Senate Bill S865

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S865

SPONSOR: BAILEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the family court act and the penal law, in relation to
prohibiting public officials from unsealing juvenile police records

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prevent the unsealing and release of information contained in juve-
nile offender records by public officials and/or employees by making the
offense punishable under the penal law.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

This bill amends the relevant provision of the Family Court Act by
adding a new section to provide that, unless authorized by a court of
competent jurisdiction, the release by a public official and/or an
employee who is a caretaker of juvenile offender records, or other court
records that have been and are sealed, shall be specifically prohibited
by law. Section 195.00 of the Penal Law is also amended to make such
              

conduct punishable as a class A misdemeanor.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current law, juvenile offender records are sealed after adjudi-
cation to protect the privacy of the entire proceeding. State laws
specifically and directly restrict access to and disclosure of the
information and the record. However, while the law clearly makes the
release of the record unlawful, there is no specific penalty attached
for violation of the law. The people most likely to have access to these
records, and therefore most likely to be the conduit for release and
disclosure, are public employees and appointed and elected officials.
Because no specific penalty or consequence is prescribed by current law,
the only real deterrent is moral or ethical obligation. Recent behavior
by high-ranking officials in N.Y.C. has demonstrated that in the absence
of moral/ethical obligations, a law without proverbial "teeth" does not
proscribe unlawful behavior. This bill, if enacted, would put "teeth" in
the law by providing penalties appropriate for such misconduct by public
officials and employees who dishonor their oath of office.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: Referred to Children and Families

2021-22: Referred to Children and Families

2023-24: Referred to Children and Families

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it becomes a law.