Relates to conditional release for eligible offenders who complete post-secondary degrees or programs; provides release twelve months before the completion of the controlling minimum period of imprisonment for eligible offenders who complete post-secondary degrees or programs.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9546
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 14, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to conditional release
for eligible offenders who complete post-secondary degrees or programs
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subparagraph (i) and clause (A) of subparagraph (ii) of
paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 803-b of the correction law,
subparagraph (i) as added by section 4 of part L of chapter 56 of the
laws of 2009, and clause (A) of subparagraph (ii) as amended by chapter
322 of the laws of 2021, are amended to read as follows:
(i) in the case of an eligible offender who is subject to an indeter-
minate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment, such offender
shall be eligible for release six months before the completion of the
controlling minimum period of imprisonment as defined by subdivision one
of section 70.40 of the penal law, EXCEPT THAT SUCH OFFENDER SHALL BE
ELIGIBLE FOR RELEASE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF THE
CONTROLLING MINIMUM PERIOD OF IMPRISONMENT AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVI-
SION ONE OF SECTION 70.40 OF THE PENAL LAW FOR EACH SUCCESSIVE SIGNIF-
ICANT PROGRAMMATIC ACCOMPLISHMENT AS DEFINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OF
PARAGRAPH (C) OF THIS SUBDIVISION; or
(A) in the case of an eligible offender who is not subject to an inde-
terminate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment, such offen-
der shall be eligible for conditional release six months earlier than as
provided by paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 70.40 of the
penal law, provided that the department determines such offender has
earned the full amount of good time authorized by section eight hundred
three of this article, EXCEPT THAT SUCH OFFENDER SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR
RELEASE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF THE CONTROLLING
MINIMUM PERIOD OF IMPRISONMENT AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION ONE OF
SECTION 70.40 OF THE PENAL LAW FOR EACH SUCCESSIVE SIGNIFICANT PROGRAM-
MATIC ACCOMPLISHMENT AS DEFINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OF PARAGRAPH (C) OF
THIS SUBDIVISION; the withholding of any good behavior time credit by
the department shall render an incarcerated individual ineligible for
the credit defined herein;
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.
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