N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 150.20: Appearance ticket; when and by whom issuable

§ 150.20 Appearance ticket; when and by whom issuable.

1. (a) Whenever a police officer is authorized pursuant to section

140.10 of this title to arrest a person without a warrant for an offense

other than a class A, B, C or D felony or a violation of section 130.25,

former section 130.40, section 205.10, 205.17, 205.19 or 215.56 of the

penal law, or other than where an arrest is required to be made pursuant

to subdivision four of section 140.10 of this title, the officer shall,

except as set out in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, subject to the

provisions of subdivisions three and four of section 150.40 of this

title, instead issue to and serve upon such person an appearance ticket.

(b) An officer is not required to issue an appearance ticket if:

(i) the person has one or more outstanding local criminal court or

superior court warrants;

(ii) the person has failed to appear in court proceedings in the last

two years;

(iii) the person has been given a reasonable opportunity to make their

verifiable identity and a method of contact known, and has been unable

or unwilling to do so, so that a custodial arrest is necessary to

subject the individual to the jurisdiction of the court. For the

purposes of this section, an officer may rely on various factors to

determine a person's identity, including but not limited to personal

knowledge of such person, such person's self-identification, or

photographic identification. There is no requirement that a person

present photographic identification in order to be issued an appearance

ticket in lieu of arrest where the person's identity is otherwise

verifiable; however, if offered by such person, an officer shall accept

as evidence of identity the following: a valid driver's license or

non-driver identification card issued by the commissioner of motor

vehicles, the federal government, any United States territory,

commonwealth or possession, the District of Columbia, a state government

or municipal government within the United States or a provincial

government of the dominion of Canada; a valid passport issued by the

United States government or any other country; an identification card

issued by the armed forces of the United States; a public benefit card,

as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 158.00 of the

penal law;

(iv) the person is charged with a crime between members of the same

family or household, as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of

this chapter;

(v) the person is charged with a crime defined in article 130 of the

penal law;

(vi) it reasonably appears the person should be brought before the

court for consideration of issuance of an order of protection, pursuant

to section 530.13 of this chapter, based on the facts of the crime or

offense that the officer has reasonable cause to believe occurred;

(vii) the person is charged with a crime for which the court may

suspend or revoke his or her driver license;

(viii) it reasonably appears to the officer, based on the observed

behavior of the individual in the present contact with the officer and

facts regarding the person's condition that indicates a sign of distress

to such a degree that the person would face harm without immediate

medical or mental health care, that bringing the person before the court

would be in such person's interest in addressing that need; provided,

however, that before making the arrest, the officer shall make all

reasonable efforts to assist the person in securing appropriate

services;

(ix) the person is eighteen years of age or older and charged with

criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds as defined in section

265.01-a of the penal law;

(x) the person is eighteen years of age or older and charged with a

hate crime as defined in section 485.05 of the penal law; or

(xi) the offense is a qualifying offense pursuant to paragraph (t) of

subdivision four of section 510.10 of this chapter, or pursuant to

paragraph (t) of subdivision four of section 530.40 of this chapter.

2. (a) Whenever, pursuant to section 140.10 of this title, a police

officer has arrested a person without a warrant for an offense other

than a class A, B, C or D felony or a violation of section 130.25,

130.40, 205.10, 205.17, 205.19 or 215.56 of the penal law or other than

where an arrest was required to be made pursuant to subdivision four of

section 140.10 of this title, or (b) whenever a peace officer, who is

not authorized by law to issue an appearance ticket, has arrested a

person for an offense other than a class A, B, C or D felony or a

violation of section 130.25, 130.40, 205.10, 205.17, 205.19 or 215.56 of

the penal law pursuant to section 140.25 of this title, and such peace

officer has requested a police officer to issue and serve upon such

arrested person an appearance ticket pursuant to subdivision four of

section 140.27 of this title, or (c) whenever a person has been arrested

for an offense other than a class A, B, C or D felony or a violation of

section 130.25, 130.40, 205.10, 205.17, 205.19 or 215.56 of the penal

law and such person has been delivered to the custody of an appropriate

police officer pursuant to section 140.40 of this title, such police

officer may, instead of bringing such person before a local criminal

court and promptly filing or causing the arresting peace officer or

arresting person to file a local criminal court accusatory instrument

therewith, issue to and serve upon such person an appearance ticket.

3. A public servant other than a police officer, who is specially

authorized by state law or local law enacted pursuant to the provisions

of the municipal home rule law to issue and serve appearance tickets

with respect to designated offenses other than class A, B, C or D

felonies or violations of section 130.25, 130.40, 205.10, 205.17, 205.19

or 215.56 of the penal law, may in such cases issue and serve upon a

person an appearance ticket when he has reasonable cause to believe that

such person has committed a crime, or has committed a petty offense in

his presence.