The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6130--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 12, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BOYLE  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technology --
   recommitted to the Committee on Internet and Technology in  accordance
   with  Senate  Rule  6,  sec.  8 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
   ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10616-02-2

 S. 6130--A                          2
 
 DEEM  NECESSARY  AND APPROPRIATE, TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE LEGISLATURE NO
 LATER THAN DECEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO.
   (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.