New York lawmakers have signed off this month on a tweak to grand jury procedure that could quietly reshape how everyday records show up in criminal cases. Under the change, routine business documents ranging from bank and merchant records to a wide array of electronic logs can be submitted without hauling an out-of-state records custodian into the room. Prosecutors say the shift will cut costs and move cases along faster, while defense lawyers and privacy advocates warn it could weaken long-standing safeguards around authenticating evidence. The overhaul is the latest effort by local prosecutors to drag New York's rules into line with a world where most paper trails now live online.
A bill to modernize the introduction of evidence in the Grand Jury has passed BOTH the @NYSenate and @NYSA_Majority following advocacy by D.A. Bragg + @BrooklynDA and support from @GovKathyHochul.
— Alvin Bragg (@Manhattanda) April 30, 2026
Legislature clears the reform
According to the New York State Senate, the bill, labeled S.9758 in the Senate and paired with A.7896 in the Assembly, sailed through the Senate in a 54-0 vote on April 7. The Assembly signed off on the matching language on Monday, April 27. The New York State Senate bill history logs the floor votes and committee stops that moved the measure through both chambers this month.
What the bill changes
The legislation revises Criminal Procedure Law 190.30 so that ordinary business records "may be received in such grand jury proceedings as evidence," and allows "any writing or record" generated in the regular course of business, including electronic records, to be introduced by sworn affidavit instead of live testimony from a records custodian, according to the New York State Senate. Material that falls outside what is normally created as part of the record must either be redacted or given to the grand jury with a limiting instruction. Supporters say the change updates an evidence rule that has forced companies and prosecutors to spend money flying in custodians simply to confirm that a record is what it appears to be.
Who pushed it
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took a victory lap on social media, announcing the bill's passage and noting that he and other local prosecutors had lobbied for the shift, while crediting the Brooklyn DA's office with helping get it across the finish line, X shows. Bragg cast the change as a straightforward modernization meant to help prosecutors keep up with cases that now hinge on digital records instead of paper files.
Why prosecutors backed it
Backers argue the old rule created a quirky and expensive hurdle that required records custodians, often based in other states, to travel to New York just to vouch for documents that were created in the normal course of business. District attorneys say that slowed down cases and drained budgets for both public offices and private companies. Governor Kathy Hochul folded the same fix into her State of the State agenda, saying New York should allow routine business records to be admitted by affidavit so its rules track more closely with those in other states, according to digital.ny.gov.
Legal and defense concerns
Defense and civil-liberties advocates urged lawmakers to move cautiously, warning that broader use of records in secret grand jury proceedings could weaken protections against misidentifying who created a record or slipping in extra material that has no business being there. The New York State Defenders Association sounded that alarm in written testimony, flagging several Article VII proposals and arguing that some grand jury changes should be broken out into stand-alone bills so that specific safeguards can get a full airing, according to its written testimony to the Legislature.
The bill has now cleared both chambers and is waiting on the governor's desk, and Hochul has already signaled support for this type of change. Prosecutors say that if she signs it, a lot of investigations will get cheaper and quicker. Defense attorneys, for their part, are preparing to keep a close eye on how often and how aggressively the new rule is used.
