Relates to the required disclosure upon the release of a juvenile or adolescent offender from the custody of the office of children and family services of certain records that are necessary to ascertain the nature of such offender's conviction and would be beneficial in identifying and mitigating any risk that such offender could pose if released.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6966
SPONSOR: Gallahan TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law and the correction law, in relation to
certain required disclosures by the office of children and family
services upon the release or discharge of a juvenile offender or adoles-
cent offender
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure information regarding the release of a juvenile or adolescent
offender who has been convicted of a felony from an Office of Children
and Family Services (OCFS) facility is shared between OCFS, Department
of Correction and Community Supervision (DOCCS), school districts, and
local law enforcement.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends section 508 of the executive law by adding two new
subdivisions 10 and 11. Subdivision 10 provides that where a juvenile
offender or adolescent offender less than eighteen years of age is being
released or discharged from the custody of OCFS following a term of
commitment or placement imposed pursuant to a felony conviction, OCFS
shall provide the DOCCS with any and all records that are necessary to
ascertain the nature of such offender's conviction and would be benefi-
cial in identifying and mitigating any risk that such offender could
pose to the community if released or discharged. Subdivision 11 requires
that DOCCS notify the school district where a juvenile or adolescent
offender will reside following their release 30 days prior to their
release and provide the school district with records necessary to ascer-
tain the nature of such offender's conviction and would be beneficial in
identifying and mitigating any risk that such offender could pose to
such school district if released or discharged.
Section 2: Amends section 149 of the correction law to require that
DOCCS and OCFS, at least 48 hours prior to the release of a juvenile or
adolescent offender convicted of a felony, notify local law enforcement
of such offender's release. This section also allows law enforcement to
request a report containing a summary of such offender's criminal record
from the division of criminal justice services.
Section 3: Provides for an immediate effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
Under current state law, DOCCS provides notification to local law
enforcement regarding the release of offenders over the age of 18 from
its custody. However, similar notifications are not required when minors
are released from OCFS facilities. This poses a signific ant threat to
school and community safety, especially in cases where minors with
violent felony convictions are released from OCFS facilities with no
prior warning to the school district in which they intend to seek educa-
tional services or local law enforcement.
In one instance in the 54th Senate District, a 15-year-old student
brought a loaded firearm to school, held a school principal hostage for
several hours, and was subsequently convicted of multiple felonies. He
was sentenced to serve three to nine years in an OCFS facility. After
serving roughly two and a half years in an OCFS facility, the student,
who was still a minor at the time, was released from OCFS custody back
into the same community where he had committed his previous crime.
Neither the school district nor local law enforcement were notified.
They were only made aware of the situation when the student's mother
left the school a voicemail message requesting educational services for
her son after he had been released. Thankfully, due to the efforts of
the school superintendent, district personnel, and local law enforce-
ment, a plan was quickly implemented to protect the school and community
and prevent a potential tragedy.
This lack of communication by OCFS and DOCCS is unacceptable. Despite.
heightened concerns around youth violence and school safety, current
state law does not allow our school districts and local law enforcement
access to critical information which would help them keep our students,
teachers, and communities safe.
The Governor has previously issued an executive order (Executive Order
No. 18) requiring local law enforcement to develop threat assessment
support these efforts. To further support threat assessment capabilities
at the local level, we must ensure that state law allows the timely
sharing of critical information regarding potential threats between
OCFS, DOCCS, schools and local law enforcement.
This legislation would ensure schools and local law enforcement have
access to this information by requiring OCFS and DOCCS to notify school
districts and local law enforcement prior to the release of a minor who
has been convicted of a serious felony from OCFS custody. It would also
allow school districts and law enforcement to obtain information regard-
ing an individual's record to better inform their threat assessment and
strategies for ensuring public safety.
