BILL NUMBER:  S3982

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the executive law, in relation to
requiring parole decisions to be published on a website

 PURPOSE :

This bill directs the Board of Parole to publish its appeal decisions
on a public website and create an annual index of such decisions.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends section 259-i (4) of the executive law to provide
that the parole board shall publish appeal decisions on a web site
within 60 days, create an annual index of such decisions, make copies
available and redact confidential information from such decisions
prior to publication.

Section 2 provides for an effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Most agencies within the State operate under the State Administrative
Procedure Act, which provides that agency adjudicatory decisions must
be made public within sixty days. Agencies as diverse as the Office of
Temporary and Disability Assistance, the Department of Labor, the
              

Department of Tax and Finance and the Department of Environmental
Conservation, among other agencies, post their administrative appeal
decisions on line. The decisions are useful in that individuals and
their attorneys can read appeal decisions in similar cases to see what
kinds of arguments might apply to their cases and because agency
transparency is an important tenet of open government. The Board of
Parole, which exercises extraordinary discretion, should post its
administrative appeal determinations so that the public and concerned
citizens can have access to the body of decisions that informs the
Board's practice.

Veto message #231 expressed two concerns, first that the effective
date of 30-days was insufficient to create the database necessary to
implement this legislation, and, second, that an appropriation would
be necessary to implement a database. This bill has been amended since
the 2016 version to include a one year effective date in order to
allow time to create a database and to provide for an appropriation
within the budget.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

Referred to Corrections, passed Assembly in 2014, 2015 and 2016. This
bill was vetoed in 2016, see veto message #231 of 2016. This bill has
been amended, to address the concerns expressed in the veto message.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Minimal since the Board and DOCCS already maintain web sites

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
One year after the act becomes law