S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6881--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 20, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. MANNION -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Disabilities --  committee
   discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
   to said committee
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  executive  law, the county law and the criminal
   procedure law, in relation to the justice center for the protection of
   people with special needs and providing  for  the  repeal  of  certain
   provisions upon expiration thereof
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 552 of the executive law, as added by section 3  of
 part  A  of  chapter  501  of  the  laws  of 2012, is amended to read as
 follows:
   § 552. Organization of the justice center. 1. The justice center shall
 house the vulnerable persons' central register created in  section  four
 hundred  ninety-two  of the social services law and shall perform all of
 the necessary functions related to the receipt and acceptance of reports
 of allegations of reportable incidents involving vulnerable persons, the
 investigation of such accepted reports and the review  of  substantiated
 findings  of  abuse  or  neglect,  as  defined  in subdivision eleven of
 section four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law,  including
 conducting  any  disciplinary  proceedings for state employees resulting
 from such substantiated findings (for state entities bound by collective
 bargaining, the  disciplinary  process  established  through  collective
 bargaining  shall govern). The justice center shall contain two separate
 units, headed by two distinct deputies, one responsible for the  [prose-
 cution]  INVESTIGATION of criminal matters and one for the INVESTIGATION
 AND resolution of non-criminal matters.  If,  during  an  investigation,
 what  appeared  to  be  a non-criminal matter warrants consideration for
 criminal charges, the matter shall be promptly referred to the  criminal
 unit AS WELL AS THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WITH JURISDICTION OVER SUCH
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11578-02-1
              

 S. 6881--A                          2
 
 MATTER.  Information  collected  during  such investigations may only be
 shared between such units in accordance with state and federal constitu-
 tional protections and laws and  the  secrecy  provisions  contained  in
 article  one  hundred  ninety  of  the criminal procedure law, unless so
 ordered by a court in a pending proceeding.
   2. (a) The justice center also shall employ a special  prosecutor  and
 inspector  general  for  the  protection  of  people  with special needs
 ("special prosecutor"), who shall be appointed by  the  governor.  Other
 state agencies shall be required to make facilities available for office
 space  throughout the state and to assist when requested with respect to
 the duties of the office. Pursuant to the provisions  of  this  section,
 such  special  prosecutor shall have the duty and power: (i) to investi-
 gate and, UPON THE CONSENT OF A DISTRICT  ATTORNEY,  prosecute  offenses
 involving  abuse or neglect, as defined in subdivision eleven of section
 four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law, committed  against
 vulnerable  persons  by  custodians  as  defined  in  subdivision two of
 section four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law;  and  (ii)
 to  cooperate  with  and  assist  district attorneys and other local law
 enforcement officials in their efforts against such abuse or neglect  of
 vulnerable  persons.    Provided  that  nothing herein shall DIMINISH OR
 interfere with the ability of district attorneys at any time to  receive
 complaints,  investigate  [and]  OR  MAINTAIN  THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY TO
 prosecute any OFFENSE INVOLVING THE suspected  abuse  or  neglect  OF  A
 VULNERABLE  PERSON,  or  for any persons, whether a mandated reporter or
 not, to report a complaint to a district attorney or  other  appropriate
 law  enforcement  official. The special prosecutor may request and shall
 receive, from any agency, department, division, board, bureau or commis-
 sion of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, cooperation and
 assistance in the performance of his or  her  duties,  and  may  provide
 technical  and other assistance to any district attorney or law enforce-
 ment official requesting assistance in the investigation or  prosecution
 of OFFENSES INVOLVING THE abuse or neglect of vulnerable persons.
   (b)  The  special  prosecutor,  OR  ONE OF HIS OR HER ASSISTANTS, DULY
 AUTHORIZED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION,  is  empowered
 to  apply  for search warrants pursuant to article six hundred ninety of
 the criminal procedure law, and, except in exigent circumstances,  shall
 give  prior  notice  of  the application to the district attorney of the
 county in which such a warrant is to be executed, and  in  such  exigent
 circumstances  shall give such notice as soon thereafter as is practica-
 ble; provided, however that the failure  to  give  notice  of  a  search
 warrant  application  to  a  district  attorney shall not be a ground to
 suppress the evidence seized in executing the warrant. [He  or  she  may
 designate an assistant to exercise any of such powers.]
   (c)  The  special  prosecutor  or  one  of  his or her assistants DULY
 AUTHORIZED PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS  SUBDIVISION,  may[,  after
 consultation with the district attorney as to the time and place of such
 attendance  or  appearance,]  attend  in person any term of [the county]
 court [or supreme court] having appropriate jurisdiction,  including  an
 extraordinary  special  or  trial  term of the supreme court when one is
 appointed pursuant to section one hundred forty-nine  of  the  judiciary
 law,  or appear before the grand jury thereof, for the purpose of manag-
 ing and conducting in such court or before such jury a  criminal  action
 or  proceeding  concerned with an offense where any conduct constituting
 or requisite to the completion of or in any other manner related to such
 offense involved the abuse or neglect of a vulnerable person, as defined
 in subdivision eleven of section four hundred eighty-eight of the social
 S. 6881--A                          3
 
