NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10190A
SPONSOR: O'Donnell TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to duties of certain
parole officers
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would clarify the duties to be performed by parole officers.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends Correction Law section 10 to clarify the
job duties to be performed by parole officers. Section 2 of the bill is
the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Recently, in the cities of Rochester and New York, parole warrant sweeps
were conducted by the Department of Corrections and Community Super-
vision (DOCCS) by its Office of Special Investigation (OSI). However,
these sweeps were primarily conducted by OSI staff, corrections officers
and K9 officers working out of title. Parole officers' roles were limit-
ed even though they already had existing knowledge and history with the
warrant absconders who were being sought. The officers who conducted the
sweeps were dressed in riot gear and armed with AR-15 assault-style
rifles and shields. The community reaction to the raids ranged from fear
to outrage.
These warrant sweeps serve as an example of why it is necessary to have
the properly trained personnel carry out the job duties assigned to
parole officers. Community supervision parole officers are best suited
to collect absconders because they know the parolees and their families
and are familiar with the community. Parole officers must be allowed to
perform their jobs, and others should not be made to work out of title
and carry out the duties of other employees.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10190--A
IN ASSEMBLY
May 16, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL, SEPULVEDA -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Correction -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to duties of certain
parole officers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 10 of the correction law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 5 to read as follows:
3 5. Duties to be performed exclusively by parole officers shall
4 include, but not be limited to: executing parole warrants, transporting
5 parolees, conducting substance abuse testing of parolees, conducting
6 home or field visits with parolees, conducting any investigation relat-
7 ing to parolees violating the terms and conditions of their release, or
8 any matter specifically related to parolee supervision.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15293-03-6
