Senate Bill S7117

                                BILL NUMBER:S7117

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the
information provided to the office of victim services

Purpose:

The purpose of this bill is to require that law enforcement and other
agencies provide the Office of Victim Services (OVS) with the
assistance and data necessary for it to carry out its functions and
duties.

Summary of Provisions:

Section one of this bill would amend subdivision 4 of section 623 of
the Executive Law, mandating that the Division of State Police, county
and municipal police departments and agencies and other state or
municipal departments or agencies provide assistance and data as will
enable OVS to carry out its functions and duties to the extend such
information is not otherwise protected from disclosure.  Furthermore,
the bill would not require the disclosure of assistance or data where
such disclosure would unreasonably interfere with public safety or an
ongoing criminal investigation.

Section two of this bill provides for the effective date.

              

Existing Law:

Under current law, subdivision 4 of section 623 of the Executive Law
empowers OVS, "(t)o request from the division of state police, from
county or municipal police departments and agencies and from any other
state or municipal department or agency, or public authority, and the
same are hereby authorized to provide, such assistance and data as
will enable the office to carry out its functions and duties." This
permits such agencies to provide the Office with necessary
information; it does not require such information be provided.

Legislative History:

This is a new bill.

Statement in Support:

OVS has been providing compensation and other services to victims of
crime for more than 40 years. The OVS cannot do this job without the
full and timely cooperation of law enforcement. One of the most
important elements when examining a claim is establishing that a crime
did occur. The Office uses police reports to meet this threshold
requirement. Unfortunately, OVS has been delayed in its processing of
claims due to the fact that certain law enforcement agencies across
the state are not timely providing this crucial information. To
expedite these requests, the OVS has established an e-mail account for
the receipt of police reports. This bill will make compliance
mandatory.

Budget Implications:


None.

Local Impact:

Any local impact is expected to be de minimis.

Effective Date:

Immediately.