Fighting Recidivism: District Attorneys Endorse Governor Hochul’s Plan to Streamline Discovery Laws to Protect Victims, Hold Perpetrators Accountable and Safeguard the Right to a Fair and Speedy Trial

Governor Hochul’s FY26 Executive Budget Proposes Changes To Streamline the Discovery Process Ending Procedural Delays and Preventing Automatic Dismissals

District Attorneys Association of the State of New York Overwhelmingly Votes To Endorse Governor Hochul’s Plan To Protect Public Safety and the Rights of Victims

Supports Governor Hochul’s Record Investments in Proven Crime Prevention Initiatives Amid Lowering Crime Rates Across the State

Governor Kathy Hochul joined by District Attorneys from across New York State, announced a series of improvements and essential changes to streamline New York’s Discovery Laws. Governor Hochul proposed these common sense reforms as part of her 2025 State of the State and are intended to end procedural delays and prevent automatic dismissals of cases. The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York or DAASNY overwhelmingly voted yesterday to endorse the Governor’s plan during their annual winter conference as it would give their offices the tools and resources needed to protect the rights of victims and hold perpetrators accountable, while safeguarding the right to a fair and speedy trial. This proposal aligns with the Governor’s record investments in recent years in proven crime prevention initiatives as efforts continue to see lowering crime rates across the State.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority, and working together with our District Attorneys from across the State we are taking steps to fight crime and hold perpetrators accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Governor Hochul said. “My common sense proposal to streamline New York’s discovery laws will close fatal loopholes that have delayed trials and led to cases being thrown out on minor technicalities, which will ultimately help crack down on recidivism and provide justice for victims. I am honored to have the full support of the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York as we go about making these changes.”

Taking effect in 2020, New York’s discovery reform introduced essential changes to enhance fairness in criminal cases, but led to unintended consequences. Currently, if a prosecutor’s discovery compliance is later challenged successfully, the time between certification and challenge is retroactively counted against the prosecution, often resulting in dismissals unrelated to the merits of the case or the legality of the investigation.

This loophole inadvertently incentivizes delaying discovery challenges, in order to have cases easily thrown out on technicalities. To address this, Governor Hochul proposes changes to eliminate the incentive to delay discovery challenges and to ensure that a discovery error is addressed in a manner proportional to the discovery error itself rather than as a technical mechanism to have an entire case dismissed.

These changes will promote timely review that will improve case processing times, reduce delays that keep individuals incarcerated pre-trial, and prevent dismissals based on technicalities that can prohibit justice to victims and the people of the State of New York.

Governor Hochul also proposed a series of improvements to streamline the State’s discovery process. First, the Governor proposes clarifying that information requiring subpoenas in order to obtain is not necessary for certifying discovery compliance and that prosecutors may certify once they have disclosed all relevant materials in their actual possession. Next, Governor Hochul proposes expanding the scope of automatic redaction to include sensitive details such as witnesses’ physical addresses and personal data unrelated to the case, eliminating the need to engage in lengthy litigation to redact such material.

Governor Hochul also proposes reducing the requirement for providing 48-hour notice before a defendant’s statements can be presented to a grand jury to 24 hours. This will help relieve the burden of counties that lack five-day grand juries and which, during extended weekends, do not have 48 hours before a case needs to be presented to a grand jury. These changes will ensure procedural fairness, streamline case processing and safeguard sensitive information.