19 - Uniform navigation summons and complaint.

§ 19. Uniform  navigation  summons  and complaint. 1. The commissioner  shall be authorized to prescribe the form of summons and/or complaint in  all cases involving a violation of any provision of this chapter  or  of  any  ordinance,  rule  or  regulation  relating to navigation, or of any  class or category of such cases, and to establish procedures for  proper  administrative  controls over the disposition thereof. The provisions of  this subdivision shall not apply to offenses specified in paragraph b of  subdivision four of section forty-nine of this chapter.    2. The chief executive officer of each local  police  force  including  county,  town,  city  and  village police departments, sheriffs, and the  superintendent of state police shall prepare or  cause  to  be  prepared  such records and reports as may be prescribed hereunder.    3.  The  commissioner  shall have the power from time to time to adopt  such rules and  regulations  as  may  be  necessary  to  accomplish  the  purposes   and   enforce   the  provisions  of  this  section  including  requirements for reporting by  trial  courts  having  jurisdiction  over  navigation violations.    4.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to or supersede any  ordinance, rule or regulation heretofore or hereafter made,  adopted  or  prescribed  pursuant to law in Nassau or Suffolk counties or in any city  having a population of one million or over.    5. Any person who disposes of any uniform  navigation  summons  and/or  complaint  in  any  manner  other  than  that prescribed by law, rule or  regulation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.    6. If a person charged with a violation desires to plead guilty to the  violation as charged in the summons, he shall submit to  the  magistrate  having   jurisdiction,  in  person,  by  duly  authorized  agent  or  by  registered  mail,  a  verified  application  or  in  lieu  thereof,   an  application  affirmed  under  penalty  of  perjury setting forth (a) the  nature of the charge, (b) the violations, if any, of the navigation  law  or  of any local law or ordinance governing or regulating navigation, of  which the defendant has been convicted within  a  period  of  two  years  immediately  preceding  the  date of the impending charge, together with  the date, the name and place of the  court  and  the  disposition,  with  respect  to each violation, (c) the information or instructions required  by section one thousand eight hundred seven of the vehicle  and  traffic  law  to  be  given defendant upon arraignment, (d) that defendant waives  arraignment in open court and the aid of counsel,  (e)  that  he  pleads  guilty to the offense as charged, (f) that defendant elects and requests  that  the  charge  be  disposed  of and the fine or penalty fixed by the  court,  pursuant  to  this  subdivision,  and  (g)  any   statement   or  explanation that the defendant may desire to make concerning the offense  charged. The application shall be in such form as the commissioner shall  prescribe  and  a  copy  thereof shall be handed to the defendant by the  person charging him with such violation. Thereupon  the  magistrate  may  proceed as though the defendant had been convicted upon a plea of guilty  in open court, provided, however, that any imposition of fine or penalty  hereunder,  without suspension of execution of sentence, shall be deemed  tentative until such fine or penalty shall have been paid and discharged  in full, prior to which time the  magistrate,  in  his  discretion,  may  annul  any proceedings hereunder, including such tentative imposition of  fine or penalty, and deny the application, in  which  event  the  charge  shall  be  disposed  of pursuant to the applicable provisions of law, as  though no proceedings had been had under  this  subdivision.    If  upon  receipt of the aforesaid application the magistrate shall deny the same,  he  shall  thereupon  inform  the defendant of this fact, and that he is  required to appear before the said magistrate at a stated time and placeto answer the charge which shall thereafter be disposed of  pursuant  to  the applicable provisions of law.