New York State Law

Article 3 - NY Civil Rights Law

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• Civil Rights Law ›
• Article 3 ›
• Sections 22 - 27

  S 20. No imprisonment for non-payment of costs in certain cases.  A
  person shall not be arrested  or  imprisoned,  for  the  non-payment  of
  costs,  awarded  otherwise  than  by a final judgment, or a final order,
  made in a special proceeding instituted by state writ, except  where  an
  attorney,  counselor,  or  other officer of the court, is ordered to pay
  costs for misconduct as such, or a witness is ordered to pay costs on an
  attachment for non-attendance.
  S 21. No imprisonment for non-payment of money pursuant to judgment or
  order  requiring  payment  of  money due upon contract. Except in a case
  where it is otherwise specially prescribed by law, a person shall not be
  arrested  or  imprisoned  for  disobedience  to  a  judgment  or  order,
  requiring  the payment of money due upon a contract, express or implied,
  or as damages for non-performance of a contract.
  S 22. Privilege of officers and prisoner from arrest while passing
  through another county. A prisoner  conveyed to jail  through  another
  county  by  a  sheriff  or other officer pursuant to law, or the officer
  having him in custody, is not liable to arrest in any  civil  action  or
  special proceeding, while passing through another county.
  S 23. No person to be arrested in civil proceedings without a
  statutory provision. A person shall not be arrested in a civil action or
  special proceeding, except as prescribed by  statute.  The  writ  of  ne
  exeat is abolished.
  S 24. Privilege from arrest of officers of courts of record. An
  officer of a court of record, appointed or elected pursuant to  law,  is
  privileged  from arrest, during the actual sitting, which he is required
  to attend, of a term of the court of which he  is  an  officer,  and  no
  longer;  but  an attorney or counselor is not thus privileged, unless he
  is employed in a cause, to be heard at that term.
  S 25. Witness exempt from arrest. A person duly and in good faith
  subpoenaed or ordered to attend, for the purpose of being examined, in a
  case where his attendance may lawfully be enforced by attachment  or  by
  commitment,  is  privileged  from  arrest  in  a civil action or special
  proceeding, while going to, remaining at, and returning from, the  place
  where  he  is  required  to  attend.  An  arrest,  made  contrary to the
  provisions of this section, is absolutely void and is a contempt of  the
  court,  if  any,  from  which  the  subpoena was issued, or by which the
  witness was directed to attend.
  S 26. Action against officer making arrest of exempt person. An action
  may  be maintained, by the person arrested, against the officer or other
  person making an arrest contrary to the provisions of the last  section,
  in  which the plaintiff is entitled to recover treble damages. A similar
  action may also be maintained, in a like case, by  the  party  in  whose
  behalf the witness was subpoenaed, or the order procured, to recover the
  damages  sustained  by him, in consequence of the arrest. But a sheriff,
  or other officer, or  person,  is  not  so  liable,  unless  the  person
  claiming  an exemption from arrest, makes, if required by the sheriff or
  officer, an affidavit, to the effect that he was legally  subpoenaed  or
  ordered  to  attend, and that he was not so subpoenaed or ordered by his
  own procurement, with the intent of avoiding arrest. In his affidavit he
  must specify the court or officer, the  place  of  attendance,  and  the
  cause  in  which  he  was so subpoenaed or ordered. The affidavit may be
  taken before the officer arresting him, and exonerates the officer  from
  liability for not making the arrest.
  S 27. Discharge of exempt witness. Where a person has been arrested in
  violation  of  section  twenty-five,  a  justice of the supreme court, a
  county judge or the court, if any, from which the subpoena was issued or
  which ordered the witness to attend, or a  judge  thereof,  shall  order
  such  person discharged from the arrest upon proof, by affidavit, of the
  facts.
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