Section 216. Additional duties of the chief administrator; certain cases

1.
  The  chief  administrator  of the courts shall designate the appropriate
  persons, including but not limited to district attorneys,  criminal  and
  family  court  clerks,  corporation  counsels, county attorneys, victims
  assistance unit staff, probation officers, warrant  officers,  sheriffs,
  police  officers  or  any other law enforcement officials, to inform any
  petitioner bringing a proceeding under article eight of the family court
  act or a complainant  in  an  action  which  would  be  subject  to  the
  provisions  of section 530.11 of the criminal procedure law, before such
  proceeding or action is commenced, of the procedures available  for  the
  institution  of family offense proceedings, including but not limited to
  the following:
    (a) That there is  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  respect  to  family
  offenses in both family court and the criminal courts;
    (b)  That  a  family court proceeding is a civil proceeding and is for
  the purpose of attempting to keep the family unit intact. Referrals  for
  counseling,  or counseling services, are available through probation for
  this purpose;
    (c) That a proceeding in the criminal courts is  for  the  purpose  of
  prosecution  of  the offender and can result in a criminal conviction of
  the offender;
    (d) That a proceeding or action subject  to  the  provisions  of  this
  section  is  initiated  at  the  time  of  the  filing  of an accusatory
  instrument or filing a family court petition, not at the time of arrest,
  or request for arrest, if any;
    (f) That an arrest may precede the commencement of a family court or a
  criminal court proceeding, but  an  arrest  is  not  a  requirement  for
  commencing either proceeding.
    2.  No official or other person designated pursuant to subdivision one
  of this section shall discourage or prevent any  person  who  wishes  to
  file  a  petition  or  sign or initiate a proceeding in a criminal court
  from having access to any court for that purpose.
    3. The chief administrator shall  prescribe  an  appropriate  form  to
  implement subdivision two of this section.
    * 4.  The  chief  administrator  of  the  courts shall collect data in
  relation to the number  of  cases  in  which  the  basic  child  support
  obligation,  as  defined  in  section  two hundred forty of the domestic
  relations law and section four hundred thirteen of the family court act,
  was ordered; the number of cases in which the order deviated  from  such
  basic  child support obligation and the reasons therefor; the incomes of
  the parties; the number of children, and the  amount  of  child  support
  awarded  pursuant  to  the  child  support standards act; and amounts of
  alimony or maintenance, or allocations of property included in orders or
  judgments that include a provision for child  support  pursuant  to  the
  child support standards act, and shall report such data to the temporary
  president  of  the  senate, speaker of the assembly, chairpersons of the
  judiciary and children and families committees, and the governor  on  or
  before the first day of April of each year. In collecting such data, the
  chief  administrator shall not disclose the identities of the parties or
  disclose information that would tend to reveal  the  identities  of  the
  parties.
    * NB Repealed September 1, 2011