Tampering with public records in the second degree · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 175.20 Tampering with public records in the second degree.
A person is guilty of tampering with public records in the second degree when, knowing that he does not have the authority of anyone entitled to grant it, he knowingly removes, mutilates, destroys, conceals, makes a false entry in or falsely alters any record or other written instrument filed with, deposited in, or otherwise constituting a record of a public office or public servant.
Tampering with public records in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor.
A person commits second-degree tampering with public records by knowingly removing, mutilating, destroying, hiding, falsely entering information in, or falsely altering a public-office or public-servant record, knowing no authorized person granted permission. ★ It is a class A misdemeanor.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.