N.Y. Vehicle & Traffic Law § 1803 – Disposition of fines and forfeitures

1. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision five of section two hundred twenty-seven of this chapter and as provided in section eleven hundred ninety-seven of this chapter, section ninety of the state finance law and sections fourteen-f and one hundred forty of the transportation law, all fines and penalties collected under a sentence or judgment of conviction of a violation of this chapter or of any act relating to the use of highways by motor vehicles or trailers, now in force or hereafter enacted, shall be distributed in the following manner: a. for a violation which occurs in a city, town or suburban town, any fine or penalty shall be paid to the city, town or suburban town in which the violation occurs, when such violation is of (1) any of the provisions of title seven of this chapter, but including violations of section eleven hundred eighty only when occurring in state parks for which the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation has established maximum speed limits pursuant to section sixteen hundred thirty and the violations could have been charged under either such established maximum speed limits or another section of this chapter, and when involving maximum speed limits established pursuant to section sixteen hundred forty-three, sixteen hundred forty-four, sixteen hundred sixty-two-a, sixteen hundred sixty-three or sixteen hundred seventy, and excluding violations of sections eleven hundred eighty-two, eleven hundred ninety-two and twelve hundred twelve of this chapter, or (2) any ordinance, order, rule or regulation adopted pursuant to article two-E of the transportation law or section sixteen hundred thirty of this chapter by the East Hudson Parkway Authority or by its successor, or the County of Westchester Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, or the state office of parks, recreation and historic preservation. For purposes of this paragraph, violations shall be deemed to be violations of any such ordinance, order, rule or regulation when they occur on highways under the jurisdiction of the enumerated entities and the violations could have been charged under either such ordinance, order, rule or regulation or another section of this chapter. b. for a violation which occurs in a village in which the office of village justice is established, any fine or penalty shall be paid to the village in which the violation occurs, when such violation is of (1) any of the provisions of title seven of this chapter, but including violations of section eleven hundred eighty only when occurring in state parks for which the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation has established maximum speed limits pursuant to section sixteen hundred thirty and the violations could have been charged under either such established maximum speed limits or another section of this chapter, and when involving maximum speed limits established pursuant to section sixteen hundred forty-three, sixteen hundred forty-four or sixteen hundred seventy, and excluding violations of sections eleven hundred eighty-two, eleven hundred ninety-two and twelve hundred twelve of this chapter, or (2) any ordinance, order, rule or regulation adopted pursuant to article two-E of the transportation law or section sixteen hundred thirty of this chapter by the East Hudson Parkway Authority or by its successor, or the County of Westchester Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, or the state office of parks, recreation and historic preservation. For purposes of this paragraph, violations shall be deemed to be violations of any such ordinance, order, rule or regulation when they occur on highways under the jurisdiction of the enumerated entities and the violations could have been charged under either such ordinance, order, rule or regulation, or another section of this chapter. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, all fines, penalties and forfeitures for violation of a village ordinance, local law or regulation adopted pursuant to the authorization of paragraph six of subdivision (a) of section sixteen hundred forty of this chapter prohibiting, restricting or limiting the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles shall be paid to such village whether or not the village has established the office of village justice. * c. for compliance with or violations of subdivision nineteen of section three hundred eighty-five of this chapter, notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, except as provided in section ninety of the state finance law, the fees and fines collected by the state pursuant to sections two hundred twenty-seven, three hundred eighty-five and eighteen hundred three of this chapter and section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law, shall be made available to the state comptroller for deposit in the general fund except that fines collected within a city not wholly included within one county shall be paid to such city in accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivision four of section two hundred twenty-seven of this chapter for deposit into the general fund of such city, and except that an annual amount of three million dollars of fines collected within the city of New York pursuant to article two-A of this chapter be deposited by the comptroller to the general fund. * NB Effective until April 1, 2019 * c. for compliance with or violations of subdivision nineteen of section three hundred eighty-five of this chapter, notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, except as provided in section ninety of the state finance law, the fees and fines collected by the state pursuant to sections two hundred twenty-seven, three hundred eighty-five and eighteen hundred three of this chapter and section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law, shall be made available to the state comptroller for deposit in the general fund except that fines collected within a city not wholly included within one county shall be paid to such city in accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivision four of section two hundred twenty-seven of this chapter for deposit into the general fund of such city. * NB Effective April 1, 2019 d. for violations of section eleven hundred eighty which are not included in paragraph a or paragraph b of this subdivision, violations of sections eleven hundred eighty-two, eleven hundred ninety-two, except in those counties adopting a special traffic option program for driving while intoxicated pursuant to section eleven hundred ninety-seven of this chapter, and section twelve hundred twelve of this chapter, and violations of this chapter or of any act relating to the use of highways by motor vehicles or trailers, now in force or hereafter enacted, for which no other distribution is prescribed, all fines, penalties and forfeitures shall be paid to the state. e. for a violation which occurs within a county which has established a traffic and parking violations agency pursuant to section three hundred seventy of the general municipal law, other than parking, standing or stopping violations except for those set forth in section four hundred two of this chapter, and which violation is disposed of by such agency, any fine or penalty shall be paid to the county in which the violation occurs, when such violation is of any of the provisions of title seven of this chapter, but including violations of section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter only when involving maximum speed limits in state parks established by the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation pursuant to section sixteen hundred thirty of this chapter and when involving maximum speed limits established pursuant to section sixteen hundred forty-three, sixteen hundred forty-four, sixteen hundred sixty-two-a, sixteen hundred sixty-three or sixteen hundred seventy of this chapter, and excluding violations of sections eleven hundred eighty-two, eleven hundred ninety-two and twelve hundred twelve of this chapter.
