Bill Text: NY S07590 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the office of court administration to collect and maintain data on limited English proficient litigants in the state; requires such information be publicly available.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-10 - REFERRED TO JUDICIARY [S07590 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-S07590-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7590
                    IN SENATE
                                      May 10, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  KLEIN  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
        AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring  the  office
          of  court  administration  to  collect  and  maintain  data on limited
          English proficient litigants in the state
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 391 to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  391. Limited English proficient litigants data. 1. For the purposes
     4  of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a)  "language  assistance  services"  means  interpretation  services
     6  and/or  translation  services  provided  by  interpreter  personnel to a
     7  limited English proficient individual in his or her primary language  to
     8  ensure  such  individual's  ability  to  communicate  effectively with a
     9  court, court personnel and other parties;
    10    (b) "limited English proficient individual" means  an  individual  who
    11  identifies as being, or is evidently, unable to communicate meaningfully
    12  with  a  court, court personnel and other parties because English is not
    13  his or her primary language;
    14    (c) "primary language" means the language in which a  limited  English
    15  proficient individual chooses to communicate with others; and
    16    (d)  "translation  services"  means oral explanation or written trans-
    17  lation of documents.
    18    2. The office of court administration shall collect and maintain  data
    19  on  all  limited  English  proficient  individuals  who are litigants in
    20  courts within this state.  At a minimum, the office  of  court  adminis-
    21  tration shall collect and maintain data on the following:
    22    (a) the number of limited English proficient individuals who are liti-
    23  gants  in  courts  within this state, disaggregated by court and county,
    24  and the primary language of such individuals;
    25    (b) the number of such limited English proficient individuals actually
    26  served, disaggregated by court and county, the type of language  assist-
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15070-01-6
        S. 7590                             2
     1  ance  services  provided  and  the  primary  language  of the individual
     2  served; and
     3    (c) the number of interpreter personnel employed by the courts, disag-
     4  gregated  by court and county and the language translated or interpreted
     5  by such personnel.
     6    3. The office of court administration shall make the data required  by
     7  this section publicly available on its website.
     8    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     9  it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
    10  ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
    11  necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
    12  authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
    13  effective date.