Two New York Process Server Bills Pass Senate

New York process server billTwo bills affecting process servers have passed the New York Senate – one which would remove the logbook requirement and another which would make assault against a process server a Class D felony.

The bill concerning logbooks , SB 4916 (same as A-05656), was passed by the Senate on March 22, 2016 and sponsored by Senator Martin J. Golden. The goal of the bill is:

“To eliminate the mandated redundancy and duplication of efforts in record keeping by a process server that has incurred since the inception of NYC municipal laws that now mandate a digital record requirement.”

The bill looks to the states’ requirements of general business law Sec. 89-cc to build its justification, citing that the requirement to record the same information twice in both digital and handwritten formats is an undue burden without any clear benefit to any regulatory authority.

The other bill, SB 2991 (same as A01250), would make assault a process server a Class D felony in assault of the second degree.  This bill would grant New York process servers additional protection while out serving and goes so far as to include the releasing of an animal upon a process server as grounds to be charged with a felony.

The bill will amend the penal law in relation to assaults upon process servers to include:

“ With intent to prevent or obstruct a process server, as defined in section eighty-nine-t of the general business  law,  from  performing  a lawful  duty  pursuant  to  article  three of the civil practice law and rules, or intentionally, as retaliation against such  a  process  server for  the  performance  of  the  process server’s duties pursuant to such article, including by means of releasing or failing to control an animal evincing the actor’s intent that the  animal  prevent  or  obstruct  the lawful  duty of the process server or as retaliation against the process server, he or she causes physical injury to such process server.”

The New York State Process Servers Association (NYSPPSA) has seen the same assault legislation bill pass the Senate last year. With the bill not passing Senate until June 11th and the session closing on June 19th, there wasn’t enough time for it to make it to the Assembly floor before the session closed.

It is the hopes of the New York State Professional Process Servers Association that both bills will pass without issue in the Assembly.

For full text of the logbook Senate bill go here.
For the full text of the assault Senate bill go here.

Ready To Get Started?

JOIN OVER 6,000 OTHERS

Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest news and updates from our team.

You have successfully subscribed!