Senate bill · S338 (2025-26)

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language

New York State Senate

Same as A3239, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Latest action Jun 5, 2026

Sponsor: Jamaal Bailey (State Senator, District 36, Democratic/Working Families)

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From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 29, 2026. About our data

Summary

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language; requires parties to demonstrate their understanding of the nature and effect of such documents.

Summary from NY Open Legislation. How we handle summaries

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

This legislation requires that parties in proceedings before New York City Civil Court who are not fluent in English be provided court papers and court stipulations in their own native language.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

Committee

Judiciary · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Judiciary · New York State Senate.

Your position on this bill

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Cosponsors

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

Read on NY Senate

Democratic6
Republican1

This bill has cosponsors from more than one party.

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The sponsor's argument

Why Jamaal Bailey says this is needed

With the largest concentration of limited English speakers in New York State, the City of New York is home to millions of people who face ongo- ing language barriers as they seek to navigate their way through the court system. The New York City Civil Court system is an extraordinarily busy court system that hears hundreds of thousands of cases each year. Each one of those actions can have a major impact upon the quality of life of the litigants. Hence, it is essential for our civil court system to be administered in an equitable manner that fairly administers justice to all parties - regardless of their language skills or fluency in English. It is essential that all parties to stipulations fully understand the potential consequences of their actions before entering into an enforce- able agreement that could dramatically affect their lives. This legis- lation builds upon the intent of current state and federal policies designed to ensure that witnesses and parties in court cases have access to translators as needed so they can effectively participate in court proceedings. It closes an existing loophole by specifically requiring the translation of stipulations and recognizes the growing linguistic diversity of the residents of New York State's largest municipality.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Recorded votes

Vote: Committee vote · Judiciary
Senate JudiciaryFeb 4, 2026Result: passed
(16) (1) (0) (0)
Vote: Committee vote · Judiciary
Senate JudiciaryMay 20, 2025Result: passed
(18) (0) (0) (1)

Full history

Jun 5, 2026
In committee
COMMITTED TO RULES
NY Senate
Feb 9, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Feb 5, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Feb 4, 2026
1ST Report CAL.239
1ST REPORT CAL.239
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly

Show full history (7 earlier events)

Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate
Jun 13, 2025
In committee
COMMITTED TO RULES
NY Senate
May 22, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
May 21, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
May 20, 2025
1ST Report CAL.1198
1ST REPORT CAL.1198
NY Senate
Jan 27, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Assembly
Jan 8, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
NY Senate

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.