Provides additional protection to judges and their family members under the Judicial Security Act; expands protection to domestic partners and adult children; relates to records to be kept private; relates to the continuation of the prohibition against the public disclosure of personal information; authorizes the chief administrator of the courts to develop procedures necessary to prevent the disclosure of personal information in the possession of the unified court system.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A11388
SPONSOR: Rules (Romero) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to providing additional
protection to judges and their family members under the Judicial Securi-
ty Act
2.
SOURCE OF BILL
This bill is being introduced at the request of the Unified Court System
(UCS).
3.
PURPOSE OF BILL
This bill will provide additional protections to judges and their family
members, and will facilitate the process for judges to access the bene-
fits of the Judicial Security Act.
4.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
Section 1 of the bill amends the Judicial Security Act to include domes-
tic partners and former domestic partners within the definition of
"immediate family," and to include as protected "personal information"
the identity of all children, regardless of their age.
Section 2 of the bill provides that, in their written request to protect
personal information from disclosure, the judge should identify, if
known, the specific records containing that information and the place
where such information is located.
Section 3 of the bill allows email as an additional method of notifying
entities that they must cease making public the personal information of
an eligible individual.
Section 4 of the bill clarifies that, for the purposes of the Judicial
Security Act, the Chief Administrative Judge is the "employer" of State-
paid judges, and provides that shielding of the residential addresses of
a judge's family member requires that family member's consent.
Section 5 of the bill permits a judge to temporarily authorize the
release of personal information, and permits the prohibition against
disclosure to be rescinded by the judge or the estate of a deceased
judge, or by a court order.
Section 6 authorizes the Chief Administrative Judge to develop proce-
dures to prevent the disclosure of personal information in the
possession of the UCS.
Section 7 of the bill provides that it shall take effect immediately.
5.
JUSTIFICATION
The Judicial Security Act was enacted in 2024. It strengthened the safe-
ty and security of state and federal judges in New York by protecting
their personally identifiable information, including addresses, informa-
tion about family members, and financial data, from public view. As the
legislation has been implemented, several gaps in the law have been
identified that need to be addressed.
First, the current law allows judges to protect the identity of their
spouses and minor children, but not their domestic partners or their
children who have reached the age of 18. This bill closes that gap in
the law.
Second, the law currently provides that judges should submit requests
for protection of their personal information to their "employer." This
proposal clarifies that the Chief Administrative Judge is the "employer"
of State-paid judges for these purposes.
Third, the bill adds language providing that the Chief Administrative
Judge may promulgate rules and procedures consistent with the statute to
prevent disclosure of personal information in the possession of the UCS.
Additionally, county clerks have raised concerns about the current law,
noting that they maintain voluminous records (property records, court
records, etc.), and being told to shield personal information about a
judge and the judge's family members does not provide them with a suffi-
cient basis for determining where that information might be located. In
order to address this concern, this proposal adds language providing
that if judges know what records contain personal information, they
should provide such information when making a request. Moreover, the
bill provides that a notice seeking nondisclosure of personal informa-
tion may be transmitted by electronic mail or other means reasonably
determined to provide notice, as many online entities do not provide a
physical address where they can be contacted.
Finally, the current statute prohibits disclosure of personal informa-
tion permanently, does not allow the judge to voluntarily authorize the
release of information, and does not authorize lifting the prohibition
after the judge's death. This proposal would allow disclosure of
personal information based on a notarized letter from the eligible indi-
vidual providing a release from the prohibition for a limited period or
purpose or withdrawing the request in its entirety, or a court order
authorizing the release of the personal information, or, upon the death
of an eligible individual, an authorization to release personal informa-
tion received from the court-appointed representative of the individ-
ual's estate.
6.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
This is a new bill.
7.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
This bill would have no fiscal impact on the State.
8.
EFFECTIVE DATE
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11388
IN ASSEMBLY
May 15, 2026
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Romero) --
(at request of the Unified Court System) -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to providing additional
protection to judges and their family members under the Judicial Secu-
rity Act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 1 of section 859 of
2 the judiciary law, as added by section 2 of part F of chapter 55 of the
3 laws of 2024, are amended to read as follows:
4 (b) "Immediate family" shall mean, for each eligible individual, the
5 spouse, former spouse, domestic partner, former domestic partner,
6 parent, child, and sibling.
7 (c) "Personal information" shall include the following for an eligible
8 individual and, if such individual so indicates as provided in subpara-
9 graph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section, for the
10 members of their immediate family: (i) home address, including primary
11 residence and secondary residences; (ii) unlisted telephone number;
12 (iii) personal cell phone number; (iv) personal email address; (v)
13 social security number; (vi) driver's license number; (vii) license
14 plate number; (viii) marital status and identity of any present and
15 former spouse or domestic partner; (ix) identity of children [under the
16 age of eighteen]; (x) name and address of a school or day care facility
17 attended by an immediate family member; (xi) bank account number; (xii)
18 credit or debit card number; and (xiii) personal identification number
19 (PIN).