 services law. [In such case, such  special  prosecutor  or  his  or  her
 assistant  so  attending may exercise all the powers and perform all the
 duties in respect of such actions  or  proceedings  which  the  district
 attorney  would  otherwise  be  authorized  or  required  to exercise or
 perform.]
   § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 700 of the county  law,  as  amended  by
 chapter 560 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
   1. Except as provided in section seven hundred one of this chapter, it
 shall  be the duty of every district attorney to conduct, OR CAUSE TO BE
 CONDUCTED, all prosecutions for crimes and offenses  cognizable  by  the
 courts  of  the  county  for  which he or she shall have been elected or
 appointed; except when the place of trial of an  indictment  is  changed
 from  one county to another, it shall be the duty of the district attor-
 ney of the county where the indictment is found to conduct the trial  of
 the  indictment  so  removed,  and  it shall be the duty of the district
 attorney of the county to which such trial is changed to assist in  such
 trial  upon the request of the district attorney of the county where the
 indictment was found. He  or  she  shall  perform  such  additional  and
 related  duties as may be prescribed by law and directed by the board of
 supervisors.
   § 3. Section 702 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
 sion 8 to read as follows:
   8. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF LAW WITH RESPECT TO  THE  REQUIRE-
 MENTS  OF  RESIDENCE  OR NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS, A DISTRICT ATTORNEY MAY
 APPOINT THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR AND/OR ONE OR MORE OF HIS OR HER  ASSIST-
 ANTS  EMPLOYED  BY  THE JUSTICE CENTER FOR THE PROTECTION OF PEOPLE WITH
 SPECIAL NEEDS AS SPECIAL ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS  WITH  RESPECT  TO
 ANY  INVESTIGATION OR PROSECUTION INVOLVING ABUSE OR NEGLECT, AS DEFINED
 IN SUBDIVISION ELEVEN OF SECTION FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHT OF THE SOCIAL
 SERVICES LAW, COMMITTED AGAINST A VULNERABLE PERSON BY  A  CUSTODIAN  AS
 DEFINED  IN  SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHT OF THE
 SOCIAL SERVICES LAW. NOTHING HEREIN SHALL LIMIT  THE  DURATION  OF  SUCH
 APPOINTMENT, PROVIDED HOWEVER, THAT SUCH APPOINTMENT MAY BE RESCINDED AT
 ANY TIME BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
   §  4. Subdivision 32 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, as
 amended by section 2 of part PPP of chapter 59 of the laws of  2017,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   32.  "District  attorney"  means  a  district  attorney,  an assistant
 district attorney or a special district attorney, and,  where  appropri-
 ate,  the  attorney  general,  an  assistant  attorney general, a deputy
 attorney general, a special deputy  attorney  general,  or  the  special
 prosecutor  and  inspector  general  for  the  protection of people with
 special needs or his or her assistants when acting  [pursuant  to  their
 duties] in [matters arising under] ACCORDANCE WITH article twenty of the
 executive  law,  or the inspector general of New York for transportation
 or his or her deputies when acting pursuant to  article  four-B  of  the
 executive law.
   §  5.  Subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows:
   (W) A SWORN INVESTIGATOR  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  JUSTICE  CENTER  FOR  THE
 PROTECTION OF PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.
   §  6.  Subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law is
 amended by adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows:
   (W) A SWORN INVESTIGATOR  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  JUSTICE  CENTER  FOR  THE
 PROTECTION  OF  PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS WHERE SUCH DEPARTMENT OR FORCE
 S. 6881--A                          4
 
 IS CERTIFIED IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH  (D)  OF  SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF
 SECTION EIGHT HUNDRED FORTY-SIX-H OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW.
   §  7.  This  act shall take effect immediately, provided, however that
 section five of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed on the same
 date as section 13 of part BBB of chapter 59 of the laws of  2021  takes
 effect,  when  upon  such date the provisions of section six of this act
 shall take effect.