2. Whenever a defendant is arrested and arraigned before a judicial officer authorized to conduct any proceedings in or in connection with any prosecution triable in any local court of inferior jurisdiction of a city or before a town court, or a village court on a charge in which the state is entitled to all fines and penalties under a sentence or judgment of conviction such city, town or village shall be entitled to receive the fees set forth in section ninety-nine-l of the general municipal law and such fees shall be a state charge and paid as provided in section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law. * 3. All fines, penalties and forfeitures paid to a city, town or village pursuant to the provisions of paragraph a of subdivision one of this section and subdivision ten of this section shall be credited to the general fund of such city, town or village, unless a different disposition is prescribed by charter, special law, local law or ordinance. * NB Effective until December 1, 2024 * 3. All fines, penalties and forfeitures paid to a city, town or village pursuant to the provisions of paragraph a of subdivision one of this section shall be credited to the general fund of such city, town or village, unless a different disposition is prescribed by charter, special law, local law or ordinance. * NB Effective December 1, 2024
4. All fines, penalties and forfeitures collected in a city, upon conviction or upon forfeiture of bail by any person charged with a violation of any local law, ordinance, order, rule, regulation, administrative code provision or sanitary or health code provision adopted or continued pursuant to this chapter, shall be paid to the city and credited to its general fund, unless a different disposition is prescribed by charter, special law, local law or ordinance.
5. All fines, penalties and forfeitures for violations of section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter, which relate to maximum speed limits established by a village pursuant to sections sixteen hundred forty-three and sixteen hundred forty-four or by a suburban town pursuant to section sixteen hundred sixty-two-a of this chapter, and all bail forfeited by the non-appearance of defendants charged with such violations shall be paid over to the state comptroller by the court, justice or other officer collecting the same within the first ten days of the month following the collection, except as otherwise provided by subdivision three of section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law. Whenever such fines, penalties and forfeitures, including bail forfeited, in any year commencing July first shall aggregate in excess of five dollars for each inhabitant of the village or suburban town, as the case may be, according to the last preceding federal census, such excess shall be the property of the state and shall be paid into the general fund of the state treasury.
6. The comptroller from the moneys received pursuant to this section shall, within six years from the receipt thereof, refund any fine received pursuant to this section which was imposed by a judgment of conviction that has been reversed and any fine, penalty or forfeiture received by the comptroller, payment of which was not required by this section. In any action by the state to recover fines, penalties, or forfeitures collected more than six years before the commencement of the action, the defendant shall be entitled to set off a claim for refund of any such item paid to the state during the ten years preceding the commencement of the action.
8. All fines, penalties and forfeitures referred to in subdivision one of this section, except fines, penalties and forfeitures paid to the commissioner of taxation and finance as required by section thirty-nine of the judiciary law, and except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of section ninety-nine-a of the state finance law, shall be paid to the state comptroller by the court, judge, magistrate or other officer within the first ten days of the month following collection. Every such payment to the comptroller shall be accompanied by a statement in such form and detail as the comptroller shall prescribe.
9. Where a county establishes a special traffic options program for driving while intoxicated, approved by the commissioner of motor vehicles, pursuant to section eleven hundred ninety-seven of this chapter, all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected from violations of subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two or subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section five hundred eleven, all fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed in accordance with section eleven hundred ninety-three of this chapter collected from violations of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this chapter; and any fines or forfeitures collected by any court, judge, magistrate or other officer imposed upon a conviction for: aggravated vehicular assault, pursuant to section 120.04-a of the penal law; vehicular assault in the first degree, pursuant to section 120.04 of the penal law; vehicular assault in the second degree, pursuant to section 120.03 of the penal law; aggravated vehicular homicide, pursuant to section 125.14 of the penal law; vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, pursuant to section 125.13 of the penal law; and vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, pursuant to section 125.12 of the penal law and civil penalties imposed pursuant to subdivision two of section eleven hundred ninety-four-a of this chapter, shall be paid to such county.
