Historic Criminal Justice Reform in New York State Beginning January 1, 2020

BAIL: Starting in January 2020 judges will not be allowed to set monetary bail in most misdemeanor and certain low-grade non violent felony offenses. Instead, defendants upon being arraigned will simply be released and expected to return to court on their own when instructed to do so. Even if a defendant poses a flight risk, bail still cannot be set and the defendant must be released. However, in that circumstance the judge can require that the defendant be supervised by a pretrial services agency, impose reasonable restrictions on association or travel or, as a last resort, impose electronic monitoring of the defendant.

DISCOVERY: Defense counsel will now have a right to receive all police reports and statements of prosecution witnesses soon after the defendant’s arraignment. Previously such information was provided to a defendant on the eve of trial.

SPEEDY TRIAL: Previously a request to dismiss a case on speedy trial grounds had to be made by way of written motion. Now such motions can be made verbally and the defendant’s right to appeal a denial of such a motion is no longer automatically waived as a result of pleading guilty.