A 6599 New York Assembly · 2025 Regular Session

Establishes the office of chief medical examiner

This bill creates an independent office of chief medical examiner within the Department of Corrections, staffed by medically qualified professionals (doctors with forensic pathology certification and death investigation experience). It requires the office to conduct independent autopsies and investigations for all deaths in correctional facilities, collect detailed data on each death, and publish public annual reports including cause, manner, and demographic details of incarcerated individuals who died. The office must also issue preliminary death reports within 90 days of an incident and share all reports with district attorneys, the attorney general, and the legislature. This directly affects all individuals incarcerated in state correctional facilities by establishing standardized, transparent oversight of death investigations.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 6, 2025 Last action Feb 25, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

A6599A A6599B · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to shift the oversight authority for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner from the Department of Correction Commissioner to the Chairperson of the Board. Additionally, the section number for this office was changed from 12 to 47-a, and the list of bill sponsors was updated to include additional legislators.
Scope change
The bill's scope of oversight changed from the Department of Correction to the Board, altering which agency supervises the chief medical examiner.
ENFORCEMENT

Authority over the chief medical examiner was transferred from the Department of Correction Commissioner to the Chairperson of the Board.

TECHNICAL

The section number for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner was updated from Section 12 to Section 47-a.

The list of bill sponsors was expanded to include Hyndman, Levenberg, Colton, and Davila.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
4
Committee
3
Amendments
4
Feb 25, 2026
Committee
REPORTED REFERRED TO WAYS AND MEANS
lower
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO CORRECTION
lower
Jun 9, 2025
Lower · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 6599B
lower
Jun 9, 2025
Lower · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CORRECTION
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 6599A
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CORRECTION
lower
Mar 6, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO CORRECTION
lower
1 primary · 14 co-sponsors

Sponsors