NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4568

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 07, 2025	referred to investigations and government operations

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2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4868
Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Public Officers Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§87 & 89, Pub Off L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S8428, A9050
2023-2024: S2322, A2442

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the disclosure of certain information when an agency responds to a request for law enforcement disciplinary records, including information a victim alleges regarding sexual misconduct.

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4568

SPONSOR: BAILEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure
of law enforcement officer's disciplinary records

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To clarify the full scope of the repeal of section 50-a of the civil
rights law.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

The bill amends section 87 of the public officers law by adding a new
subdivision further clarifying situations in which a request for records
cannot be denied. The bill also amends section 89 by adding safeguards
to protect the identity of a person included in a law enforcement disci-
plinary record in cases where that person is alleged to have been the
victim of sexual misconduct.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In June 2020, in the wake of nationwide protests following the police
killings of George Floyd, the New York Legislature responded by advanc-
ing a major legislative package to increase police transparency and
accountability. Central to that package was a bill to repeal New York
Civil Rights Law Section 50-a. For years, § 50-a had rendered secret all
records concerning police misconduct complaints, investigations, and
disciplinary outcomes. Section 50-a stood in direct contrast to the
public policy goals of the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), which are
to make government agencies and their employees accountable to the
public, and the law made it impossible to determine whether police
departments were doing all they could to thoroughly investigate and
respond to potential abuses.

The legislation to repeal § 50-a was clear; it defined a new category of
law enforcement disciplinary records that were now available for public
view. The amendments to FOIL provided clearly defined, narrow exceptions
for the types of information that could still be withheld, but the plain
text of the legislation and the extensive floor debate made clear that
the measure was intended to make the overwhelming majority of such
records accessible.

Unfortunately, many law enforcement agencies are continuing to withhold
vast amounts of disciplinary records. Many police departments are refus-
ing to disclose records related to "unsubstantiated" misconduct
complaints, claiming that they remain confidential. Others are refusing
to disclose records that were created prior to June 2020 or are claiming
that other, irrelevant FOIL exemptions apply. There has already been
extensive litigation concerning these refusals, resulting in a patchwork
of conflicting rulings, including some that have incorrectly held that
the legislature intended for many of these records to remain secret.

The fact that the legislature intended to make unsubstantiated records
available and to sharply curtail the permissible exemptions for law
enforcement disciplinary records was discussed at length. It was cited
by both supporters of the bill and opponents, who, while disagreeing on
the merits of the proposal, agreed on its intended outcome to open up
these very records to public scrutiny.

This bill reaffirms and clarifies the full scope of § 50-a's repeal.  It
explicitly states that law enforcement agencies cannot continue to with-
hold these records beyond the narrow categories defined in the earlier
repeal legislation, and it will provide courts with an unambiguous
declaration of the legislature's intent with respect to such records.

Finally, this bill adds protections for victims of police sexual miscon-
duct. Current law does not provide sufficient guarantees that a victim's
identity will be protected. There is legitimate concern that a victim
will be reluctant to come forward with complaints if their name and
other personal identifying information is disclosed in the disciplinary
record. This bill will ensure that their identity remains confidential
with the release of law enforcement disciplinary records.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-22: S8428 - Referred to Investigations and Government Operations

2022-23: S2322 - Referred to Investigations and Government Operations

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4568
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 7, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  BAILEY,  BRISPORT, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, SALAZAR --
   read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
   the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the public officers law, in relation to the disclosure
   of law enforcement officer's disciplinary records

