Legislation

§ 41. State commission of correction; organization. 1. (a) There shall
be within the executive department a state commission of correction. It
shall consist of five persons, to be appointed by the governor by and
with the consent of the senate.

(b) At a minimum, one member appointed shall be a person formerly
incarcerated in a correctional facility located in New York and one
member appointed shall have one or more of the following qualifications:
licensure as a healthcare professional authorized to practice in New
York state; licensure as an attorney authorized to practice in this
state who has a professional background in indigent criminal defense or
prisoner's rights litigation or experience as a legal policy
professional who has professional experience related to the rights of
incarcerated individuals; or professional experience in another field
deemed relevant to the promotion of an efficient, humane, and lawful
correctional system. Two of the members shall be part-time.

(c) The governor shall designate one of the appointed full-time
members as chairperson to serve as such at the pleasure of the governor.
The part-time members appointed to the commission shall receive a per
diem of five hundred dollars for work actually performed not to exceed
fifty thousand dollars in any one calendar year. The full-time members
shall devote full time to their duties and shall hold no other salaried
public position.

2. The members shall hold office for terms of five years. No member
shall serve for more than ten years. Any member of the commission may be
removed by the governor for cause after an opportunity to be heard in
such member's defense.

3. Any member chosen to fill a vacancy created other than by
expiration of term shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the
member whom such new member is to succeed. Vacancies caused by
expiration of term or otherwise shall be filled in the same manner as
original appointments.