in the animal which is the subject of the petition.   Provided,
    27  that,  if a petition is filed after the issuance of an appearance ticket
    28  but prior to arraignment on charges, and the  defendant  does  not  have
    29  counsel  at  the  time  of arraignment, the court may assign counsel for
    30  purposes of the petition if such defendant  is  otherwise  eligible  for
    31  appointed counsel for the underlying criminal offense. The petitioner or
    32  the district attorney acting on behalf of the petitioner, shall have the
    33  burden  of  proving  by a preponderance of the evidence that the [person
    34  from whom the animal was seized] defendant violated a provision of  this
    35  article. The court may waive for good cause shown the posting of securi-
    36  ty.
    37    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    38  have become a law.