Bill Text: NY S04878 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for the expungement of unsustained allegations of abuse of persons receiving care and services in residential health care facilities and the sealing of records where the commissioner of health has determined such allegations of abuse would not be sustained; provides exceptions to such provisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-03 - REFERRED TO HEALTH [S04878 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S04878-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4878 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 3, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. DIAZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law and the executive law, in relation to reporting of abuses of persons receiving care in residential health care facilities; and to repeal paragraph (e) of subdivision 6 of section 2803-d of the public health law relating to the confidentiali- ty of information relating to such abuses The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 2803-d of the 2 public health law, as amended by chapter 414 of the laws of 1986, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 (c) All information relating to any allegation which the commissioner 5 has determined would not be sustained shall be expunged [one hundred6twenty days] five years following notification of such determination to 7 the person who made the report pursuant to this section, unless a 8 proceeding pertaining to such allegation is pending pursuant to article 9 seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. Whenever information 10 is expunged, the commissioner shall notify any official notified pursu- 11 ant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision that the information has been 12 expunged. 13 § 2. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 6 of section 2803-d of the public 14 health law is REPEALED and a new paragraph (e) is added to read as 15 follows: 16 (e) (i) All information relating to any allegation that the commis- 17 sioner has determined would not be sustained, shall be sealed one 18 hundred twenty days following notification of such determination to the 19 person who made the report. Such reports may be unsealed and made avail- 20 able only to (A) the subject of the report; or (B) a district attorney, 21 an assistant district attorney, the attorney general, an assistant 22 attorney general, an investigator employed in the office of a district EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07138-01-7S. 4878 2 1 attorney or the attorney general, or to a police officer by the division 2 of state police, by a city, county, town or village police department or 3 by a county sheriff's office when such official represents that the 4 report is necessary to conduct an active investigation or prosecution 5 related to allegations of physical abuse, mistreatment or neglect, or 6 the failure to report such an incident. 7 (ii) Persons given access to reports pursuant to subparagraph (i) of 8 this paragraph shall not redisclose such reports except as necessary to 9 conduct such appropriate investigation or prosecution and shall request 10 of the court that any copies of such reports produced in any court 11 proceeding be redacted to remove the names of the subjects and other 12 persons named in the reports or that the court issue an order protecting 13 the names of the subjects and other persons named in the reports from 14 public disclosure. 15 § 3. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 6 of section 2803-d of the public 16 health law, as amended by chapter 340 of the laws of 1980, is amended to 17 read as follows: 18 (f) [Information] Any report of physical abuse, mistreatment or 19 neglect, record of the investigation of such report and all other infor- 20 mation related to such report shall be confidential and shall be exempt 21 from disclosure under article six of the public officers law, provided 22 however that information relating to a report made pursuant to this 23 section shall be disclosed under any of the following conditions: 24 (i) pursuant to article six of the public officers law after expunge- 25 ment or amendment, if any, is made in accordance with a hearing 26 conducted pursuant to this section, or at least forty-five days after a 27 written determination is made by the commissioner concerning such 28 report, whichever is later; provided, however, that the identity of the 29 person who made the report, the victim, or any other person named, 30 except a person who the commissioner has determined committed an act of 31 physical abuse, neglect or mistreatment, shall not be disclosed unless 32 such person authorizes such disclosure; 33 (ii) as may be required by the penal law or any lawful order or 34 warrant issued pursuant to the criminal procedure law; [or] 35 (iii) to a person who has requested a hearing pursuant to this 36 section, information relating to the determination upon which the hear- 37 ing is to be conducted; provided, however, that the identity of the 38 person who made the report or any other person who provided information 39 in an investigation of the report shall not be disclosed unless such 40 person authorizes such disclosure[.]; or 41 (iv) to a prosecutor, including the attorney general, when such 42 request is made in connection with and necessary to the furtherance of a 43 criminal investigation related to the allegations of physical abuse, 44 neglect or mistreatment, or failure to report such acts. A prosecutor 45 who obtains such records shall maintain them as confidential and shall 46 not disclose them except in connection with grand jury or judicial 47 proceedings. 48 § 4. Subdivision 16 of section 296 of the executive law, as separately 49 amended by section 3 of part N and section 14 of part AAA of chapter 56 50 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 51 16. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice, unless specif- 52 ically required or permitted by statute, for any person, agency, bureau, 53 corporation or association, including the state and any political subdi- 54 vision thereof, to make any inquiry about, whether in any form of appli- 55 cation or otherwise, or to act upon adversely to the individual 56 involved, (a) any arrest or criminal accusation of such individual notS. 4878 3 1 then pending against that individual which was followed by a termination 2 of that criminal action or proceeding in favor of such individual, as 3 defined in subdivision two of section 160.50 of the criminal procedure 4 law, or by a youthful offender adjudication, as defined in subdivision 5 one of section 720.35 of the criminal procedure law, or by a conviction 6 for a violation sealed pursuant to section 160.55 of the criminal proce- 7 dure law or (b) by a conviction which is sealed pursuant to section 8 160.58 of the criminal procedure law or (c) any report made under 9 section twenty-eight hundred three-d of the public health law where a 10 determination has been made that the allegation would not be sustained, 11 in connection with the licensing, employment or providing of credit or 12 insurance to such individual; provided, further, that no person shall be 13 required to divulge information pertaining to any arrest or criminal 14 accusation of such individual not then pending against that individual 15 which was followed by a termination of that criminal action or proceed- 16 ing in favor of such individual, as defined in subdivision two of 17 section 160.50 of the criminal procedure law, or by a youthful offender 18 adjudication, as defined in subdivision one of section 720.35 of the 19 criminal procedure law, or by a conviction for a violation sealed pursu- 20 ant to section 160.55 of the criminal procedure law, or by a conviction 21 which is sealed pursuant to section 160.58 of the criminal procedure 22 law. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to the licensing 23 activities of governmental bodies in relation to the regulation of guns, 24 firearms and other deadly weapons or in relation to an application for 25 employment as a police officer or peace officer as those terms are 26 defined in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of 27 the criminal procedure law; provided further that the provisions of this 28 subdivision shall not apply to an application for employment or member- 29 ship in any law enforcement agency with respect to any arrest or crimi- 30 nal accusation which was followed by a youthful offender adjudication, 31 as defined in subdivision one of section 720.35 of the criminal proce- 32 dure law, or by a conviction for a violation sealed pursuant to section 33 160.55 of the criminal procedure law, or by a conviction which is sealed 34 pursuant to section 160.58 of the criminal procedure law. 35 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 36 it shall have become a law.
