New York Laws
Article 530 - Orders of Recognizance or Bail With Respect to Defendants in Criminal Actions and Proceedings--When and by What Courts Authorized
530.20 - Securing Order by Local Criminal Court When Action Is Pending Therein.

(b) Where the principal stands charged with a qualifying offense, the
court, unless otherwise prohibited by law, may in its discretion release
the principal pending trial on the principal's own recognizance or under
non-monetary conditions, fix bail, order non-monetary conditions in
conjunction with fixing bail, or, where the defendant is charged with a
qualifying offense which is a felony, the court may commit the principal
to the custody of the sheriff. The court shall explain its choice of
securing order on the record or in writing. A principal stands charged
with a qualifying offense when he or she stands charged with:
(i) a felony enumerated in section 70.02 of the penal law, other than
robbery in the second degree as defined in subdivision one of section
160.10 of the penal law, provided, however, that burglary in the second
degree as defined in subdivision two of section 140.25 of the penal law
shall be a qualifying offense only where the defendant is charged with
entering the living area of the dwelling;
(ii) a crime involving witness intimidation under section 215.15 of
the penal law;
(iii) a crime involving witness tampering under section 215.11, 215.12
or 215.13 of the penal law;
(iv) a class A felony defined in the penal law, provided, that for
class A felonies under article two hundred twenty of such law, only
class A-I felonies shall be a qualifying offense;
(v) a sex trafficking offense defined in section 230.34 or 230.34-a of
the penal law, or a felony sex offense defined in section 70.80 of the
penal law or a crime involving incest as defined in section 255.25,
255.26 or 255.27 of such law, or a misdemeanor defined in article one
hundred thirty of such law;
(vi) conspiracy in the second degree as defined in section 105.15 of
the penal law, where the underlying allegation of such charge is that
the defendant conspired to commit a class A felony defined in article
one hundred twenty-five of the penal law;
(vii) money laundering in support of terrorism in the first degree as
defined in section 470.24 of the penal law; money laundering in support
of terrorism in the second degree as defined in section 470.23 of the
penal law; money laundering in support of terrorism in the third degree
as defined in section 470.22 of the penal law; money laundering in
support of terrorism in the fourth degree as defined in section 470.21
of the penal law; or a felony crime of terrorism as defined in article
four hundred ninety of the penal law, other than the crime defined in
section 490.20 of such law;
(viii) criminal contempt in the second degree as defined in
subdivision three of section 215.50 of the penal law, criminal contempt
in the first degree as defined in subdivision (b), (c) or (d) of section
215.51 of the penal law or aggravated criminal contempt as defined in
section 215.52 of the penal law, and the underlying allegation of such
charge of criminal contempt in the second degree, criminal contempt in
the first degree or aggravated criminal contempt is that the defendant