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Section 87 of the public officers law is amended by adding
 a new subdivision 4-c to read as follows:
   4-C. AN AGENCY RESPONDING TO A REQUEST FOR LAW  ENFORCEMENT  DISCIPLI-
 NARY  RECORDS AS DEFINED IN SECTION EIGHTY-SIX OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL NOT
 DENY ACCESS TO SUCH RECORDS OR PORTIONS THEREOF ON THE GROUNDS THAT SUCH
 RECORDS:
   (A)  CONSTITUTE  AN  UNWARRANTED  INVASION  OF  PERSONAL  PRIVACY   AS
 DESCRIBED  IN  PARAGRAPH  (B) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION BECAUSE
 SUCH RECORDS CONCERN COMPLAINTS, ALLEGATIONS, OR CHARGES THAT  HAVE  NOT
 YET  BEEN DETERMINED, DID NOT RESULT IN DISCIPLINARY ACTION, OR RESULTED
 IN A DISPOSITION OR FINDING OTHER THAN SUBSTANTIATED OR GUILTY;
   (B) ARE COMPILED FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES AS  DESCRIBED  IN  PARA-
 GRAPH (E) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION;
   (C)  ARE  INTER-AGENCY OR INTRA-AGENCY MATERIALS AS DESCRIBED IN PARA-
 GRAPH (G) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION;
   (D) ARE OR WERE  DESIGNATED  AS  CONFIDENTIAL,  SECRET,  OR  OTHERWISE
 PRIVATE  BY  A PRIVATE AGREEMENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A SETTLE-
 MENT, STIPULATION, CONTRACT, OR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT; OR
   (E) WERE CREATED PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   § 2.  Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision 2-b of section 89  of  the
 public  officers  law,  as  added by chapter 96 of the laws of 2020, are
 amended and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:
   (c) any social security numbers; [or]
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08672-01-5
 S. 4568                             2

 
   (d) disclosure of the use of an employee  assistance  program,  mental
 health  service,  or  substance  abuse  assistance  service  by a person
 employed by a law enforcement agency as defined in section eighty-six of
 this article as a police  officer,  peace  officer,  or  firefighter  or
 firefighter/paramedic,  unless such use is mandated by a law enforcement
 disciplinary proceeding that may otherwise be disclosed pursuant to this
 article[.]; OR
   (E) THE NAME OR OTHER PERSONAL IDENTIFYING  INFORMATION  OF  A  PERSON
 INCLUDED  IN A LAW ENFORCEMENT DISCIPLINARY RECORD, WHERE THAT PERSON IS
 ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT. FOR  THE  PURPOSES
 OF  THIS SECTION, THE TERM "SEXUAL MISCONDUCT" ENCOMPASSES MISCONDUCT OF
 A SEXUAL NATURE OR MOTIVATED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY THE PERSON'S  ACTUAL
 OR PERCEIVED GENDER OR GENDER PRESENTATION ALLEGED BY A PERSON AGAINST A
 MEMBER  OF  A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. SEXUAL MISCONDUCT INCLUDES, BUT IS
 NOT LIMITED TO, THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES OF MISCONDUCT:  VERBAL,  DIGITAL,
 AND WRITTEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT; SEXUAL HARASSMENT USING PHYSICAL GESTURES
 AND  EXPRESSIONS;  SEXUAL HUMILIATION; SEXUAL INTIMIDATION AND COERCION;
 TAKING UNWARRANTED PHOTOGRAPHS OR VIDEOS OR VOYEURISTIC ACTIONS; USE  OF
 PERSONAL  INFORMATION,  INCLUDING TELEPHONE NUMBERS, OBTAINED FROM INDI-
 VIDUALS IN THE COURSE OF DUTY FOR OTHER THAN LEGITIMATE PURPOSES;  SEXU-
 ALLY  MOTIVATED  POLICE  ACTIONS  SUCH AS STOPS, SUMMONSES, SEARCHES, OR
 ARRESTS; SEXUAL OR ROMANTIC PROPOSITIONS;  AND  ANY  INTENTIONAL  BODILY
 CONTACT OF A SEXUAL NATURE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, GROPING, SEXU-
 AL ASSAULT, RAPE, AND ENGAGING IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY WHILE ON DUTY.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S4568

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

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co-Sponsors

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Jamaal T. Bailey

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

Jabari Brisport

Leroy Comrie

Nathalia Fernandez

Robert Jackson

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4568 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments