NY State Senate Bill 2009-S7501

Senate Bill S7501

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Defines repeat sex offender and establishes procedures for the evaluation and supervision of repeat sex offenders requiring continuing civil management

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Mental Health And Developmental Disabilities Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 15, 2010	referred to mental health and developmental disabilities

2009-S7501 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10146
Current Committee:: Senate Mental Health And Developmental Disabilities
Law Section:: Mental Hygiene Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§10.03 & 10.05, Ment Hyg L

2009-S7501 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Defines "repeat sex offender" and establishes procedures for the evaluation and supervision of repeat sex offenders requiring continuing civil management.

2009-S7501 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7501

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to defining
"repeat sex offender" and establishing procedures for the evaluation
and supervision of repeat sex offenders requiring continuing civil
management


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
To clarify and establish better procedures for the evaluation and
supervision of repeat sex offenders requiring continuing civil
management.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PR0VISIONS :
Section 2 Subdivisions (a), (d), and (g) of section 10.05 of the
mental hygiene law, as added by chapter 7 of the laws of 2007, are
amended to read as follows:

All repeat sex offenders will be referred by the Department of
Corrections to the three person case review team without first going
to the multi-disciplinary review team for initial evaluation:  the
case review team will be comprised of at least two psychiatric
examiners with expertise, as defined by the legislation; the staffing
and administration of the case review team will be conducted by the
Department of Criminal Justice Services instead of the Office of

Mental Health; following the evaluation, the case review term will
make a decision to refer the case to the Attorney General's office;
two of the three members of the case review team must be in agreement
that a referral needs to be made; the Attorney General's Office and
the respondent will be notified in writing of this decision.

 JUSTIFICATION :
As it is now written SOMTA (sex offender management and treatment act)
contains an inherent conflict of interest for the State Office of
Mental Health (OMH). This conflict arises from the fact that OMH is
responsible for making the evaluations that determine a person's
referral to the Attorney General's office for a petition of civil
management while at the same time being the agency that would bear the
fiscal burden if that petition were to be granted.

Under the current multi-disciplinary review team structure a 100 year
old repeat sex offender in Western New York was allowed to be set free
under supervision of parole instead of being civilly confined.  After
just a few weeks this repeat sex offender, who had gone to prison and
served his time for sexual abuse of his own sibling, violated his
parole and publicly expressed that he "couldn't wait to be with his
grandchildren."

Weighing the costs of civil management during a time of immense state
fiscal crisis could play, however inadvertently, a role in the
decision-making process and therefore a revised method of evaluation
needs to be developed. This bill would revise the method that will
still place the mental health of the sex offender in the forefront of
the decision-making process while also taking into consideration
concern for the public's safety, protecting the criminal justice
system, as well as the rights of the citizens of the state.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
New bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the 30th day after it shall have become
law; provided that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and
or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be
made and completed on or before such effective date.

2009-S7501 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7501

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 15, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  STACHOWSKI  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Mental  Health  and
  Developmental Disabilities

AN  ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to defining "repeat
  sex offender" and  establishing  procedures  for  the  evaluation  and
  supervision of repeat sex offenders requiring continuing civil manage-
  ment

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 10.03 of the  mental  hygiene  law  is  amended  by
adding a new subdivision (m-1) to read as follows:
  (M-1)  "REPEAT  SEX  OFFENDER"  MEANS  ANY  DETAINED  SEX OFFENDER, AS
DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION (G) OF THIS SECTION, WHO:
  (1) STANDS CONVICTED TWO OR MORE TIMES OF A SEX OFFENSE AS DEFINED  IN
SUBDIVISION (P) OF THIS SECTION OR STANDS CONVICTED TWO OR MORE TIMES OF
A  DESIGNATED  FELONY THAT WAS SEXUALLY MOTIVATED AND COMMITTED PRIOR TO
THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION;
  (2) HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH TWO OR MORE SEX OFFENSES AND HAS BEEN DETER-
MINED TO BE INCAPACITATED AND HAS BEEN  COMMITTED  PURSUANT  TO  ARTICLE
SEVEN  HUNDRED  THIRTY  OF THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW, BUT DID ENGAGE IN
THE CONDUCT CONSTITUTING SUCH OFFENSE, OR WHO HAS BEEN FOUND NOT RESPON-
SIBLE BY REASON OF MENTAL DISEASE OR DEFECT FOR THE COMMISSION  OF  THAT
OFFENSE;
  (3)  A  PERSON CONVICTED TWO OR MORE TIMES OF A SEX OFFENSE WHO IS, OR
WAS AT ANY TIME AFTER SEPTEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND FIVE, A PATIENT IN A
HOSPITAL OPERATED BY THE OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH, AND WHO  WAS  ADMITTED
DIRECTLY  TO  SUCH  FACILITY  PURSUANT  TO ARTICLE NINE OF THIS TITLE OR
SECTION FOUR HUNDRED TWO OF THE CORRECTION LAW UPON  RELEASE  OR  CONDI-
TIONAL RELEASE FROM A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.
  S  2.  Subdivisions  (a),  (d)  and (g) of section 10.05 of the mental
hygiene law, as added by chapter 7 of the laws of 2007, are  amended  to
read as follows:
  (a)  The  commissioner of mental health, in [consultation] CONJUNCTION
with the commissioner of the department of correctional services and the

