Bill > A07451

This bill modifies existing laws to require the chief administrator of the courts and the division of criminal justice services to collect and report comprehensive pretrial detention and bail data, and critically, to provide these reports to the state commission on judicial conduct for review. Specifically, the reports must include detailed demographic information (such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity), details about criminal offenses, bail amounts and types, release conditions, failure to appear rates, and case outcomes. The commission on judicial conduct is now empowered to study these reports specifically for evidence of judicial bias or prejudice, with the authority to initiate investigations, hear complaints, and comment on potential bias in their annual reports. This represents a significant expansion of oversight mechanisms designed to identify potential systemic inequities in judicial decision-making related to bail and pretrial detention. The reports will be published semi-annually (for court administration) or annually (for criminal justice services), aggregated by county and court to protect individual defendants' identities, and made publicly available online.

Justice

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A7451