Unlawful grand jury disclosure · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 215.70 Unlawful grand jury disclosure.
A person is guilty of unlawful grand jury disclosure when, being a grand juror, a public prosecutor, a grand jury stenographer, a grand jury interpreter, a police officer or a peace officer guarding a witness in a grand jury proceeding, or a clerk, attendant, warden or other public servant having official duties in or about a grand jury room or proceeding, or a public officer or public employee, he intentionally discloses to another the nature or substance of any grand jury testimony, or any decision, result or other matter attending a grand jury proceeding which is required by law to be kept secret, except in the proper discharge of his official duties or upon written order of the court. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit a witness from disclosing his own testimony.
Unlawful grand jury disclosure is a class E felony.
A listed grand-jury participant or public employee commits this offense by intentionally disclosing legally secret grand-jury testimony, a decision, a result, or another matter from the proceeding, except while properly performing official duties or under a written court order. ★ A witness may disclose that witness’s own testimony. The offense is a class E felony.
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.