N.Y. County Law § 918: General provisions pertaining to records in offices of county clerks

§ 918. General provisions pertaining to records in offices of county

clerks. 1. The clerk of each of the counties within the city of New York

is authorized and empowered to do such further acts for rearrangement,

care, repair, restoration, preservation, indexing and convenient

examination of the records, documents, maps and papers filed or recorded

in his office as in his judgment will best serve the public interest.

2. The clerk of the county of Richmond is hereby authorized, in his

discretion, to destroy copies and originals of chattel mortgages, bills

of sale and conditional bills of sale filed in his office, after the

expiration of ten years from the date of filing.

3. All books, records, maps and other public papers which are now

public records in the offices of the county clerks of New York, Kings,

Bronx, Queens and Richmond shall continue to be public records. The

county clerk may cause copies thereof to be made by photocopying or

other process, in his discretion, whenever by reason of age, use,

exposure or any casualty, such copies shall in his judgment be

desirable. All copies of any records filed in any such office, when

certified by any such clerk to be accurate copies thereof, shall for all

purposes have the same force and effect as the original. Unless

otherwise ordered by the appellate division pursuant to section

eighty-nine of the judiciary law, the original shall be placed in a

suitable enclosure and preserved, properly endorsed and indexed, for

such examination as may be directed by an order of court in any

proceeding in which the accuracy of the copy is questioned.

4. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the county clerk in

each of the counties within the city of New York is authorized and

empowered to maintain separate judgment docket volumes containing the

printed transcript or transcripts, in strict alphabetical order of

judgment made, entered and docketed in the civil court of the city of

New York against individuals, corporations, and other entities on behalf

of the parking violations bureau, the environmental control board, the

taxi and limousine commission, the department of consumer and worker

protection, the office of administrative trials and hearings when acting

in accordance with subdivision c of section 7-551 of the administrative

code of the city of New York and the commissioner of jurors of the city

of New York, provided that the judgments made, entered and docketed in

the civil court of the city of New York against individuals,

corporations, and other entities on behalf of the department of consumer

and worker protection shall be limited to final decisions and orders

that either (a) award restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or

worker; or (b) award such restitution, or monetary damages, to a

consumer or worker, together with civil penalties or equitable relief.

These volumes may be maintained in the form of computer print outs which

shall contain the date of judgment, the name and address of the judgment

debtor or debtors, the amount of the judgment and other information

which the county clerk may deem necessary to sufficiently describe the

parties to the action or proceeding or nature or the manner of the entry

of the judgment. The county clerk may, in in such clerk's discretion, in

lieu of such volumes, maintain the aforementioned data in a micrographic

or computer retrievable format. With respect to judgments on behalf of

the parking violations bureau such volumes or other format shall be

maintained pursuant to this subdivision for only those individuals,

corporations, and other entities having vehicles registered in the

counties within the city of New York.

5. Any other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the department of

consumer affairs may file a certified copy of the final decision or

order of such department, provided that such final decision or order

either: (a) awards restitution, or monetary damages, to a consumer or

worker; or (b) awards such restitution, or monetary damages, to a

consumer or worker together with civil penalties or equitable relief,

with the county clerk of any county within the city of New York where a

respondent resides or has a place of business, or, if the respondent is

a non-resident of the city of New York and no longer has a place of

business within the city of New York at the time such department seeks

to file such certified copy, the department of consumer affairs may file

such certified copy of such final decision or order with the county

clerk of the county in which the department of consumer affairs is

located. Such consumer or worker may file a certified copy of such final

decision or order provided that such person has been assigned such final

decision or order or a portion of such final decision or order

authorizing restitution, imposing monetary damages or providing

equitable relief to such person. The filing of such final decision or

order shall have the full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed

in the office of such clerk. The final decision or order may be enforced

by and in the name of the department, or by a person who has been

assigned such decision or order or a portion thereof, in the same manner

and with like effect as that prescribed by the civil practice law and

rules for the enforcement of a money judgment.