Establishes domestic abuse offenses for assaults upon spouses, former spouses, fellow parents of a child in common and domestic partners; provides for issuance of a special information for domestic abuse in the first degree requiring a predicate criminal conviction; designates such domestic abuse offenses as family offenses for purposes of the criminal procedure law and the family court act.
This bill creates two new crimes in the Penal Law: domestic abuse in the second degree, a class A misdemeanor, and domestic abuse in the first degree, a class E felony. The offenses apply when a person harms, or in some cases attempts to harm, a spouse, former spouse, domestic partner, or fellow parent of a child in common, with the bill defining those relationship categories for this purpose. The first-degree offense covers intentional, reckless, and certain negligent infliction of physical injury, as well as repeat offending within five years of a prior qualifying conviction, with the lookback period extended for time spent incarcerated.
The bill also adds criminal procedure rules for charging and proving the felony offense. Prosecutors would have to file a special information alleging the prior conviction and relationship facts, and the court would determine whether the prior conviction and timing requirements are established by admission or proof before the jury. In addition, the bill amends existing criminal procedure and family offense statutes so that domestic abuse in the first and second degrees are treated as family offenses, bringing them within family court/criminal court concurrent jurisdiction and related protective-order procedures. It also updates conviction-notification rules so qualifying misdemeanor domestic abuse findings can be reported for federal firearm-disqualification purposes.
The bill would add new sections to the Penal Law and amend the Criminal Procedure Law and Family Court Act to create a distinct domestic abuse offense framework. It would expand the list of family offenses under CPL section 530.11 and Family Court Act section 812, and it would require special indictment procedures and conviction-notification reporting tied to domestic abuse cases. The measure could affect prosecutors, courts, family court litigants, defendants with prior domestic-violence-related convictions, and agencies involved in firearm background reporting.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented debate or roll-call sentiment to assess. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a domestic-violence enforcement and victim-protection bill, suggesting a generally public-safety-oriented purpose. The absence of recorded opposition or support in the provided materials means sentiment cannot be measured beyond the bill’s apparent protective intent.
The main points of potential contention are the creation of a new standalone domestic abuse offense category, the felony enhancement based on prior convictions within a five-year period, and the special-information procedure that allows prior-conviction and relationship evidence to be handled separately from the main trial. Another possible issue is the bill’s expansion of family-offense jurisdiction and its interaction with existing assault, harassment, stalking, and related statutes. No specific opponents or supporters are identified in the provided materials, but these procedural and sentencing changes are the most likely areas of debate.