Senate Bill S3313

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S3313

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
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 certif-
icates 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 super-
vision.

 
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.