NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A7717
SPONSOR: Wallace
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to extreme
risk protection orders
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To amend the definition of "petitioner" under New York State's Extreme
Risk Protection Order (ERPO).
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
§ 1 - Amends the definition of "petitioner" under New York State's ERPO
statute to replace police officer with police agency.
§ 2 - This act shall take effect immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2019, New York State's Extreme Risk Protection Order
(ERPO)legislation went into effect, which provides a legal avenue to
temporarily restrict access to firearms for those who pose a serious
risk of harm to themselves or others. While police officers, district
attorney's and schools can commence an ERPO, the vast majority of or
ERPOs are being filed by law enforcement.
In 2020, judges issued protection orders against 255 people across New
York. This year, in just over four months, the number of individuals
subjected to emergency or temporary risk protection orders topped 2,120.
And between 2020 and last November, State Police had seized 2,521
firearms under emergency protection orders - a figure that does not
include seizures made by more than 150 other New York police agencies.
Due to the increasing amount of ERPOs that police officers are required
to file with their individual names as the petitioner, it is creating
challenges in the officers' personal lives. Police officers have had
complications with mortgage applications and other situations which
require a search of civil lawsuits in which they are a party.
This minor amendment to allow the police agency to be listed as the
petitioner in lieu of the police officer's name would alleviate this
situation.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7717
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to extreme
risk protection orders
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 6340 of the civil practice law and
2 rules, as amended by chapter 208 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 2. "Petitioner" means: (a) a police [officer, as defined in section
5 1.20 of the criminal procedure law] agency, department or division of
6 the state or any political subdivision thereof, including but not limit-
7 ed to authorities or agencies, maintaining police forces of individuals
8 defined as police officers in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure
9 law, or district attorney with jurisdiction in the county or city where
10 the person against whom the order is sought resides; (b) a family or
11 household member, as defined in subdivision two of section four hundred
12 fifty-nine-a of the social services law, of the person against whom the
13 order is sought; (c) a school administrator as defined in section eleven
14 hundred twenty-five of the education law, or a school administrator's
15 designee, of any school in which the person against whom the order is
16 sought is currently enrolled or has been enrolled in the six months
17 immediately preceding the filing of the petition; or (d) a licensed
18 physician, licensed psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, registered
19 nurse, licensed clinical social worker, certified clinical nurse
20 specialist, certified nurse practitioner, licensed clinical marriage and
21 family therapist, registered professional nurse, licensed master social
22 worker or licensed mental health counselor who has treated the person
23 against whom the order is sought in the six months immediately preceding
24 the filing of the petition. For purposes of this article, a school
25 administrator's designee shall be employed at the same school as the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11684-01-3
A. 7717 2
1 school administrator and shall be any of the following who has been
2 designated in writing to file a petition with respect to the person
3 against whom the order is sought: a school teacher, school guidance
4 counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, school nurse, or
5 other school personnel required to hold a teaching or administrative
6 license or certificate, and full or part-time compensated school employ-
7 ee required to hold a temporary coaching license or professional coach-
8 ing certificate.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.