NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4199
SPONSOR: Stern TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to certain notifications
and the rights of crime victims
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires a sentencing judge or district attorney, upon conviction for an
offense involving state prison time, to provide the victims of said
crime with an informational sheet explaining their rights.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: amends section 646-a of the executive law, as added by chap-
ter 67 of the laws of 1994, subdivisions 1, 3 and 4 as amended by
section 35 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws 2010, and paragraph (g)
of subdivision 2 as added by chapter 186 of the laws of 2005.
Section 2: sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Victims of violent crimes are often not made aware of their rights
following the conviction of their offender. This bill seeks to correct
that inadequacy in the following manner: upon conviction for an offense
involving state prison time, the sentencing judge or district attorney
shall provide the victim, parent or guardian of a minor, or survivor in
case of homicide, an informational sheet explaining their rights includ-
ing but not limited to:
a.Informing the victim and/or surviving family members of the require-
ment to register with DOCCS' Office of Victim Assistance if at any time
they want to:
1. be notified of an offender's release from a NY State Correctional
facility.
2. be notified of NYS Parole Board interviews with an offender, and the
results of those interviews. (This right applies only to crime victims
and their families)
3. provide or update a VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT to the Board of Parole.
(This right only applies to crime victims and their immediate family)
b.Informing victims and/or surviving family members that they can obtain
a no cost copy of the transcripts of parole hearings.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A.10342 - referred to governmental operations
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
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.
