New York statute
N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 540.20 — Forfeiture of bail; certain local criminal courts
Current through 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17)
Part of Article 540: Forfeiture of Bail and Remission Thereof, New York Criminal Procedure Law.
Full text of N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 540.20
Statutory text current through the 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17). This publication reproduces the text of the Consolidated Laws of New York as provided by the New York State Senate's Open Legislation service (Legislative Bill Drafting Commission statutory text); it is not the official statutes of the State of New York.
540.20 Forfeiture of bail; certain local criminal courts.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 540.10, when bail has been
posted in a city court, town court or village court in connection with a
local criminal court accusatory instrument, other than a felony
complaint, and thereafter such bail is forfeited, the following rules
are applicable:
1. If such bail consists of a bail bond, the financial officer of
such city, town or village must promptly commence an action for the
recovery of the sum of money specified in such bond, and upon collection
thereof shall pay the same over to the treasurer or financial officer of
the city, the supervisor of the town or the treasurer of the village.
Any amount recovered in such action, unless otherwise provided by law,
shall be the property of the city, town or village in which the offense
charged is alleged to have been committed.
2. If such bail consists of cash bail, the local criminal court must:
(a) If it is a city court, pay the forfeited bail to the treasurer or
other financial officer of the city. Such forfeited bail, unless
otherwise provided by law, is the property of such city.
(b) If it is a town court or a village court, pay the forfeited bail
to the state comptroller on or before the tenth day of the month next
succeeding such forfeiture. Such forfeited bail, unless otherwise
provided by law, is the property of the town or village in which the
offense charged is alleged to have been committed; provided, however,
that when (i) a single amount of bail is posted for more than a single
offense charged, and (ii) the town or village justice court does not
attribute a specific amount of bail to each offense, and (iii) forfeited
bail for at least two of the offenses would be the property of different
governmental entities, the entire amount of forfeited bail shall be the
property of the town or village in which the offenses charged are
alleged to have been committed, except that, when forfeited bail for at
least one of the offenses would be the property of the state, the entire
amount of forfeited bail shall be the property of the state.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.