22 NYCRR 116.3

To be eligible for funding pursuant to this Part, a center must meet the following conditions:

(a) It must be administered by a nonprofit organization organized for the resolution of disputes or for religious, charitable or educational purposes.

(b) It must provide neutral mediators who have received at least 25 hours of training in conflict resolution techniques.

(c) It must provide dispute resolution services without cost to indigents and at nominal or no cost to other participants.

(d) It shall, whenever reasonably possible, make use of public facilities at free or nominal cost.

(e) It must provide, during or at the conclusion of the dispute resolution process, a written agreement or decision, subscribed to by the parties, setting forth the settlement of the issues and future responsibilities of each party, and must make such agreement or decision available to a court which has adjourned a pending action pursuant to section 170.55 of the Criminal Procedure Law.

(f) It may not make monetary awards except upon consent of the parties, and such awards may not exceed $1,500, except that where an action has been adjourned in contemplation of dismissal pursuant to section 215.10 of the Criminal Procedure Law, a monetary award not in excess of $5,000 may be made.

(g) It may not accept for dispute resolution any defendant who is named in a filed felony complaint, superior court information, or indictment, charging:

(1) a class A felony; or

(2) a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the Penal Law; or

(3) any drug offense as defined in article 220 of the Penal Law; or

(4) a felony upon the conviction of which defendant must be sentenced as a second felony offender, a second violent felony offender, or a persistent violent felony offender pursuant to sections 70.06, 70.04 and 70.08 of the Penal Law, or a felony upon the conviction of which defendant may be sentenced as a persistent felony offender pursuant to section 70.10 of the Penal Law.

(h) It must provide to parties, in advance of the dispute resolution process, a written statement relating:

(1) their rights and obligations;

(2) the nature of the dispute;

(3) their right to call and examine witnesses;

(4) that a written settlement or a written decision with the reasons therefor will be rendered; and

(5) that the dispute resolution process will be final and binding upon the parties.

(i) It must permit all parties to appear with representatives, including counsel, and to present all relevant evidence relating to the dispute, including calling and examining witnesses.

(j) It must keep confidential all memoranda, work products or case files of a mediator, and must not disclose any communications relating to the subject matter of the resolution made during the resolution process by any participant, mediator or any person present at the dispute resolution.