20 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 859 of the judiciary
21 law, as added by section 2 of part F of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024,
22 is amended to read as follows:
23 (a) An eligible individual or their representative may submit a writ-
24 ten request to their employer or former employer. To be enforceable, a
25 written request shall be signed by an eligible individual, or their
26 representative, and specify:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14929-01-6
A. 11388 2
1 (i) those items of personal information that the eligible individual
2 wishes to be kept from being made public;
3 (ii) the identity of members of the eligible individual's immediate
4 family and whether, for purposes of the written request, their personal
5 information should be deemed to include that of such immediate family
6 members; [and]
7 (iii) each person, business, association, and public or private agency
8 that the eligible individual wishes to bar from making public the
9 personal information of such eligible individual; and
10 (iv) if known, the specific record or records held by such person,
11 business, association or public or private entity containing the items
12 of personal information requested to be kept from being made public, and
13 the place within such record or records where those items are located.
14 § 3. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of
15 section 859 of the judiciary law, as added by section 2 of part F of
16 chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, are amended to read as follows:
17 (i) If a written request has been properly submitted and is complete,
18 the employer for an active or former judge or justice of the unified
19 court system or active or former judge of the housing part of the civil
20 court of the city of New York, as appropriate, shall, within five busi-
21 ness days of receipt of such written request from an eligible individ-
22 ual, notify each person, business, association, and public or private
23 agency identified in the written request that (A) within seventy-two
24 hours of receipt of such notification, that such person, business, asso-
25 ciation, and public or private agency must cease making public the
26 personal information of the eligible individual identified in such
27 request, and (B) they must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the
28 personal information of the eligible individual is not made available on
29 any website or subsidiary website controlled by that person, business,
30 or association. For purposes of this subparagraph, notification shall be
31 by certified mail, return receipt requested, either at the recipient's
32 last known residence (if recipient is a person) or at the recipient's
33 principal office (which shall be the location at which the office of the
34 chief executive officer of the recipient is generally located), or by
35 electronic mail or other means as shall be reasonably determined to
36 provide notice to such recipient.
37 (ii) If a written request has been properly submitted and is complete,
38 the employer of an active or former federal judge of a federal court
39 established in New York may notify each person, business, association,
40 and public or private agency identified in the written request that (A)
41 within seventy-two hours of receipt of such notification, they must
42 cease making public the personal information of the eligible individual
43 identified in such request, and (B) they must make reasonable efforts to
44 ensure that the personal information of the eligible individual is not
45 made available on any website or subsidiary website controlled by that
46 person, business, or association. For purposes of this subparagraph,
47 notification may be by certified mail, return receipt requested, either
48 at the recipient's last known residence (if the recipient is a person)
49 or at the recipient's principal office (which shall be the location at
50 which the office of the chief executive officer of the recipient is
51 generally located), or by electronic mail or other means as shall be
52 reasonably determined to provide notice to such recipient.
53 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 859 of the judiciary law is amended by
54 adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
55 (d) For the purposes of this subdivision: (i) the chief administrator
56 of the courts shall be deemed the employer of a state-paid judge or
A. 11388 3
1 justice of the unified court system, and of a judge of the housing part
2 of the civil court of the city of New York; and (ii) in the event that
3 an eligible individual requests that a county clerk cease making public
4 the residential address of an immediate family member over the age of
5 eighteen, the written consent of such family member shall first be
6 obtained and shall be included with the written request submitted by the
7 eligible individual to their employer or former employer.
8 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 859 of the judiciary law, as added by
9 section 2 of part F of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to
10 read as follows:
11 3. Recipient of notification not to make an eligible individual's
12 personal information public. (a) After a person, business, association,
13 or public or private agency has received a notification pursuant to
14 paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section, they shall have seven-
15 ty-two hours to cease making public the personal information of the
16 eligible individual identified in such notification.
17 (b) The prohibition against the public disclosure of such personal
18 information shall continue until the recipient of the notification
19 receives:
20 (i) a notarized letter from the eligible individual providing a
21 release from the prohibition for a limited period or for a limited
22 purpose, and specifying the personal information that may be disclosed,
23 the purpose of the disclosure, and the authorized recipients and/or
24 specific duration of the disclosure;
25 (ii) a notarized letter from the eligible individual, or their employ-
26 er or former employer, stating that the written request submitted pursu-
27 ant to subdivision two of this section has been withdrawn in its entire-
28 ty;
29 (iii) upon the death of the eligible individual, an authorization to
30 release such personal information received from the court-appointed
31 representative of the estate of the eligible individual; or
32 (iv) a court order authorizing the release of such personal informa-
33 tion.
34 § 6. Section 859 of the judiciary law is amended by adding a new
35 subdivision 6 to read as follows:
36 6. The chief administrator of the courts may develop procedures neces-
37 sary to prevent the disclosure of personal information in the possession
38 of the unified court system regarding eligible individuals and members
39 of their immediate family.
40 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
