S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7531--B
I N S E N A T E
January 22, 2018
___________
Introduced by Sens. RITCHIE, HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims,
Crime and Correction -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to statements to the state board of parole
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of
section 259-i of the executive law, as amended by chapter 130 of the
laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(A) Discretionary release on parole shall not be granted merely as a
reward for good conduct or efficient performance of duties while
confined but after considering if there is a reasonable probability
that, if such inmate is released, he will live and remain at liberty
without violating the law, and that his release is not incompatible with
the welfare of society and will not so deprecate the seriousness of his
crime as to undermine respect for law. In making the parole release
decision, the procedures adopted pursuant to subdivision four of section
two hundred fifty-nine-c of this article shall require that the follow-
ing be considered: (i) the institutional record including program goals
and accomplishments, academic achievements, vocational education, train-
ing or work assignments, therapy and interactions with staff and
inmates; (ii) performance, if any, as a participant in a temporary
release program; (iii) release plans including community resources,
employment, education and training and support services available to the
inmate; (iv) any deportation order issued by the federal government
against the inmate while in the custody of the department and any recom-
mendation regarding deportation made by the commissioner of the depart-
ment pursuant to section one hundred forty-seven of the correction law;
(v) any current or prior statement made to the board by the crime victim
or the victim's representative, where the crime victim is deceased or is
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13855-03-8
S. 7531--B 2
mentally or physically incapacitated; (vi) ANY STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OR
OPPOSITION MADE TO THE BOARD BY A THIRD PARTY; (VII) the length of the
determinate sentence to which the inmate would be subject had he or she
received a sentence pursuant to section 70.70 or section 70.71 of the
penal law for a felony defined in article two hundred twenty or article
two hundred twenty-one of the penal law; [(vii)] (VIII) the seriousness
of the offense with due consideration to the type of sentence, length of
sentence and recommendations of the sentencing court, the district
attorney, the attorney for the inmate, the pre-sentence probation report
as well as consideration of any mitigating and aggravating factors, and
activities following arrest prior to confinement; and [(viii)] (IX)
prior criminal record, including the nature and pattern of offenses,
adjustment to any previous probation or parole supervision and institu-
tional confinement. The board shall provide toll free telephone access
for crime victims. In the case of an oral statement made in accordance
with subdivision one of section 440.50 of the criminal procedure law,
the parole board member shall present a written report of the statement
to the parole board. A crime victim's representative shall mean the
crime victim's closest surviving relative, the committee or guardian of
such person, or the legal representative of any such person. Such
statement submitted by the victim or victim's representative may include
information concerning threatening or intimidating conduct toward the
victim, the victim's representative, or the victim's family, made by the
person sentenced and occurring after the sentencing. Such information
may include, but need not be limited to, the threatening or intimidating
conduct of any other person who or which is directed by the person
sentenced. Any statement by a victim or the victim's representative made
to the board shall be maintained by the department in the file provided
to the board when interviewing the inmate in consideration of release. A
victim or victim's representative who has submitted a written request to
the department for the transcript of such interview shall be provided
such transcript as soon as it becomes available.
§ 2. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section
259-i of the executive law, as separately amended by chapters 40 and 126
of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
(B) Where a crime victim or victim's representative as defined in
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph [, or other person] submits to the
parole board a written statement concerning the release of an inmate,
SUCH STATEMENT SHALL BE DEEMED CONFIDENTIAL AND SHALL ONLY BE MADE
AVAILABLE TO the parole board [shall keep that individual's name and
address confidential] FOR USE IN RENDERING PAROLE DECISIONS.
§ 3. Subdivision 1 of section 440.50 of the criminal procedure law, as
amended by chapter 193 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as
follows:
1. Upon the request of a victim of a crime, or in any event in all
cases in which the final disposition includes a conviction of a violent
felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law, a felony
defined in article one hundred twenty-five of such law, or a felony
defined in article one hundred thirty of such law, the district attorney
shall, within sixty days of the final disposition of the case, inform
the victim by letter of such final disposition. If such final disposi-
tion results in the commitment of the defendant to the custody of the
department of corrections and community supervision for an indeterminate
sentence, the notice provided to the crime victim shall also inform the
victim of his or her right to submit a written, audiotaped, or vide-
otaped victim impact statement to the department of corrections and
S. 7531--B 3
community supervision or to meet personally with a member of the state
board of parole at a time and place separate from the personal interview
between a member or members of the board and the inmate and make such a
statement, subject to procedures and limitations contained in rules of
the board, both pursuant to subdivision two of section two hundred
fifty-nine-i of the executive law. SUCH NOTICE SHALL INFORM THE VICTIM
THAT A WRITTEN, AUDIOTAPED, OR VIDEOTAPED VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SHALL
BE DEEMED CONFIDENTIAL AND SHALL ONLY BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE STATE
BOARD OF PAROLE FOR USE IN RENDERING PAROLE DECISIONS. A copy of such
letter shall be provided to the board of parole. The right of the victim
under this subdivision to submit a written victim impact statement or to
meet personally with a member of the state board of parole applies to
each personal interview between a member or members of the board and the
inmate.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such effective date.
