Senate Bill S4689

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4689

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the correction law, in relation to
certificates of relief from disabilities issued by the board of parole

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

This bill transfers the responsibility for reviewing requests for
Certificates of Relief from Disabilities for federal felons to federal
probation offices.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

The bill amends section 703 of the correction law to provide that when
an application for a certificate of relief from disabilities is filed
with the Board of Parole for a person with a federal criminal
conviction, the Board shall issue the certificate if recommended by
the chief probation officer of the federal district court.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Under federal and state law, convicted felons who have paid their debt
to society are still subject to various civil disabilities, including
restrictions on employment. Specifically, former felons are barred
from obtaining occupational or professional licenses without a
certificate of relief from disabilities (CRD), preventing them from
              

holding positions ranging from garbage collector to private
investigator or real estate broker. These certificates are available
only to persons who are first-time felony offenders.

Currently, in order to seek relief from state-imposed disabilities,
persons convicted of a federal offense residing within New York must
apply to the state Board of Parole. The Correction Law provides that
the Board of Parole has the power to issue a certificate of relief
from disabilities to an eligible offender who resides within New York
and whose judgment of conviction was rendered by a court in any other
jurisdiction, such as a federal court.

Therefore, a person with a federal conviction presently must apply to
a state agency unfamiliar with his or her background for relief from
the state imposed civil disabilities. This is an arduous and
time-consuming process. Currently, the Board of Parole takes 12-15
months to process an application for relief. Since virtually every
federal sentence includes a period of supervised release by the
federal probation office following any period of incarceration, the
federal probation office estimates that it would be able to provide
recommendations to the Board of Parole in 6-8 weeks since the federal
probation office will be more familiar with the federal offender and
has easy access to his or her relevant records.

This change would reduce the backlog of applications at the state
Board of Parole; place the decision about the issuance of certificates
of relief from disabilities for persons with a federal conviction in
the hands of more familiar probation officers; promote greater
efficiency in granting said certificates from state-imposed
disabilities; and save money for the overworked state Board of Parole.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY : New bill.  A10987 (2006) referred to
crime victims, crime and correction.  A4570 referred to correction in
2007-2008

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :  This bill will reduce state costs with regard
to processing applications for certificates of relief for disabilities
for persons with a federal conviction.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :  The bill takes effect immediately.