N.Y. Navigation Law § 19: Uniform navigation summons and complaint

§ 19. Uniform navigation summons and complaint. 1. The commissioner

shall be authorized to prescribe the form of summons and/or complaint in

all cases involving a violation of any provision of this chapter or of

any ordinance, rule or regulation relating to navigation, or of any

class or category of such cases, and to establish procedures for proper

administrative controls over the disposition thereof. The provisions of

this subdivision shall not apply to offenses specified in paragraph b of

subdivision four of section forty-nine of this chapter.

2. The chief executive officer of each local police force including

county, town, city and village police departments, sheriffs, and the

superintendent of state police shall prepare or cause to be prepared

such records and reports as may be prescribed hereunder.

3. The commissioner shall have the power from time to time to adopt

such rules and regulations as may be necessary to accomplish the

purposes and enforce the provisions of this section including

requirements for reporting by trial courts having jurisdiction over

navigation violations.

4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to or supersede any

ordinance, rule or regulation heretofore or hereafter made, adopted or

prescribed pursuant to law in Nassau or Suffolk counties or in any city

having a population of one million or over.

5. Any person who disposes of any uniform navigation summons and/or

complaint in any manner other than that prescribed by law, rule or

regulation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

6. If a person charged with a violation desires to plead guilty to the

violation as charged in the summons, he shall submit to the magistrate

having jurisdiction, in person, by duly authorized agent or by

registered mail, a verified application or in lieu thereof, an

application affirmed under penalty of perjury setting forth (a) the

nature of the charge, (b) the violations, if any, of the navigation law

or of any local law or ordinance governing or regulating navigation, of

which the defendant has been convicted within a period of two years

immediately preceding the date of the impending charge, together with

the date, the name and place of the court and the disposition, with

respect to each violation, (c) the information or instructions required

by section one thousand eight hundred seven of the vehicle and traffic

law to be given defendant upon arraignment, (d) that defendant waives

arraignment in open court and the aid of counsel, (e) that he pleads

guilty to the offense as charged, (f) that defendant elects and requests

that the charge be disposed of and the fine or penalty fixed by the

court, pursuant to this subdivision, and (g) any statement or

explanation that the defendant may desire to make concerning the offense

charged. The application shall be in such form as the commissioner shall

prescribe and a copy thereof shall be handed to the defendant by the

person charging him with such violation. Thereupon the magistrate may

proceed as though the defendant had been convicted upon a plea of guilty

in open court, provided, however, that any imposition of fine or penalty

hereunder, without suspension of execution of sentence, shall be deemed

tentative until such fine or penalty shall have been paid and discharged

in full, prior to which time the magistrate, in his discretion, may

annul any proceedings hereunder, including such tentative imposition of

fine or penalty, and deny the application, in which event the charge

shall be disposed of pursuant to the applicable provisions of law, as

though no proceedings had been had under this subdivision. If upon

receipt of the aforesaid application the magistrate shall deny the same,

he shall thereupon inform the defendant of this fact, and that he is

required to appear before the said magistrate at a stated time and place

to answer the charge which shall thereafter be disposed of pursuant to

the applicable provisions of law.