N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Penal / PART Specific Offenses / TITLE Offenses Against Public Health and Morals / ARTICLE Controlled Substances Offenses
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Penal Law § 220.44 (2026)

Criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds

✓ current as of May 2026
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§ 220.44 Criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school
           grounds.
  A person is guilty of criminal sale of a controlled substance in or
near school grounds when he knowingly and unlawfully sells:
  1. a controlled substance in violation of any one of subdivisions one
through six-a of section 220.34 of this article, when such sale takes
place upon school grounds or on a school bus; or
  2. a controlled substance in violation of any one of subdivisions one
through eight of section 220.39 of this article, when such sale takes
place upon school grounds or on a school bus; or
  3. a controlled substance in violation of any one of subdivisions one
through six of section 220.34 of this article, when such sale takes
place upon the grounds of a child day care or educational facility under
circumstances evincing knowledge by the defendant that such sale is
taking place upon such grounds; or
  4. a controlled substance in violation of any one of subdivisions one
through eight of section 220.39 of this article, when such sale takes
place upon the grounds of a child day care or educational facility under
circumstances evincing knowledge by the defendant that such sale is
taking place upon such grounds.
  5. For purposes of subdivisions three and four of this section, "the
grounds of a child day care or educational facility" means (a) in or on
or within any building, structure, athletic playing field, a playground
or land contained within the real property boundary line of a public or
private child day care center as such term is defined in paragraph (c)
of subdivision one of section three hundred ninety of the social
services law, or nursery, pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, or (b) any
area accessible to the public located within one thousand feet of the
real property boundary line comprising any such facility or any parked
automobile or other parked vehicle located within one thousand feet of
the real property boundary line comprising any such facility. For the
purposes of this section an "area accessible to the public" shall mean
sidewalks, streets, parking lots, parks, playgrounds, stores and
restaurants.
  6. For the purposes of this section, a rebuttable presumption shall be
established that a person has knowledge that they are within the grounds
of a child day care or educational facility when notice is conspicuously
posted of the presence or proximity of such facility.
  Criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds is a
class B felony.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 38 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1979–2021 · leading case: People v. Brown, 769 N.E.2d 1266 (NY 2002).
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People v. Brown, 769 N.E.2d 1266 (NY 2002). · cites it 4× “Because the site of the transaction was within 1,000 feet of two schools, defendant was charged in an indictment with, among other counts, criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (Penal Law § 220.44 [2]). In his opening remarks to the jury, defense…”
People v. Gonzalez, 781 N.E.2d 894 (NY 2002). · cites it 4× “39 [1]) and criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (Penal Law § 220.44 [2]) based on a single drug transaction.”
Brown v. Alexander, 543 F.3d 94 (2d Cir. 2008). · cites it 2× “It included one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds in violation of N.Y. Penal Law § 220.44 (2). Voir dire of the jury took place in Supreme Court, Bronx County, before Justice Robert H.”
People v. Alexander, 970 N.E.2d 409 (NY 2012). “39 [1]) and criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (Penal Law § 220.44 [2]); while in jail awaiting trial, defendant filed numerous pro se motions and habeas corpus petitions.”
Joseph Bellavia v. Walter Fogg, Warden, Green Haven Corr. Facility, Stormville, New York, 613 F.2d 369 (2d Cir. 1979). “Based on the foregoing evidence, including the presumption of possession, appellant was found guilty of selling a dangerous drug in the first degree, N.Y. Penal Law § 220.44 (now § 220.43), criminal possession of a dangerous drug in the first degree, N.”
People v. Gaines, 167 Misc. 2d 923 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1996). · cites it 3× “In this case of first impression, the question before the court is whether this alleged sale, which was negotiated on the sidewalk and in which the transfer of the drugs and money took place in an apartment house lobby, falls within the conduct proscribed in Penal Law § 220.44…”
People v. Lopez, 831 N.E.2d 413 (NY 2005). “In a felony complaint, the pair was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds and criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree in violation of Penal Law § 220.44 (2) and § 220.39 (1). After indictment, defendant and the…”
People v. Godreality Way, 69 A.D.3d 964 (N.Y. App. Div. 2010). “osecu *965 tion (see People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620, 621 [1983]), we find that it was legally sufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that on three separate occasions the defendant knowingly and unlawfully sold narcotic drugs upon the grounds of a child day care center…”
People v. Rexach, 220 A.D.2d 362 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995). “We reject defendant’s claim that he was improperly adjudicated a second felony offender because his prior Federal conviction for distributing cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public school was based on a statute ( 21 USC § 841 [a] [1]; former § 845a [a], now § 860 [a]) that is…”
People v. Robbins, 840 N.E.2d 1020 (NY 2005). “Penal Law § 220.44 (2) proscribes the third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance “when such sale takes place upon school grounds.”
Urena v. Lape, 373 F. Supp. 2d 449 (S.D.N.Y. 2005). “89 (1), and criminal sale of a controlled substahce in or near school grounds, in violation of N.Y. Penal Law § 220.44 (2). He was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to concurrent, indeterminate prison terms of four and one-half to nine years on each count.”
People v. Ruffin, 101 A.D.3d 1793 (N.Y. App. Div. 2012). “Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting Mm upon his plea of guilty of criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (Penal Law § 220.44 [2]), defendant contends in his main brief that his plea allocution was not factually sufficient.”
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