SEN. FARLEY REPORTS SENATE PASSES BILL TO INCREASE COMMUNITY AWARENESS OF SEX OFFENDER PLACEMENTS

State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I – Schenectady) announced that he and his colleagues in the New York State Senate passed a bill on Feb. 2nd requiring the state to notify government officials and school leaders when sex offenders are transferred from a state facility to a community program or residence in their municipality. The bill (S396) would enhance the current system of community notification when a convicted sex offender is moved from an Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) facility.

The bill requires the Commissioner of OPWDD to notify the chief executive officer and superintendent of schools in any municipality where a sex offender is transferred to a community program or residence within their municipality. Notification must take place no later than ten calendar days prior to the transfer.

The state has placed several developmentally disabled sex offenders at state-owned group homes on Leydecker Road in the Town of West Seneca and in the Village of Scottsville in Monroe County after a state facility near Rochester was closed, catching the community off guard and raising concerns about public safety. 

The bill has been sent to the Assembly.