Authorization
Section 170.55 of New York State Criminal Procedure Law authorizes criminal courts to sentence a person to community service as part of the disposition in a criminal case.
Community service programs in New York State are administered under the authority of the Director of the State Department of Probation.
Each county in New York decides how to administer community service in that county.
Orders
In Madison County local justices and County Court judges can order a convicted person to perform community service if they determine that it is appropriate.
Community Service can also be part of a probation sentence as a special condition.
Generally, any agency or organization that provides services to the public, such as a library, fire department or church, are considered to be appropriate sites.
The court- ordered community service can be reported back to the court by the offender or can be supervised by the local probation department as a condition of an offender's probation sentence.