---
type: "Bill"
title: "Streamlines the assignment of appellate counsel for indigent criminal defendants"
description: "Streamlines the assignment of appellate counsel for indigent criminal defendants appealing their convictions in order to save time, money and resources to provide enhanced access to justice for vulnerable individuals."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ny"
legislature: "New York Legislature"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "A 5689"
citation: "New York A 5689 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["CRUZ"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-23"
last_action: "2021-11-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d1092a43-a514-4c52-b51c-1003c61b68cb"
source_url: "http://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/A5689"
source_hash: "c77c7572c1df562f756c9bd4f4fdd2ae69daa1f30955ab3a4e28456b7fa3971c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ny"]
---

# New York A 5689 (2021-2022) — Streamlines the assignment of appellate counsel for indigent criminal defendants

Streamlines the assignment of appellate counsel for indigent criminal defendants appealing their convictions in order to save time, money and resources to provide enhanced access to justice for vulnerable individuals.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **A5689** (committee substitute) — [source](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=printbill&bn=A5689&term=2021&Text=Y)

## Votes

- Assembly Vote — **150–0** (pass) · lower
- Floor Vote — **58–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- CRUZ — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-23** REFERRED TO CODES `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-19** REPORTED
- **2021-04-22** ADVANCED TO THIRD READING CAL.227
- **2021-04-26** PASSED ASSEMBLY `passage`
- **2021-04-26** DELIVERED TO SENATE
- **2021-04-26** REFERRED TO FINANCE `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-03** SUBSTITUTED FOR S1279
- **2021-06-03** 3RD READING CAL.1437
- **2021-06-03** PASSED SENATE `passage`
- **2021-06-03** RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
- **2021-11-03** DELIVERED TO GOVERNOR `executive-receipt`
- **2021-11-15** SIGNED CHAP.616 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d1092a43-a514-4c52-b51c-1003c61b68cb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New York legislature records).