Bill Text: NY S05502 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-03-11 - ADVANCED TO THIRD READING [S05502 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S05502-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5502

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 6, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Crime  Victims,
          Crime and Correction

        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];

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02597-01-3
        S. 5502                             2

     1    (c)  the rights of crime victims to be protected from intimidation and
     2  to have  the  court,  where  appropriate,  issue  protective  orders  as
     3  provided in sections 530.12 and 530.13 of the criminal procedure law and
     4  sections 215.15, 215.16 and 215.17 of the penal law;
     5    (d) the rights of crime victims to submit, where appropriate, a victim
     6  impact statement for the pre-sentencing report and the parole hearing as
     7  provided in section 390.30 of the criminal procedure law and section two
     8  hundred fifty-nine-i of this chapter;
     9    (e)  the rights of crime victims, where a defendant is being sentenced
    10  for a felony, to request the right to make a statement at  the  time  of
    11  sentencing  as provided in section 380.50 of the criminal procedure law;
    12  [and]
    13    (f) the rights of crime victims to request restitution  and  have  the
    14  district attorney present such request to the court and assist the crime
    15  victim  in  the  filing and collection of a restitution order in cooper-
    16  ation with the designated agency of the court  as  provided  in  section
    17  420.10  of  the  criminal  procedure  law and section 60.27 of the penal
    18  law[.];
    19    (g) the rights of crime victims to be aware of the defendant's  incar-
    20  ceration  status  by providing the [division of] state board of parole's
    21  contact information, including the [division's] board's toll-free  tele-
    22  phone  number, as provided for in subdivision two of section two hundred
    23  fifty-nine-i of this chapter. Such notice shall advise the crime  victim
    24  to  use  the  [division's]  board's toll-free telephone number to update
    25  contact information[.];
    26    (h) the requirement of a victim or a surviving family member to regis-
    27  ter with the  department  of  corrections  and  community  supervision's
    28  office of victim assistance if, at any time, they want to:
    29    (i)  be  notified  of  a defendant's release from a state correctional
    30  facility;
    31    (ii)  be notified of parole board interviews with a defendant, and the
    32  results of any such interviews; or
    33    (iii) provide or update a victim impact  statement  to  the  board  of
    34  parole; and
    35    (i)  the right of crime victims or surviving family members to obtain,
    36  at no cost, a copy of the transcripts of parole hearings.
    37    3. This pamphlet shall provide space for the insertion of the  follow-
    38  ing information:
    39    (a) the address and phone number of the office of victim services;
    40    (b) the address and phone number of the office of victim assistance;
    41    (c)  the  address  and phone numbers of local victim service programs,
    42  where appropriate;
    43    [(c)] (d) the name, phone number and office location of the person  in
    44  the   district  attorney's  office  to  whom  inquiries  concerning  the
    45  [victims] victim's case may be directed; and
    46    [(d)] (e) any other information the division deems appropriate.
    47    4. (a) The commissioner of the division of criminal  justice  services
    48  in  consultation  with the director of the office of victim services and
    49  the office of victim assistance, shall develop and prepare  a  standard-
    50  ized  form  for  the use of district attorney offices for the purpose of
    51  reporting compliance with this section. The form is to be distributed to
    52  each district attorney. Every district attorney's office  in  the  state
    53  shall  complete  the reporting form annually and send it to the director
    54  of the office of victim services by the first day of January  each  year
    55  subsequent to the effective date of this subdivision.
        S. 5502                             3

     1    (b)  A  copy  of the report shall be retained by the district attorney
     2  and upon request, a victim of a crime or relative of a victim  shall  be
     3  entitled  to receive from the district attorney a copy of their district
     4  attorney's annual report without charge. Any other person  requesting  a
     5  copy  of  the  report  shall  pay a fee not to exceed the actual cost of
     6  reproduction.
     7    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
     8  have become a law.