NY State Senate Bill S8076

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
In Committee
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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 10, 2016	referred to rules

Co-Sponsors

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9805
Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Correction Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §205, Cor L; amd §259-j, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S3494, S5561, A1052
2019-2020: S3313, A2211
2021-2022: S2630, A5549

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to certificates of relief from disabilities and certificates of good conduct upon discharge.

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 BILL NUMBER:  S8076

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the correction law and the executive law, in relation
to certificates upon discharge

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 205 of the correction law
providing a certificate of relief from disabilities, or a certificate
of good conduct if applicable, to a person granted merit termination
of sentence.

Section 2 amends subdivision 4 of section 259-j of the executive law
providing a certificate of relief from disabilities, or a certificate
of good conduct if applicable, to a person granted discretionary
three-year discharge from community supervision pursuant to
subdivision one of this section.

Section 3 is the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Criminal records result in a host of unintended consequences,
including barriers to reentry so that even when the sentence is served

and the parole supervision has been completed successfully, the
barriers remain. These barriers include legal discrimination from
employment, licensure, housing, voting rights, and other aspects of
everyday life. Some post-conviction disabilities can be relieved by
obtaining a "Certificate of Relief from Disabilities" or a
"Certificate of Good Conduct" issued by the Department of Corrections
and Community Supervision. These certificates can demonstrate to
prospective employers and landlords that a formerly incarcerated
person has lived crime free since being released from prison. They can
also be offered as proof to local boards of election that the right to
vote has been restored.

Unfortunately, we have a costly and cumbersome process to issue one of
two different kinds of certificates with different requirements and
waiting periods for differently situated offenders. Under current law,
a person must wait until three years or five years after release from
incarceration before being allowed to apply for a certificate.  At
that point such person has often completed supervision and is no
longer reporting regularly to his or her parole officer, thus
requiring an investigation to be commenced to determine if such person
meets the criteria for receiving a certificate. This bill improves the
process for obtaining these certificates for people who have been
granted early or discretionary discharge from community supervision,
which may only occur when the board of parole is satisfied that
absolute discharge is in the best interests of society and consistent
with public safety. By granting such certificates at the time of early
discharge from supervision for good behavior, the Department is saved
the human and financial resources of a subsequent investigation. This
bill does not increase the number of individuals eligible for either
certificate, but should increase the number of certificates actually
issued. This bill sensibly grants the certificate at the time of
discretionary discharge for those individuals whose extraordinary
performance earned them early discharge from supervision.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF BILL :

This is a new bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None, it should save the State money.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill shall take effect ninety days after it shall have become
law.

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                  8076

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 10, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. HASSELL-THOMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the correction law and the executive law, in relation to
  certificates upon discharge

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

  Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section 205 of the correction law, as
added by section 32 of subpart A of part C of chapter 62 of the laws  of
2011, is amended to read as follows:
  2.  (A)  A  merit  termination  granted  by  the department under this
section shall constitute a termination of the sentence with  respect  to
which  it was granted. No such merit termination shall be granted unless
the department is satisfied that termination of sentence  from  presump-
tive release, parole, conditional release or post-release supervision is
in  the  best  interest  of  society,  and that the parolee or releasee,
otherwise financially able to comply with an order  of  restitution  and
the  payment of any mandatory surcharge previously imposed by a court of
competent jurisdiction, has made a good faith effort  to  comply  there-
with.
  (B) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, A PERSON GRANTED MERIT
TERMINATION  PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL BE PROVIDED A CERTIFICATE OF
RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES PURSUANT TO SECTION SEVEN HUNDRED THREE OF THIS
CHAPTER OR A CERTIFICATE OF GOOD CONDUCT  UNDER  SECTION  SEVEN  HUNDRED
THREE-B OF THIS CHAPTER, AS APPLICABLE.
  S  2.  Section  259-j  of the executive law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 4 to read as follows:
  4. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY  OTHER  PROVISION  OF  LAW,  A  PERSON  GRANTED
DISCHARGE  PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE PROVIDED
A CERTIFICATE OF RELIEF FROM  DISABILITIES  PURSUANT  TO  SECTION  SEVEN
HUNDRED  THREE  OF  THE  CORRECTION LAW OR A CERTIFICATE OF GOOD CONDUCT
PURSUANT TO SECTION SEVEN HUNDRED THREE-B  OF  THE  CORRECTION  LAW,  AS
APPLICABLE.
  S  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.

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

                                                           LBD14926-03-6

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S8076

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

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Co-Sponsors

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Details

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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senate Bill S8076

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Sponsored By

Ruth Hassell-Thompson

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

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Co-Sponsors

Bill Perkins

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Details

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S8076 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments