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N.Y. Penal Law § 65.00

Sentence of probation

2025-05-16

§ 65.00 Sentence of probation.\n 1. Criteria. (a) Except as otherwise required by section 60.04 or\n60.05 of this title, and except as provided by paragraph (b) hereof, the\ncourt may sentence a person to a period of probation upon conviction of\nany crime if the court, having regard to the nature and circumstances of\nthe crime and to the history, character and condition of the defendant,\nis of the opinion that:\n (i) Institutional confinement for the term authorized by law of the\ndefendant is or may not be necessary for the protection of the public;\n (ii) the defendant is in need of guidance, training or other\nassistance which, in his case, can be effectively administered through\nprobation supervision; and\n (iii) such disposition is not inconsistent with the ends of justice.\n (b) The court, with the concurrence of either the administrative judge\nof the court or of the judicial district within which the court is\nsituated or such administrative judge as the presiding justice of the\nappropriate appellate division shall designate, may sentence a person to\na period of probation upon conviction of a class A-II felony defined in\narticle two hundred twenty, the class B felony defined in section 220.48\nof this chapter or any other class B felony defined in article two\nhundred twenty of this chapter where the person is a second felony drug\noffender as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 70.70\nof this chapter, if the prosecutor either orally on the record or in a\nwriting filed with the indictment recommends that the court sentence\nsuch person to a period of probation upon the ground that such person\nhas or is providing material assistance in the investigation,\napprehension or prosecution of any person for a felony defined in\narticle two hundred twenty or the attempt or the conspiracy to commit\nany such felony, and if the court, having regard to the nature and\ncircumstances of the crime and to the history, character and condition\nof the defendant is of the opinion that:\n (i) Institutional confinement of the defendant is not necessary for\nthe protection of the public;\n (ii) The defendant is in need of guidance, training or other\nassistance which, in his case, can be effectively administered through\nprobation supervision;\n (iii) The defendant has or is providing material assistance in the\ninvestigation, apprehension or prosecution of a person for a felony\ndefined in article two hundred twenty or the attempt or conspiracy to\ncommit any such felony; and\n (iv) Such disposition is not inconsistent with the ends of justice.\n * Provided, however, that the court shall not, except to the extent\nauthorized by paragraph (d) of subdivision two of section 60.01 of this\nchapter, impose a sentence of probation in any case where it sentences a\ndefendant for more than one crime and imposes a sentence of imprisonment\nfor any one of the crimes, or where the defendant is subject to an\nundischarged indeterminate or determinate sentence of imprisonment which\nwas imposed at a previous time by a court of this state and has more\nthan one year to run.\n * NB Effective until September 1, 2027\n * Provided, however, that the court shall not, except to the extent\nauthorized by paragraph (d) of subdivision two of section 60.01 of this\nchapter, impose a sentence of probation in any case where it sentences a\ndefendant for more than one crime and imposes a sentence of imprisonment\nfor any one of the crimes, or where the defendant is subject to an\nundischarged indeterminate or reformatory sentence of imprisonment which\nwas imposed at a previous time by a court of this state and has more\nthan one year to run.\n * NB Effective September 1, 2027\n 2. Sentence. When a person is sentenced to a period of probation the\ncourt shall, except to the extent authorized by paragraph (d) of\nsubdivision two of section 60.01 of this chapter, impose the period\nauthorized by subdivision three of this section and shall specify, in\naccordance with section 65.10, the conditions to be complied with. The\ncourt may modify or enlarge the conditions or, if the defendant commits\nan additional offense or violates a condition, revoke the sentence at\nany time prior to the expiration or termination of the period of\nprobation.\n 3. Periods of probation. Unless terminated sooner in accordance with\nthe criminal procedure law, the period of probation shall be as follows:\n (a) (i) For a felony, other than a class A-II felony defined in\narticle two hundred twenty of this chapter or the class B felony defined\nin section 220.48 of this chapter, or any other class B felony defined\nin article two hundred twenty of this chapter committed by a second\nfelony drug offender, or a sexual assault, the period of probation shall\nbe a term of three, four or five years;\n (ii) For a class A-II felony drug offender as defined in paragraph (a)\nof subdivision one of section 70.71 of this chapter as described in\nparagraph (b) of subdivision one of this section, or a class B felony\ncommitted by a second felony drug offender described in paragraph (b) of\nsubdivision one of this section, the period of probation shall be life\nand for a class B felony defined in section 220.48 of this chapter, the\nperiod of probation shall be twenty-five years;\n (iii) For a felony sexual assault, the period of probation shall be\nten years.\n (b) (i) For a class A misdemeanor, other than a sexual assault, the\nperiod of probation shall be a term of two or three years;\n (ii) For a class A misdemeanor sexual assault, the period of probation\nshall be six years.\n (c) For a class B misdemeanor, the period of probation shall be one\nyear, except the period of probation shall be no less than one year and\nno more than three years for the class B misdemeanor of public lewdness\nas defined in section 245.00 of this chapter;\n (d) For an unclassified misdemeanor, the period of probation shall be\na term of two or three years if the authorized sentence of imprisonment\nis in excess of three months, otherwise the period of probation shall be\none year.\n For the purposes of this section, the term "sexual assault" means an\noffense defined in article one hundred thirty or two hundred\nsixty-three, or in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of this chapter, or\nan attempt to commit any of the foregoing offenses.\n 4. If during the periods of probation referenced in subparagraph (i)\nof paragraph (a), subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) and paragraph (d) of\nsubdivision three of this section an alleged violation is sustained\nfollowing a hearing pursuant to section 410.70 of the criminal procedure\nlaw and the court continues or modifies the sentence, the court may\nextend the remaining period of probation up to the maximum term\nauthorized by this section. Provided, however, a defendant shall receive\ncredit for the time during which he or she was supervised under the\noriginal probation sentence prior to any declaration of delinquency and\nfor any time spent in custody pursuant to this article for an alleged\nviolation of probation.\n 5. In any case where a court pursuant to its authority under\nsubdivision four of section 60.01 of this chapter revokes probation and\nsentences such person to imprisonment and probation, as provided in\nparagraph (d) of subdivision two of section 60.01 of this chapter, the\nperiod of probation shall be the remaining period of the original\nprobation sentence or one year whichever is greater.\n

Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.