This bill creates a new criminal offense called "vehicular homicide" for drivers who cause another person's death through reckless conduct showing extreme disregard for human life. It directly affects drivers whose actions - like severe speeding or ignoring traffic signals - result in fatalities, even if they didn’t intend to cause death. The law classifies vehicular homicide as a class B felony, the same penalty as second-degree murder in New York, making it a serious criminal charge. This change would replace or add to existing laws for deaths caused by negligent or reckless driving.
This bill, known as "the prison wage act," mandates compensation for incarcerated individuals performing labor in state and local correctional facilities. It requires that these individuals be paid at least one-half of the state's minimum wage for any work performed or for which a wage would typically be due. This compensation applies to various types of labor, including general facility work, tasks for nonprofit organizations, and participation in work release programs. Additionally, hourly incentive allowances for educational and training programs must also meet this minimum wage standard.
Bill S 6456 expands eligibility for incarcerated individuals to participate in prison work release programs by extending the required proximity to parole or conditional release. Most participants will now be eligible three years, instead of two, prior to release, and those with certain violent offenses will be eligible thirty months, up from eighteen. The bill also extends this three-year eligibility to individuals convicted of homicide offenses related to domestic abuse by the victim. Furthermore, it prohibits the governor from issuing executive orders to exclude classes of otherwise eligible individuals and adds aggravated harassment of an employee by an incarcerated individual to the list of ineligible offenses.
Senate Bill S 856 reorganizes the State Commission of Correction by expanding its membership from three to nine individuals. The bill diversifies the appointment process, allowing the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Temporary President of the Senate, and the Correctional Association to each appoint members. It also mandates that the commission include members with specific professional backgrounds, such as formerly incarcerated individuals, health professionals, and attorneys. Additionally, the bill establishes a ten-year term limit for commissioners and alters the process for designating the chairperson and removing members.
Relates to the confidentiality and expungement of records in juvenile delinquency cases in the family court; requires certain records to be expunged automatically.
Enacts into law components of legislation necessary to implement an omnibus bill related to correctional services in the state of New York; requires the timely disclosure of video footage related to the death of incarcerated individuals to the attorney general's office of special investigations (Part A); requires institutions and local correctional facilities to adhere to certain standards regarding the camera coverage of incarcerated individuals and detainees, and access to such camera recordings (Part B); provides notice of the death of an incarcerated individual occurring in the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision; requires the department to promptly notify the next of kin and any other person designated as the representative of any incarcerated individual whose death takes place during custody (Part C); directs the state commission of correction to conduct a comprehensive study on deaths in correctional facilities within New York state to provide data-driven insights and recommendations to improve prison conditions, healthcare, and policies to prevent future tragedies (Part D); establishes the Terry Cooper autopsy accountability act requiring autopsy reports to include all photographs of the body, microscopic slides, and post-mortem x-rays taken by, at the direction of, or reviewed by the person performing the autopsy (Part E); relates to conflicts within the office of special investigation; provides that if the office of the attorney general has a conflict representing state employees in civil litigation, the attorney general may designate a deputy attorney general or assistant attorney general to act in their place; requires the attorney general to establish procedures to screen off certain records (part F); requires the commissioner of corrections and community supervision to collect and report on data from the office of special investigations regarding complaints received by such office in the previous quarter (Part G); increases the number of members on the state commission of correction; provides for the manner of confirmation of such members (Part H); relates to correctional facility visits by the correctional association; authorizes the correctional association to visit correctional facilities at any time with 24 hours advance notice; grants the correctional association access to certain records and information of correctional facilities (Part I); relates to the tolling of statute of limitations for individuals in state custody; provides that with respect to state action brought by anyone to recover damages for physical, psychological, or other injury or condition suffered while in state custody, the time in which such action must commence shall be extended to three years after such person is released from such custody (Part J).
Enacts the "keep police radio public act"; ensures that, except for sensitive information, all radio communications are accessible to emergency services organizations and professional journalists.
Relates to making technical corrections to ensure gender neutrality for the admission to practice law and preventing the character fitness questionnaire from inquiring into an applicant's prior interaction with law enforcement or the criminal justice system under certain circumstances.