Under this approach, the privacy of youthful offenders will still
be'protected, as school districts are also subject to Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) standards which prevent the unauthorized sharing
of private information.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined:
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
While the law does provide protections to schools and religious insti-
tutions in neighboring jurisdictions, there is no requirement that
dispensaries not be put at or near borders between jurisdictions,
regardless of whether one of those jurisdictions has opted out. This
oversight has unintentionally created a loophole that has allowed these
shops to set up along jurisdictional borders, just a few feet away from
residential homes in communities that have opted out. This bill simply
would prohibit marijuana dispensaries from locating within a quarter
mile from a municipality that has opted out of the Marijuana Regulations
and Taxation Act.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6966
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 18, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GALLAHAN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the correction law, in relation to
certain required disclosures by the office of children and family
services upon the release or discharge of a juvenile offender or
adolescent offender
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 508 of the executive law is amended by adding two
2 new subdivisions 10 and 11 to read as follows:
3 10. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
4 where a juvenile offender or adolescent offender less than eighteen
5 years of age is being released or discharged from the custody of the
6 office following a term of commitment or placement imposed pursuant to a
7 felony conviction, the office shall provide the department of
8 corrections and community supervision with any and all records that are
9 necessary to ascertain the nature of such offender's conviction and
10 would be beneficial in identifying and mitigating any risk that such
11 offender could pose to the community if released or discharged.
12 11. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
13 thirty days prior to releasing a juvenile offender or adolescent offen-
14 der, the office and the department of corrections and community super-
15 vision shall notify the school district where such offender shall reside
16 of such offender's scheduled release or discharge date and such
17 offender's eligibility to enroll. To the extent authorized by federal
18 law, prior to the release or discharge of such offender, the office
19 shall provide such school district with any and all records that are
20 necessary to ascertain the nature of such offender's conviction and
21 would be beneficial in identifying and mitigating any risk that such
22 offender could pose to such school district if released or discharged.
23 § 2. Section 149 of the correction law, as amended by chapter 322 of
24 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
25 § 149. Released incarcerated individuals; notification to sheriff,
26 police, and district attorney. 1. In the case of any incarcerated indi-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08238-01-5
A. 6966 2
1 vidual convicted of a felony, it shall be the duty of the department, at
2 least forty-eight hours prior to the release of any such incarcerated
3 individual from a correctional facility, to notify the chief of police
4 both of the city, town or village in which such incarcerated individual
5 proposes to reside and of the city, town or village in which such incar-
6 cerated individual resided at the time of [his or her] such incarcerated
7 individual's conviction and the district attorney of the county where
8 the offense for which the incarcerated individual is incarcerated was
9 prosecuted, of the contemplated release of such incarcerated individual,
10 informing such chief of police and the district attorney of the name and
11 aliases of the incarcerated individual, the address at which [he or she]
12 such incarcerated individual proposes to reside, the amount of time
13 remaining to be served, if any, on the full term for which [he or she]
14 such incarcerated individual was sentenced, and the nature of the crime
15 for which [he or she] such incarcerated individual was sentenced, trans-
16 mitting at the same time to the chief of police a copy of such incarcer-
17 ated individual's fingerprints and photograph. Where such incarcerated
18 individual proposes to reside outside of a city, such notification shall
19 be sent to the sheriff of the county in which such incarcerated individ-
20 ual proposes to reside. Such notification may be provided by electronic
21 transmission to those willing jurisdictions that have the capability of
22 receiving electronic transmission notification. Any chief of police or
23 sheriff who receives notification of a released incarcerated individual
24 pursuant to this [section] subdivision may request and receive from the
25 division of criminal justice services a report containing a summary of
26 such incarcerated individual's criminal record.
27 2. In the case of any juvenile offender or adolescent offender
28 convicted of a felony, it shall be the duty of the department and the
29 office of children and family services, at least forty-eight hours prior
30 to the release of any such offender from a correctional facility or an
31 office of children and family services facility, to notify the chief of
32 police both of the city, town or village in which such offender proposes
33 to reside and of the city, town or village in which such offender
34 resided at the time of such offender's conviction and the district
35 attorney of the county where the offense for which such offender is
36 committed or placed in the custody of the office of children and family
37 services was prosecuted, of the contemplated release of such offender,
38 informing such chief of police and the district attorney of the name and
39 aliases of such offender, the address at which such offender proposes to
40 reside, the amount of time remaining to be served, if any, on the full
41 term for which such offender was sentenced, and the nature of the crime
42 for which such offender was sentenced, transmitting at the same time to
43 the chief of police a copy of such offender's fingerprints and photo-
44 graph. Where a juvenile offender or adolescent offender proposes to
45 reside outside of a city, such notification shall be sent to the sheriff
46 of the county in which such offender proposes to reside. Such notifica-
47 tion may be provided by electronic transmission to those willing juris-
48 dictions that have the capability of receiving electronic transmission
49 notification. Any chief of police or sheriff who receives notification
50 of a released or discharged offender pursuant to this subdivision may
51 request and receive from the division of criminal justice services a
52 report containing a summary of such offender's criminal record.
53 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
