S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
214--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
(PREFILED)
January 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. MYRIE, BAILEY, BRESLIN, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE,
COMRIE, COONEY, FERNANDEZ, GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM,
HINCHEY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KENNEDY, LIU, PARKER,
RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, THOMAS,
WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be commit-
ted to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to expanding eligibility
for victims and survivors of crime to access victim compensation funds
by removing the mandatory law enforcement reporting requirement,
providing alternative forms of evidence that would show that a quali-
fying crime was committed and the confidentiality of certain records
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 621 of the execu-
tive law, as amended by chapter 710 of the laws of 1996, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) an act committed in New York state which would, if committed by a
mentally competent criminally responsible adult, who has no legal
exemption or defense, constitute a crime as defined in and proscribed by
law, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ANY SUSPECT WAS ARRESTED, CHARGED, APPRE-
HENDED OR PROSECUTED FOR THE COMMISSION OF THE ACT OR WHETHER THE CLAIM-
ANT HAS INTERACTED WITH A CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY INVESTIGATING SUCH
ACT; or
§ 2. Subdivision 2 of section 625 of the executive law, as amended by
section 10 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
read as follows:
2. A claim must be filed by the claimant not later than [one year]
THREE YEARS after the occurrence or discovery of the crime upon which
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01992-02-3
S. 214--A 2
such claim is based, [one year] THREE YEARS after a court finds a
lawsuit to be frivolous, or not later than [one year] THREE YEARS after
the death of the victim, provided, however, that upon good cause shown,
the office may extend the time for filing. The office shall extend the
time for filing where the claimant received no notice pursuant to
section six hundred twenty-five-a of this article and had no knowledge
of eligibility pursuant to section six hundred twenty-four of this arti-
cle.
§ 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 627 of the executive
law, as added by section 18 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of
2010, is amended to read as follows:
(c) the investigation and determination of claims regardless of wheth-
er the alleged criminal has been ARRESTED, CHARGED, apprehended or pros-
ecuted for or convicted of any crime based upon the same incident, or
has been acquitted, or found not guilty of the crime in question owing
to criminal irresponsibility or other legal exemption;
§ 4. Subdivision 1 of section 631 of the executive law, as separately
amended by chapters 189 and 295 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read
as follows:
1. No award shall be made unless the office finds that: (a) a crime
[was committed,] HAS OCCURRED AS INDICATED BY THE APPLICANT'S RECORD OR
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION; (b) such crime directly resulted in personal
physical injury to or the exacerbation of a preexisting disability, or
condition, or death of, the victim[,]; and (c) EITHER: (I) criminal
justice agency records show that such crime was [promptly] reported to
the proper authorities[; and in no case may an award be made where the
criminal justice agency records show that such report was made more than
one week after the occurrence of such crime unless the office, for good
cause shown, finds the delay to have been justified. Notwithstanding the
foregoing provisions of this subdivision, in cases involving an alleged
sex offense as contained in article one hundred thirty of the penal law
or incest as defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal
law or labor trafficking as defined in section 135.35 of the penal law
or sex trafficking as defined in sections 230.34 and 230.34-a of the
penal law or an offense chargeable as a family offense as described in
section eight hundred twelve of the family court act or section 530.11
of the criminal procedure law, the criminal justice agency report need
only be made] within a reasonable time considering all the circum-
stances, including the victim's physical, emotional and mental condition
and family situation[.]; OR (II) EVIDENCE IS PROVIDED TO SHOW THAT SUCH
CRIME OCCURRED. SUCH EVIDENCE SHALL INCLUDE, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, ONE
OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING:
(A) A WRITTEN STATEMENT PROVIDED BY A CITY OR STATE-CONTRACTED VICTIM
SERVICES PROVIDER WHO HAS PROVIDED SERVICES TO THE VICTIM OF THE CRIME,
OR OTHER ELIGIBLE CLAIMANTS AS IDENTIFIED IN SECTION SIX HUNDRED TWEN-
TY-FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE, IN RESPONSE TO THE IMPACT OF THE QUALIFYING
CRIME; OR
(B) A TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT RESTRAINING ORDER OR PROTECTIVE ORDER
ISSUED BY A COURT TO PROTECT OR SEPARATE THE VICTIM, OR OTHER ELIGIBLE
CLAIMANTS AS IDENTIFIED IN SECTION SIX HUNDRED TWENTY-FOUR OF THIS ARTI-
CLE, FROM THE PERSON WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE QUALIFYING CRIME.
For the purposes of this subdivision, "criminal justice agency" shall
include, but not be limited to, a police department, a district attor-
ney's office, and any other governmental agency having responsibility
for the enforcement of the criminal laws of the state provided, however,
that in cases involving such sex offense or family offense a criminal
S. 214--A 3
justice agency shall also mean a family court, a governmental agency
responsible for child and/or adult protective services pursuant to title
six of article six of the social services law and/or title one of arti-
cle nine-B of the social services law, and any medical facility estab-
lished under the laws of the state that provides a forensic physical
examination for victims of rape and sexual assault.
§ 5. Subdivision 4 of section 625 of the executive law, as amended by
section 10 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
read as follows:
4. Upon THE filing of a claim pursuant to this article, the office
shall promptly notify the district attorney of the county wherein the
crime is alleged to have occurred. EXCEPT IN CASES WHERE THE ALLEGED
CRIME WAS NOT REPORTED TO A CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY, AS INDICATED IN
SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION SIX HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE OF THIS ARTICLE. If,
within ten days after such notification, such district attorney advises
the office that a criminal prosecution is pending upon the same alleged
crime and requests that action by the office be deferred, the office
shall defer all proceedings under this article until such time as such
criminal prosecution has been concluded and shall so notify such
district attorney and the claimant. When such criminal prosecution has
been concluded, such district attorney shall promptly so notify the
office. Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the office
to grant emergency awards pursuant to section six hundred thirty of this
article.
§ 6. Subdivision 1 of section 633 of the executive law, as amended by
section 25 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
read as follows:
1. Records maintained by the office and proceedings by the office
based thereon regarding a claim submitted by a victim or a claimant
shall be deemed confidential AND SHALL NOT BE SHARED WITH ANY GOVERNMENT
OR PRIVATE ENTITY, with the following exceptions:
(a) requests for information based [upon] ON legitimate criminal
justice purposes AS DETERMINED BY THE AGENCY, PROVIDED THAT, IN SUCH
CASE, THE OFFICE SHALL FURNISH ONLY THAT PORTION OF THE INFORMATION THAT
IS LEGALLY REQUIRED;
(b) judicial subpoenas;
(c) requests for information by the victim or claimant or his or her
authorized representative; OR
(d) for purposes necessary and proper for the administration of this
article.
§ 7. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
law.