Enacts into law major components of legislation necessary to implement the state public protection and general government budget for the 2025-2026 state fiscal year; extends provisions of law relating to criminal justice including the psychological testing of candidates, expanding the geographic area of employment of certain police officers, prisoner furloughs in certain cases and the crime of absconding therefrom, correctional facilities, incarcerated individual work release, furlough and leave, certain provisions which impact upon expenditure of certain appropriations made by chapter 50 of the laws of 1994 enacting the state operations budget, taxes, surcharges, fees and funding, prison and jail housing and alternatives to detention and incarceration programs, taxes, expiration of the mandatory surcharge and victim assistance fee, the ignition interlock device program, the merit provisions, prisoner litigation reform and the incarcerated individual filing fee provisions of the civil practice law and rules and general filing fee provision and incarcerated individual property claims exhaustion requirement of the court of claims act of such chapter, the family protection and domestic violence intervention act of 1994, certain provisions requiring the arrest of certain persons engaged in family violence, the use of closed-circuit television and other protective measures for certain child witnesses, the counties, the interstate compact for adult offender supervision, limiting the closing of certain correctional facilities, the custody by the department of correctional services of incarcerated individual serving definite sentences, custody of federal prisoners, the closing of certain correctional facilities, military funds of the organized militia, providing for community treatment facilities and establishing the crime of absconding from the community treatment facility; relates to the pre-criminal proceeding settlements in the city of New York (Part A); expands eligibility for who may hold correction and police officer positions (Part C); expands support services for victims of financial abuse and homicide (Part G); expands protections and services to survivors of sexual assault for itemized charges related to exams for such survivors (Part H); improves access to public assistance for survivors of gender-based violence; repeals provisions relating thereto (Part I); requires certain employers to implement a model gender-based violence and the workplace policy (Part J); prohibits artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material (Part L); extends provisions of law relating to liquidator's permits and temporary retail permits (Part Q); increases the bond limit for the New York city transitional finance authority (Part R); modifies the industrial and commercial abatement program (Part S); extends the civil service examination fee waiver for certain persons (Part V); provides for an optional payment election for certain employees (Part W); authorizes construction manager as constructor contracts as an alternative delivery method for authorized projects; defines construction manager as constructor contracts (Part Y); allows certain residents or fellows to render medical care in cases of workers' compensation injuries (Part AA); provides for temporary payment of compensation for medical treatment and care, including prescription drugs (Part CC); establishes a body-worn cameras program within the department of corrections and community supervision to increase accountability (Part GG); relates to the functions, powers and duties of the state commission on correction (Part HH); extends the time the New York State community commission on reparations remedies has to submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the legislature and the governor (Part JJ); establishes the "Oak Orchard wastewater project design-build act" for the wastewater treatment plant in the town of Clay, county of Onondaga (Part KK); increases the amount of allowance that trial and grand jurors are entitled to in each court of the unified court system (Part LL); establishes the New York state office of gun violence prevention (Part MM); provides for ten additional judges for the New York city civil court and five additional judges for the court of claims (Part NN); relates to public campaign financing; changes certain thresholds and procedures; repeals certain provisions of chapter 58 of 2020 relating to severability (Part OO); delays implementing certain restrictions on outside earned income by members of the legislature until January 1, 2027 (Part PP); requires that candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor are designated jointly; provides that ballots shall reflect that that offices of governor and lieutenant governor are voted for jointly (Part QQ); relates to civil enforcement actions initiated by the attorney-general (Part RR); restores 20 year service retirement for New York city police officers (Part SS); establishes a twenty-five year retirement plan for firefighters employed by the division of military and naval affairs (Part TT); removes eligibility or receipt of primary social security disability benefits as a condition for ordinary disability retirement for New York city enhanced plan members in active service who are not eligible for a normal retirement benefit and have completed five years or more of service (Part UU); extends the retiree earnings limitation waiver for school employees until June 30, 2027 (Part VV); authorizes courts to dispense with the personal appearance of a party or the defendant and conduct such appearance electronically; repeals provisions relating to appearances in court; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof (Part WW); relates to promotions of police detectives, sergeants, and lieutenants for retirement purposes (Part XX); establishes alternative twenty and twenty-five year plans for certain law enforcement members or officers; provides for accidental disability retirement allowance for certain members (Part YY); lowers the minimum hiring age for correction officers to eighteen (Part ZZ); extends provisions related to the operation and administration of the legislature (Part AAA); relates to authorizing the department of corrections and community supervision to close up to three correctional facilities in the 2025--2026 state fiscal year; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof (Part BBB).
Bill S 3831 amends the state's penal law regarding the crime of persistent sexual abuse. Currently, a person can be charged with persistent sexual abuse if they commit certain sexual abuse offenses and have two or more prior convictions for similar crimes within a ten-year period, excluding time incarcerated. This bill removes that ten-year time limit for prior convictions. As a result, any qualifying past convictions, regardless of when they occurred, would count towards a charge of persistent sexual abuse, affecting how individuals with multiple past sexual abuse convictions are prosecuted for subsequent offenses.
