The Associated Press reports: Legislation headed to Gov. David Paterson’s desk would authorize state troopers to plea bargain traffic tickets in local courts, ending a nearly two-year-old ban on the practice.

The measure, passed by lawmakers last month before they adjourned, would undo the state police policy implemented Sept. 1, 2006. Previously in some courts troopers directly discussed with drivers reducing tickets to lesser infractions in return for guilty pleas.

“What happened is the state police ceased appearing in traffic courts across the state of New York to listen to people who had received tickets,” said Assemblyman Stephen Hawley, a Republican from Batavia. “And they were no longer able to plea bargain with local courts.”

State police issued 1 million traffic tickets in 2007, most answered in municipal courts that count on revenue from the fines. The measure has not yet reached Paterson’s desk, spokesman Morgan Hook said Thursday. It will be reviewed, he said.

The legislation would allow troopers to appear in court, when authorized by district attorneys, and would prohibit the state police administration from making regulations or otherwise limiting their ability to modify petty traffic charges.

Hawley said it would help municipalities financially, since some had to hire prosecutors or designate lawyers to handle traffic cases. It should also make it easier for drivers to settle cases and with fewer trips to court, he said.

Sgt. Kern Swoboda, spokesman for the state police, said policy never prohibited plea bargaining itself, and only kept troopers from going to court and plea bargaining tickets. “Cities, towns and villages have the authority to prosecute those tickets. They also have the right as part of their prosecutorial responsibilities to accept plea bargains. That’s not our responsibility,” he said.