violated a duly served order of protection where the protected party is
a member of the defendant's same family or household as defined in
subdivision one of section 530.11 of this article;
(ix) facilitating a sexual performance by a child with a controlled
substance or alcohol as defined in section 263.30 of the penal law, use
of a child in a sexual performance as defined in section 263.05 of the
penal law or luring a child as defined in subdivision one of section
120.70 of the penal law, promoting an obscene sexual performance by a
child as defined in section 263.10 of the penal law or promoting a
sexual performance by a child as defined in section 263.15 of the penal
law;
(x) any crime that is alleged to have caused the death of another
person;
(xi) criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation as defined
in section 121.11 of the penal law, strangulation in the second degree
as defined in section 121.12 of the penal law or unlawful imprisonment
in the first degree as defined in section 135.10 of the penal law, and
is alleged to have committed the offense against a member of the
defendant's same family or household as defined in subdivision one of
section 530.11 of this article;
(xii) aggravated vehicular assault as defined in section 120.04-a of
the penal law or vehicular assault in the first degree as defined in
section 120.04 of the penal law;
(xiii) assault in the third degree as defined in section 120.00 of the
penal law or arson in the third degree as defined in section 150.10 of
the penal law, when such crime is charged as a hate crime as defined in
section 485.05 of the penal law;
(xiv) aggravated assault upon a person less than eleven years old as
defined in section 120.12 of the penal law or criminal possession of a
weapon on school grounds as defined in section 265.01-a of the penal
law;
(xv) grand larceny in the first degree as defined in section 155.42 of
the penal law, enterprise corruption as defined in section 460.20 of the
penal law, or money laundering in the first degree as defined in section
470.20 of the penal law;
(xvi) failure to register as a sex offender pursuant to section one
hundred sixty-eight-t of the correction law or endangering the welfare
of a child as defined in subdivision one of section 260.10 of the penal
law, where the defendant is required to maintain registration under
article six-C of the correction law and designated a level three
offender pursuant to subdivision six of section one hundred
sixty-eight-l of the correction law;
(xvii) a crime involving bail jumping under section 215.55, 215.56 or
215.57 of the penal law, or a crime involving escaping from custody
under section 205.05, 205.10 or 205.15 of the penal law;
(xviii) any felony offense committed by the principal while serving a
sentence of probation or while released to post release supervision;
(xix) a felony, where the defendant qualifies for sentencing on such
charge as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the
penal law;
(xx) any felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an
identifiable person or property, or any charge of criminal possession of
a firearm as defined in section 265.01-b of the penal law where such
charge arose from conduct occurring while the defendant was released on
his or her own recognizance, released under conditions, or had yet to be
arraigned after the issuance of a desk appearance ticket for a separate
felony or class A misdemeanor involving harm to an identifiable person
or property, provided, however, that the prosecutor must show reasonable

cause to believe that the defendant committed the instant crime and any
underlying crime. For the purposes of this subparagraph, any of the
underlying crimes need not be a qualifying offense as defined in this
subdivision. For the purposes of this paragraph, "harm to an
identifiable person or property" shall include but not be limited to
theft of or damage to property. However, based upon a review of the
facts alleged in the accusatory instrument, if the court determines that
such theft is negligible and does not appear to be in furtherance of
other criminal activity, the principal shall be released on his or her
own recognizance or under appropriate non-monetary conditions; or
(xxi) criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree as defined
in subdivision three of section 265.02 of the penal law or criminal sale
of a firearm to a minor as defined in section 265.16 of the penal law.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this
subdivision, with respect to any charge for which bail or remand is not
ordered, and for which the court would not or could not otherwise
require bail or remand, a defendant may, at any time, request that the
court set bail in a nominal amount requested by the defendant in the
form specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section 520.10 of
this title; if the court is satisfied that the request is voluntary, the
court shall set such bail in such amount.
2. When the defendant is charged, by felony complaint, with a felony,
the court may, in its discretion, and in accordance with section 510.10
of this title, order recognizance, release under non-monetary
conditions, or, where authorized, fix bail, or order non-monetary
conditions in conjunction with fixing bail, or commit the defendant to
the custody of the sheriff except as otherwise provided in subdivision
one of this section or this subdivision:
(a) A city court, a town court or a village court may not order
recognizance or bail when (i) the defendant is charged with a class A
felony, or (ii) the defendant has two previous felony convictions;
(b) No local criminal court may order recognizance, release under
non-monetary conditions or bail with respect to a defendant charged with
a felony unless and until:
(i) The district attorney has been heard in the matter or, after
knowledge or notice of the application and reasonable opportunity to be
heard, has failed to appear at the proceeding or has otherwise waived
his right to do so; and
(ii) The court and counsel for the defendant have been furnished with
a report of the division of criminal justice services concerning the
defendant's criminal record, if any, or with a police department report
with respect to the defendant's prior arrest and conviction record, if
any. If neither report is available, the court, with the consent of the
district attorney, may dispense with this requirement; provided,
however, that in an emergency, including but not limited to a
substantial impairment in the ability of such division or police
department to timely furnish such report, such consent shall not be
required if, for reasons stated on the record, the court deems it
unnecessary. When the court has been furnished with any such report or
record, it shall furnish a copy thereof to counsel for the defendant or,
if the defendant is not represented by counsel, to the defendant.