1. (a) Any such fine, penalty, or forfeiture collected by any court, judge, magistrate or other officer referred to in subdivision one of section thirty-nine of the judiciary law, establishing a unified court budget, shall be paid to that county within the first ten days of the month following collection.
2. (b) Any such fine, penalty, or forfeiture collected by any other court, judge, magistrate or other officer, including, where appropriate, a hearing officer acting on behalf of the commissioner, shall be paid to the state comptroller within the first ten days of the month following collection. Every such payment to the comptroller shall be accompanied by a statement in such form and detail as the comptroller shall provide. The comptroller shall pay these funds to the county in which the violation occurs.
3. (c) Upon receipt of any monies referred to in this section, the county shall deposit them in a separate account entitled "special traffic options program for driving while intoxicated". * 10. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph e of subdivision one of this section, where a county has established a demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with section eleven hundred seventy-four of this chapter in accordance with section eleven hundred seventy-four-a of this chapter, any fine or penalty collected by a court, judge, magistrate or other officer for an imposition of liability which occurs within such county pursuant to such program shall be paid to the state comptroller within the first ten days of the month following collection. Every such payment shall be accompanied by a statement in such form and detail as the comptroller shall provide. The comptroller shall pay ninety percent of any such fine or penalty imposed for such liability to the county in which the violation giving rise to the liability occurred, and ten percent of any such fine or penalty to the city, town or village in which the violation giving rise to the liability occurred. * NB Repealed December 1, 2024 * 11. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph e of subdivision one of this section, where the commissioner of transportation has established a demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with subdivision (b), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter in accordance with section eleven hundred eighty-e of this chapter, any fine or penalty collected by a court, judge, magistrate or other officer for an imposition of liability which occurs pursuant to such program shall be paid to the state comptroller within the first ten days of the month following collection. Every such payment shall be accompanied by a statement in such form and detail as the comptroller shall provide. The comptroller shall pay eighty percent of any such fine or penalty imposed for such liability to the general fund, and twenty percent of any such fine or penalty to the city, town or village in which the violation giving rise to the liability occurred. With respect to the percentage of fines or penalties paid to the general fund, no less than sixty percent shall be dedicated to department of transportation work zone safety projects after deducting the expenses necessary to administer such demonstration program, provided, however, that such funds provided pursuant to this subdivision shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller and shall only be used to supplement and not supplant current expenditures of state funds on work zone safety projects. For the purposes of this subdivision, "work zone safety projects" shall apply to work zones under the jurisdiction of the department of transportation and shall include, but not be limited to, inspection and implementation of work zone design, maintenance, traffic plans and markings, worker safety training, contractor outreach, enforcement efforts, radar speed display signs at major active work zones and police presence at major active work zones, as provided in section twenty-two of the transportation law. All fines, penalties and forfeitures paid to a city, town or village pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision shall be credited to the general fund of such city, town or village, unless a different disposition is prescribed by charter, special law, local law or ordinance. * NB Repealed October 6, 2026 * 12. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph e of subdivision one of this section, where the chair of the New York state thruway authority has established a demonstration program imposing monetary liability on the owner of a vehicle for failure of an operator thereof to comply with subdivision (b), (d), (f) or (g) of section eleven hundred eighty of this chapter in accordance with section eleven hundred eighty-e of this chapter, any fine or penalty collected by a court, judge, magistrate or other officer for an imposition of liability which occurs pursuant to such program shall be paid to the state comptroller within the first ten days of the month following collection. Every such payment shall be accompanied by a statement in such form and detail as the comptroller shall provide. The comptroller shall pay eighty percent of any such fine or penalty imposed for such liability to the thruway authority, and twenty percent of any such fine or penalty to the city, town or village in which the violation giving rise to the liability occurred. With respect to the percentage of fines or penalties paid to the thruway authority, no less than sixty percent shall be dedicated to thruway authority work zone safety projects after deducting the expenses necessary to administer such demonstration program, provided, however, that such funds provided pursuant to this subdivision shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller and shall only be used to supplement and not supplant current expenditures of state funds on work zone safety projects. For the purposes of this subdivision, "work zone safety projects" shall apply to work zones under the jurisdiction of the thruway authority and shall include, but not be limited to, inspection and implementation of work zone design, maintenance, traffic plans and markings, worker safety training, contractor outreach, enforcement efforts, radar speed display signs at major active work zones and police presence at major active work zones, as provided in section twenty-two of the transportation law. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "thruway authority" shall mean the New York state thruway authority, a body corporate and politic constituting a public corporation created and constituted pursuant to title nine of article two of the public authorities law. All fines, penalties and forfeitures paid to a city, town or village pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision shall be credited to the general fund of such city, town or village, unless a different disposition is prescribed by charter, special law, local law or ordinance. * NB Repealed October 6, 2026