Bill Text: NY A04199 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides additional crime victims' rights; requires certain notifications.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-30 - substituted by s5502 [A04199 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A04199-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4199

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to certain  notifications
          and the rights of crime victims

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 646-a of the executive law, as added by chapter  67
     2  of the laws of 1994, subdivisions 1, 3 and 4 as amended by section 35 of
     3  part  A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, and paragraph (g) of subdi-
     4  vision 2 as added by chapter 186 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read
     5  as follows:
     6    § 646-a. Information  relative  to  the  fair   treatment   standards;
     7  pamphlet.    1.  The  district  attorney  or the court shall provide the
     8  victim, parent or guardian of a minor, or a surviving family  member  in
     9  the  case of homicide, at the time of sentencing or at the earliest time
    10  possible, with an informational pamphlet detailing the rights  of  crime
    11  victims  which  shall  be  prepared  by the division of criminal justice
    12  services in consultation with the  director  of  the  office  of  victim
    13  services  and  the  office of victim assistance, and distributed to each
    14  district attorney's office.
    15    2. The pamphlet shall summarize provisions of this article.  It  shall
    16  also  include specific information with appropriate statutory references
    17  on the following:
    18    (a) the rights of crime victims to compensation and services;
    19    (b) the rights of crime victims to routine  notification  of  judicial
    20  proceedings  relating  to  their case as provided in section six hundred
    21  forty-one of this article, in section 330.20, [and] section  440.50  and
    22  section  380.50  of  the criminal procedure law [and section one hundred
    23  forty-nine-a of the correction law];
    24    (c) the rights of crime victims to be protected from intimidation  and
    25  to  have  the  court,  where  appropriate,  issue  protective  orders as

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02597-01-3
        A. 4199                             2

     1  provided in sections 530.12 and 530.13 of the criminal procedure law and
     2  sections 215.15, 215.16 and 215.17 of the penal law;
     3    (d) the rights of crime victims to submit, where appropriate, a victim
     4  impact statement for the pre-sentencing report and the parole hearing as
     5  provided in section 390.30 of the criminal procedure law and section two
     6  hundred fifty-nine-i of this chapter;
     7    (e)  the rights of crime victims, where a defendant is being sentenced
     8  for a felony, to request the right to make a statement at  the  time  of
     9  sentencing  as provided in section 380.50 of the criminal procedure law;
    10  [and]
    11    (f) the rights of crime victims to request restitution  and  have  the
    12  district attorney present such request to the court and assist the crime
    13  victim  in  the  filing and collection of a restitution order in cooper-
    14  ation with the designated agency of the court  as  provided  in  section
    15  420.10  of  the  criminal  procedure  law and section 60.27 of the penal
    16  law[.];
    17    (g) the rights of crime victims to be aware of the defendant's  incar-
    18  ceration  status  by providing the [division of] state board of parole's
    19  contact information, including the [division's] board's toll-free  tele-
    20  phone  number, as provided for in subdivision two of section two hundred
    21  fifty-nine-i of this chapter. Such notice shall advise the crime  victim
    22  to  use  the  [division's]  board's toll-free telephone number to update
    23  contact information[.];
    24    (h) the requirement of a victim or a surviving family member to regis-
    25  ter with the  department  of  corrections  and  community  supervision's
    26  office of victim assistance if, at any time, they want to:
    27    (i)  be  notified  of  a defendant's release from a state correctional
    28  facility;
    29    (ii)  be notified of parole board interviews with a defendant, and the
    30  results of any such interviews; or
    31    (iii) provide or update a victim impact  statement  to  the  board  of
    32  parole; and
    33    (i)  the right of crime victims or surviving family members to obtain,
    34  at no cost, a copy of the transcripts of parole hearings.
    35    3. This pamphlet shall provide space for the insertion of the  follow-
    36  ing information:
    37    (a) the address and phone number of the office of victim services;
    38    (b) the address and phone number of the office of victim assistance;
    39    (c)  the  address  and phone numbers of local victim service programs,
    40  where appropriate;
    41    [(c)] (d) the name, phone number and office location of the person  in
    42  the   district  attorney's  office  to  whom  inquiries  concerning  the
    43  [victims] victim's case may be directed; and
    44    [(d)] (e) any other information the division deems appropriate.
    45    4. (a) The commissioner of the division of criminal  justice  services
    46  in  consultation  with the director of the office of victim services and
    47  the office of victim assistance, shall develop and prepare  a  standard-
    48  ized  form  for  the use of district attorney offices for the purpose of
    49  reporting compliance with this section. The form is to be distributed to
    50  each district attorney. Every district attorney's office  in  the  state
    51  shall  complete  the reporting form annually and send it to the director
    52  of the office of victim services by the first day of January  each  year
    53  subsequent to the effective date of this subdivision.
    54    (b)  A  copy  of the report shall be retained by the district attorney
    55  and upon request, a victim of a crime or relative of a victim  shall  be
    56  entitled  to receive from the district attorney a copy of their district
        A. 4199                             3

     1  attorney's annual report without charge. Any other person  requesting  a
     2  copy  of  the  report  shall  pay a fee not to exceed the actual cost of
     3  reproduction.
     4    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
     5  have become a law.