Bill Text: NY A00754 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


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 17-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-12-12 - signed chap.621 [A00754 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A00754-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         754--A
                                                                Cal. No. 376

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 10, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. JOYNER, ORTIZ, GOTTFRIED, SIMON, BARRON, D'URSO,
          JAFFEE, COLTON, PERRY, WEPRIN, CRUZ, REYES -- read once  and  referred
          to  the Committee on Judiciary -- reported and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Ways and Means -- reported from committee, advanced to a  third
          reading,  amended  and  ordered  reprinted, retaining its place on the
          order of third reading

        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)  "primary  language" means the dominant language a litigant speaks
     6  in everyday situations, including but not limited to their  home,  work,
     7  school, and community environments;
     8    (b) "limited English proficient (LEP) litigant" means a participant in
     9  a  legal  proceeding,  whose  limited ability to speak or understand the
    10  English language, has created a communications barrier to  understanding
    11  his  or  her  legal  rights or impairs his or her ability to participate
    12  fully in court programs or services; and
    13    (c) "language assistance services" means  oral  and  written  services
    14  needed  to  assist  LEP  litigants to communicate effectively with court
    15  personnel and to provide LEP litigants with meaningful access to, and an
    16  equal opportunity to participate fully in, court programs  or  services,
    17  so that LEP litigants are placed in the same position as similarly situ-
    18  ated persons for whom there is no such barrier.
    19    2.  The office of court administration shall collect and maintain data
    20  on all limited English proficient litigants in all  courts  within  this

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00094-09-9

        A. 754--A                           2

     1  state;  provided,  however,  that  such data shall not be collected from
     2  those courts designated as town or village courts.   At a  minimum,  the
     3  office  of  court  administration shall collect and maintain data on the
     4  following:
     5    (a)  the  number of limited English proficient litigants who are liti-
     6  gants in courts within this state, disaggregated by  court  and  county,
     7  and the primary language of such litigants;
     8    (b)  the  number  of such limited English proficient litigants served,
     9  disaggregated by court and  county,  the  type  of  language  assistance
    10  services provided and the primary language of the litigant served; and
    11    (c) the number of interpreter personnel employed by the courts, disag-
    12  gregated  by court and county and the language translated or interpreted
    13  by such personnel.
    14    3. The office of court administration shall make the data required  by
    15  this  section publicly available on its website, provided, however, that
    16  such data shall not include identifying information and nothing in  this
    17  section  shall be construed to permit the office of court administration
    18  to use, disseminate, or publish any identifying information, including a
    19  litigant's name, date of birth, social security number,  docket  number,
    20  or other unique identifier.
    21    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    22  it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
    23  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    24  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
    25  completed on or before such effective date.
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