Requires the office of court administration to collect and maintain data on limited English proficient litigants in the state; requires such information be publicly available.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1950--A
Cal. No. 467
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 18, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sens. BAILEY, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary --
reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second
report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring the office
of court administration to collect and maintain data on limited
English proficient litigants in the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 391 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 391. Limited English proficient litigants' data. 1. For the purposes
4 of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
5 (a) "primary language" means the dominant language a litigant speaks
6 in everyday situations, including but not limited to their home, work,
7 school, and community environments;
8 (b) "limited English proficient (LEP) litigant" means a participant in
9 a legal proceeding, whose limited ability to speak or understand the
10 English language, has created a communications barrier to understanding
11 his or her legal rights or impairs his or her ability to participate
12 fully in court programs or services; and
13 (c) "language assistance services" means oral and written services
14 needed to assist LEP litigants to communicate effectively with court
15 personnel and to provide LEP litigants with meaningful access to, and an
16 equal opportunity to participate fully in, court programs or services,
17 so that LEP litigants are placed in the same position as similarly situ-
18 ated persons for whom there is no such barrier.
19 2. The office of court administration shall collect and maintain data
20 on all limited English proficient litigants in all courts within this
21 state; provided, however, that such data shall not be collected from
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00094-08-9
S. 1950--A 2
1 those courts designated as town or village courts. At a minimum, the
2 office of court administration shall collect and maintain data on the
3 following:
4 (a) the number of limited English proficient litigants who are liti-
5 gants in courts within this state, disaggregated by court and county,
6 and the primary language of such litigants;
7 (b) the number of such limited English proficient litigants served,
8 disaggregated by court and county, the type of language assistance
9 services provided and the primary language of the litigant served; and
10 (c) the number of interpreter personnel employed by the courts, disag-
11 gregated by court and county and the language translated or interpreted
12 by such personnel.
13 3. The office of court administration shall make the data required by
14 this section publicly available on its website, provided, however, that
15 such data shall not include identifying information and nothing in this
16 section shall be construed to permit the office of court administration
17 to use, disseminate, or publish any identifying information, including a
18 litigant's name, date of birth, social security number, docket number,
19 or other unique identifier.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
21 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
22 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
23 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
24 completed on or before such effective date.
