Family Court Act § 249-a · Part 4. Attorneys For Children
Waiver of counsel
Text — Law content up to date as of August 21, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
* § 249-a. Waiver of counsel. A minor who is a subject of a juvenile delinquency or person in need of supervision proceeding or in any proceeding where a minor is detained under or governed by the interstate compact for juveniles established pursuant to section five hundred one-e of the executive law shall be presumed to lack the requisite knowledge and maturity to waive the appointment of an attorney. This presumption may be rebutted only after an attorney has been appointed and the court determines after a hearing at which the attorney appears and participates and upon clear and convincing evidence that (a) the minor understands the nature of the charges, the possible dispositional alternatives and the possible defenses to the charges, (b) the minor possesses the maturity, knowledge and intelligence necessary to conduct his or her own defense, and (c) waiver is in the best interest of the minor.
* NB Effective until September 1, 2030
* § 249-a. Waiver of counsel. A minor who is a subject of a juvenile delinquency or person in need of supervision proceeding shall be presumed to lack the requisite knowledge and maturity to waive the appointment of an attorney. This presumption may be rebutted only after an attorney has been appointed and the court determines after a hearing at which the attorney appears and participates and upon clear and convincing evidence that (a) the minor understands the nature of the charges, the possible dispositional alternatives and the possible defenses to the charges, (b) the minor possesses the maturity, knowledge and intelligence necessary to conduct his or her own defense, and (c) waiver is in the best interest of the minor.
* NB Effective September 1, 2030
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of August 21, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/FCT249-A
- Text hash
- sha256 c56186a3eff9a77638fe8d9f376aca46280a1bf9f0a9262f7685bbc8002e8e89
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
- The Senate's note "Effective September 1, 2030": the later text is printed beside the text in force ("Effective until").
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.