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD15544-02-0

S. 7501                             2

commissioner of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, shall
establish a case review panel consisting of at  least  fifteen  members,
any  three  of  whom may sit as a team to review a particular case.  THE
STAFFING  AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CASE REVIEW PANEL SHALL BE CONDUCTED
BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES. At least two members  of
each  team shall be [professionals] PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINERS WITH EXPERTISE
in the field of mental health or the field  of  mental  retardation  and
developmental  disabilities,  as  appropriate,  with  experience  in the
treatment, diagnosis, risk assessment or management of sex offenders. To
the extent practicable, the workload of the case review panel should  be
evenly  distributed  among its members. Members of the case review panel
and psychiatric examiners should be free to exercise independent profes-
sional judgment without pressure or retaliation for the exercise of that
judgment from any source.
  (d) (1) The commissioner shall be authorized to designate  multidisci-
plinary  staff,  including clinical and other professional personnel, to
provide a preliminary review of the need for detained sex  offenders  to
be evaluated under the procedures of this section. When the commissioner
receives  notice pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section, such staff
shall review and assess relevant medical, clinical, criminal, or  insti-
tutional records, actuarial risk assessment instruments or other records
and  reports,  including  records  and  reports provided by the district
attorney of the county where the person was convicted, or in the case of
persons determined to be incapacitated or not responsible by  reason  of
mental  disease or defect, the county where the person was charged. Upon
such review and assessment, the staff shall determine whether the person
who is the subject of the notice should be referred  to  a  case  review
team for evaluation.
  (2)  NOTWITHSTANDING  THE PROVISIONS OF PARAGRAPH ONE OF THIS SUBDIVI-
SION, ANY DETAINED SEX OFFENDER WHO IS A REPEAT SEX  OFFENDER  SHALL  BE
IMMEDIATELY  REFERRED  BY  THE  MULTIDISCIPLINARY STAFF TO A CASE REVIEW
TEAM FOR  EVALUATION  WITHOUT  UNDERGOING  THE  MULTIDISCIPLINARY  STAFF
REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH ONE OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
  (g)  If the case review team finds that the respondent is a sex offen-
der requiring civil management, it shall so notify  the  respondent  and
the  attorney  general, in writing.   IN ORDER TO REFER A CASE FOR CIVIL
MANAGEMENT, AT LEAST TWO OF THE THREE CASE  REVIEW  TEAM  MEMBERS  SHALL
FIND  THAT  THE RESPONDENT IS A SEX OFFENDER REQUIRING CIVIL MANAGEMENT.
The written notice must be  accompanied  by  a  written  report  from  a
psychiatric  examiner that includes a finding as to whether the respond-
ent has a mental abnormality. Where the notice indicates that a respond-
ent stands convicted of or was charged  with  a  designated  felony,  it
shall  also include the case review team's finding as to whether the act
was sexually motivated. The case review team shall provide  its  written
notice to the attorney general and the respondent within forty-five days
of  the commissioner receiving the notice of anticipated release. Howev-
er, failure to do so within that time period shall not affect the valid-
ity of such notice or finding or any subsequent  action,  including  the
attorney  general's  filing  of a sex offender civil management petition
subsequent to receiving the finding of the case review team.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
have  become  a  law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the
addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule  or  regulation  necessary
for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

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