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Section 530.40 – Order of recognizance, release under non-monetary conditions or bail; by superior court when action is pending therein

May 14, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, New York

When a criminal action is pending in a superior court, such court, upon application of a defendant, must or may order recognizance or bail as follows:

1. When the defendant is charged with an offense or offenses of less than felony grade only, the court must, unless otherwise provided by law, order recognizance or release under non-monetary conditions in accordance with this section.
2. When the defendant is charged with a felony, the court may, unless otherwise provided by law in its discretion, order recognizance , release under non-monetary conditions or, where authorized, bail. In any such case in which an indictment (a) has resulted from an order of a local criminal court holding the defendant for the action of the grand jury, or (b) was filed at a time when a felony complaint charging the same conduct was pending in a local criminal court, and in which such local criminal court or a superior court judge has issued an order of recognizance , release under non-monetary conditions or, where authorized, bail which is still effective, the superior court’s order may be in the form of a direction continuing the effectiveness of the previous order.
3. In cases other than as described in subdivision four of this section the court shall release the principal pending trial on the principal’s own recognizance, unless the court finds on the record or in writing that release on the principal’s own recognizance will not reasonably assure the principal’s return to court. In such instances, the court shall release the principal under non-monetary conditions, selecting the least restrictive alternative and conditions that will reasonably assure the principal’s return to court. The court shall explain its choice of alternative and conditions on the record or in writing.
4. Where the principal stands charged with a qualifying offense, the court, unless otherwise prohibited by law, may in its discretion release the principal pending trial on the principal’s own recognizance or under non-monetary conditions, fix bail, or, where the defendant is charged with a qualifying offense which is a felony, the court may commit the principal to the custody of the sheriff. The court shall explain its choice of release, release with conditions, bail or remand on the record or in writing. A principal stands charged with a qualifying offense for the purposes of this subdivision when he or she stands charged with:

(a) a felony enumerated in section 70.02 of the penal law, other than robbery in the second degree as defined in subdivision one of section 160.10 of the penal law, provided, however, that burglary in the second degree as defined in subdivision two of section 140.25 of the penal law shall be a qualifying offense only where the defendant is charged with entering the living area of the dwelling;
(b) a crime involving witness intimidation under section 215.15 of the penal law;
(c) a crime involving witness tampering under section 215.11, 215.12 or 215.13 of the penal law;
(d) a class A felony defined in the penal law, provided that for class A felonies under article two hundred twenty of such law, only class A-I felonies shall be a qualifying offense;
(e) a sex trafficking offense defined in section 230.34 or 230.34 -a of the penal law, or a felony sex offense defined in section 70.80 of the penal law or a crime involving incest as defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of such law, or a misdemeanor defined in article one hundred thirty of such law;
(f) conspiracy in the second degree as defined in section 105.15 of the penal law, where the underlying allegation of such charge is that the defendant conspired to commit a class A felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of the penal law;
(g) money laundering in support of terrorism in the first degree as defined in section 470.24 of the penal law; money laundering in support of terrorism in the second degree as defined in section 470.23 of the penal law; money laundering in support of terrorism in the third degree as defined in section 470.22 of the penal law; money laundering in support of terrorism in the fourth degree as defined in section 470.21 of the penal law; or a felony crime of terrorism as defined in article four hundred ninety of the penal law, other than the crime defined in section 490.20 of such law;
(h) criminal contempt in the second degree as defined in subdivision three of section 215.50 of the penal law, criminal contempt in the first degree as defined in subdivision (b), (c) or (d) of section 215.51 of the penal law or aggravated criminal contempt as defined in section 215.52 of the penal law, and the underlying allegation of such charge of criminal contempt in the second degree, criminal contempt in the first degree or aggravated criminal contempt is that the defendant violated a duly served order of protection where the protected party is a member of the defendant’s same family or household as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of this article;
(i) facilitating a sexual performance by a child with a controlled substance or alcohol as defined in section 263.30 of the penal law, use of a child in a sexual performance as defined in section 263.05 of the penal law or luring a child as defined in subdivision one of section 120.70 of the penal law, promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child as defined in section 263.10 of the penal law or promoting a sexual performance by a child as defined in section 263.15 of the penal law;
(j) any crime that is alleged to have caused the death of another person;
(k) criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation as defined in section 121.11 of the penal law, strangulation in the second degree as defined in section 121.12 of the penal law or unlawful imprisonment in the first degree as defined in section 135.10 of the penal law, and is alleged to have committed the offense against a member of the defendant’s same family or household as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of this article;
(l) aggravated vehicular assault as defined in section 120.04 -a of the penal law or vehicular assault in the first degree as defined in section 120.04 of the penal law;
(m) assault in the third degree as defined in section 120.00 of the penal law or arson in the third degree as defined in section 150.10 of the penal law, when such crime is charged as a hate crime as defined in section 485.05 of the penal law;
(n) aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old as defined in section 120.12 of the penal law or criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds as defined in section 265.01 -a of the penal law;
(o) grand larceny in the first degree as defined in section 155.42 of the penal law, enterprise corruption as defined in section 460.20 of the penal law, or money laundering in the first degree as defined in section 470.20 of the penal law;
(p) failure to register as a sex offender pursuant to section one hundred sixty-eight-t of the correction law or endangering the welfare of a child as defined in subdivision one of section 260.10 of the penal law, where the defendant is required to maintain registration under article six-C of the correction law and designated a level three offender pursuant to subdivision six of section one hundred sixty-eight-l of the correction law;
(q) a crime involving bail jumping under section 215.55, 215.56 or 215.57 of the penal law, or a crime involving escaping from custody under section 205.05, 205.10 or 205.15 of the penal law;
(r) any felony offense committed by the principal while serving a sentence of probation or while released to post release supervision;
(s) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the penal law; or
(t) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifiable person or property, where such charge arose from conduct occurring while the defendant was released on his or her own recognizance or released under conditions for a separate felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifiable person or property, provided, however, that the prosecutor must show reasonable cause to believe that the defendant committed the instant crime and any underlying crime. For the purposes of this subparagraph, any of the underlying crimes need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this subdivision.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions three and four of this section, with respect to any charge for which bail or remand is not ordered, and for which the court would not or could not otherwise require bail or remand, a defendant may, at any time, request that the court set bail in a nominal amount requested by the defendant in the form specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 520.10 of this title; if the court is satisfied that the request is voluntary, the court shall set such bail in such amount.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions two, three and four of this section, a superior court may not order recognizance, release under non-monetary conditions or, where authorized, bail, or permit a defendant to remain at liberty pursuant to an existing order, after the defendant has been convicted of either:

(a) a class A felony or
(b) any class B or class C felony as defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law committed or attempted to be committed by a person eighteen years of age or older against a person less than eighteen years of age. In either case the court must commit or remand the defendant to the custody of the sheriff.
7. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions two, three and four of this section, a superior court may not order recognizance, release under non-monetary conditions or, where authorized, bail when the defendant is charged with a felony unless and until the district attorney has had an opportunity to be heard in the matter and such court and counsel for the defendant have been furnished with a report as described in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section 530.20 of this article.

N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law ยง 530.40

Amended by New York Laws 2020, ch. 56,Sec. UU-4, eff. 7/2/2020.
Amended by New York Laws 2019, ch. 59,Sec. JJJ-18, eff. 1/1/2020.