The New York State Senate

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

                                   703

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  BOYLE  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing  the  New
  York  state  online genealogy website search policy and relates to the
  release of certain information

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

  Section  1.  Subdivision  13  of section 995-b of the executive law is
amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
  (E) (I) THE DNA SUBCOMMITTEE SHALL PROVIDE NONBINDING  RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR A NEW YORK STATE ONLINE GENEALOGY WEBSITE SEARCH POLICY.  THE ONLINE
GENEALOGY  WEBSITE  SEARCH  POLICY SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO,
ASSESSING  AND  EVALUATING  THE  ACCURACY  OF  USING  ONLINE   GENEALOGY
WEBSITES,  PROVIDING  RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE PARAMETERS FOR USING ONLINE
GENEALOGY  WEBSITES,  CREATING  PROCEDURES  FOR  WHEN  ONLINE  GENEALOGY
WEBSITES  SHOULD  AND  SHOULD  NOT BE USED, AND DETERMINING THE EXPECTED
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS OF CONDUCTING ONLINE GENEALOGY SEARCHES IN NEW  YORK
STATE.
  (II)  FOR  THE  ACCOMPLISHMENT  OF  ITS PURPOSES, THE DNA SUBCOMMITTEE
SHALL BE AUTHORIZED AND EMPOWERED TO UNDERTAKE ANY  STUDIES,  INQUIRIES,
SURVEYS OR ANALYSES IT MAY DEEM RELEVANT THROUGH ITS OWN PERSONNEL OR IN
COOPERATION  WITH OR BY AGREEMENT WITH ANY OTHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE AGEN-
CY.
  (III) THE DNA SUBCOMMITTEE SHALL MEET  AND  HOLD  PUBLIC  HEARINGS  OR
PRIVATE  MEETINGS AND SHALL HAVE ALL THE POWERS OF A LEGISLATIVE COMMIT-
TEE PURSUANT TO THE LEGISLATIVE LAW.
  (IV) THE COMMISSION SHALL MAKE A REPORT OF THE DNA SUBCOMMITTEES FIND-
INGS, INCLUDING ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATIVE  ACTION  AS  IT  MAY
DEEM  NECESSARY  AND APPROPRIATE, TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE LEGISLATURE NO
LATER THAN DECEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND NINETEEN.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04574-01-9

S. 703                              2

  (V) FOR PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH  "ONLINE  GENEALOGY  SEARCH"  SHALL
MEAN  AN  INTENTIONAL  OR DELIBERATE SEARCH OF THE DNA DATABASE USING AN
ONLINE GENEALOGY WEBSITE CONDUCTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF POTENTIALLY  IDEN-
TIFYING CLOSE BIOLOGICAL RELATIVES OF THE UNKNOWN FORENSIC SAMPLES ASSO-
CIATED WITH THE CRIME SCENE PROFILE.
  §  2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 995-c of the executive
law, as added by chapter 737 of the laws of 1994, is amended and  a  new
paragraph (d) is added to read as follows:
  (c)  after personally identifiable information has been removed by the
division, to an entity authorized by the division  for  the  purpose  of
creating  or  maintaining  a population statistics database or for iden-
tification research and protocol development for forensic  DNA  analysis
or quality control purposes[.];
  (D)  (I)  TO  A FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY, OR TO A STATE OR LOCAL
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
ONLINE GENEALOGY SEARCHING PURPOSES UPON SUBMISSION OF A DNA  RECORD  IN
CONNECTION  WITH  THE  INVESTIGATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION OF ONE OR MORE
CRIMES, PROVIDED THAT THERE EXISTS BETWEEN THE DIVISION AND SUCH  AGENCY
A  WRITTEN  AGREEMENT  GOVERNING  THE  USE AND DISSEMINATION OF SUCH DNA
RECORDS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE;
  (II) ONLINE GENEALOGY SEARCHES MAY BE CONDUCTED WHEN A LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY IS INVESTIGATING THE COMMISSION OF A VIOLENT  FELONY  OFFENSE  AS
DEFINED  IN  SECTION 70.02 OF THE PENAL LAW, AND WHERE THERE IS NO MATCH
OF A SINGLE SOURCE DNA PROFILE FROM THE CRIME SCENE, AND WHERE ALL OTHER
LEADS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED.
  (III) THE COMMISSION, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE DNA SUBCOMMITTEE,  SHALL
CREATE A NEW YORK STATE ONLINE GENEALOGY WEBSITE SEARCH POLICY TO IMPLE-
MENT  USING ONLINE GENEALOGY SEARCHING IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. THE DNA
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT, AS AUTHORIZED IN PARAGRAPH (E) OF SUBDIVISION THIR-
TEEN OF SECTION NINE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE-B OF THIS ARTICLE, MAY  PROVIDE
ADDITIONAL  GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEW YORK STATE ONLINE
GENEALOGY WEBSITE SEARCH POLICY.
  § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law.  Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
completed on or before such effective date.