§ 521. Fees and travel expenses of jurors. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section, trial and grand jurors in each court of the unified court system shall be entitled to an allowance equal to the sum of forty dollars per day for each and every day of physical attendance wherein the court convenes, except that no person who is employed shall be entitled to receive such allowance if, pursuant to section five hundred nineteen of this article, his or her employer is prohibited from withholding the first forty dollars of wages of such person during such period and such person's daily wages equal or exceed forty dollars. If such person's daily wages are less than forty dollars, he or she shall be entitled to receive an allowance hereunder equal to the difference between forty dollars and the amount of his or her daily wages. Such fees and those expenses actually and necessarily incurred in providing food and lodging for jurors shall be a state charge payable out of funds appropriated to the office of court administration for that purpose.

Terms Used In N.Y. Judiciary Law 521

  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Juror: A person who is on the jury.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.

(b) No employee shall be entitled to receive the per diem allowance authorized by subdivision (a) of this section for any regularly scheduled workday on which jury service is rendered if, on such day, his or her wages are not withheld on account of such service.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a trial or grand juror may waive entitlement to the allowance authorized by subdivision (a) of this section. In such event the amount of such allowance shall be available to the chief administrator of the courts solely for the purposes specified in paragraph (m) of subdivision two of section two hundred twelve of this chapter, except that any such amounts not expended in such fashion as of the close of the fiscal year in which they became available shall be transferred by the comptroller to the supplemental jury facilities fund established pursuant to § 94-c of the state finance law.