Expands eligibility for victims and survivors of crime to access victim compensation funds by removing the mandatory law enforcement reporting requirement, providing alternative forms of evidence that would show that a qualifying crime was committed and the confidentiality of certain records.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
214--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. MYRIE, BAILEY, BRESLIN, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE,
COMRIE, COONEY, FERNANDEZ, GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM,
HINCHEY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KENNEDY, LIU, PARKER,
RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, THOMAS,
WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be commit-
ted to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to expanding eligibility
for victims and survivors of crime to access victim compensation funds
by removing the mandatory law enforcement reporting requirement,
providing alternative forms of evidence that would show that a quali-
fying crime was committed and the confidentiality of certain records
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 621 of the execu-
2 tive law, as amended by chapter 710 of the laws of 1996, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (a) an act committed in New York state which would, if committed by a
5 mentally competent criminally responsible adult, who has no legal
6 exemption or defense, constitute a crime as defined in and proscribed by
7 law, regardless of whether any suspect was arrested, charged, appre-
8 hended or prosecuted for the commission of the act or whether the claim-
9 ant has interacted with a criminal justice agency investigating such
10 act; or
11 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 625 of the executive law, as amended by
12 section 10 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
13 read as follows:
14 2. A claim must be filed by the claimant not later than [one year]
15 three years after the occurrence or discovery of the crime upon which
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01992-02-3
S. 214--A 2
1 such claim is based, [one year] three years after a court finds a
2 lawsuit to be frivolous, or not later than [one year] three years after
3 the death of the victim, provided, however, that upon good cause shown,
4 the office may extend the time for filing. The office shall extend the
5 time for filing where the claimant received no notice pursuant to
6 section six hundred twenty-five-a of this article and had no knowledge
7 of eligibility pursuant to section six hundred twenty-four of this arti-
8 cle.
9 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 627 of the executive
10 law, as added by section 18 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of
11 2010, is amended to read as follows:
12 (c) the investigation and determination of claims regardless of wheth-
13 er the alleged criminal has been arrested, charged, apprehended or pros-
14 ecuted for or convicted of any crime based upon the same incident, or
15 has been acquitted, or found not guilty of the crime in question owing
16 to criminal irresponsibility or other legal exemption;
17 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 631 of the executive law, as separately
18 amended by chapters 189 and 295 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read
19 as follows:
20 1. No award shall be made unless the office finds that: (a) a crime
21 [was committed,] has occurred as indicated by the applicant's record or
22 supporting documentation; (b) such crime directly resulted in personal
23 physical injury to or the exacerbation of a preexisting disability, or
24 condition, or death of, the victim[,]; and (c) either: (i) criminal
25 justice agency records show that such crime was [promptly] reported to
26 the proper authorities[; and in no case may an award be made where the
27 criminal justice agency records show that such report was made more than
28 one week after the occurrence of such crime unless the office, for good
29 cause shown, finds the delay to have been justified. Notwithstanding the
30 foregoing provisions of this subdivision, in cases involving an alleged
31 sex offense as contained in article one hundred thirty of the penal law
32 or incest as defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal
33 law or labor trafficking as defined in section 135.35 of the penal law
34 or sex trafficking as defined in sections 230.34 and 230.34-a of the
35 penal law or an offense chargeable as a family offense as described in
36 section eight hundred twelve of the family court act or section 530.11
37 of the criminal procedure law, the criminal justice agency report need
38 only be made] within a reasonable time considering all the circum-
39 stances, including the victim's physical, emotional and mental condition
40 and family situation[.]; or (ii) evidence is provided to show that such
41 crime occurred. Such evidence shall include, but is not limited to, one
42 or more of the following:
43 (A) a written statement provided by a city or state-contracted victim
44 services provider who has provided services to the victim of the crime,
45 or other eligible claimants as identified in section six hundred twen-
46 ty-four of this article, in response to the impact of the qualifying
47 crime; or
48 (B) a temporary or permanent restraining order or protective order
49 issued by a court to protect or separate the victim, or other eligible
50 claimants as identified in section six hundred twenty-four of this arti-
51 cle, from the person who is responsible for the qualifying crime.
52 For the purposes of this subdivision, "criminal justice agency" shall
53 include, but not be limited to, a police department, a district attor-
54 ney's office, and any other governmental agency having responsibility
55 for the enforcement of the criminal laws of the state provided, however,
56 that in cases involving such sex offense or family offense a criminal
S. 214--A 3
1 justice agency shall also mean a family court, a governmental agency
2 responsible for child and/or adult protective services pursuant to title
3 six of article six of the social services law and/or title one of arti-
4 cle nine-B of the social services law, and any medical facility estab-
5 lished under the laws of the state that provides a forensic physical
6 examination for victims of rape and sexual assault.
7 § 5. Subdivision 4 of section 625 of the executive law, as amended by
8 section 10 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
9 read as follows:
10 4. Upon the filing of a claim pursuant to this article, the office
11 shall promptly notify the district attorney of the county wherein the
12 crime is alleged to have occurred. Except in cases where the alleged
13 crime was not reported to a criminal justice agency, as indicated in
14 subdivision one of section six hundred thirty-one of this article. If,
15 within ten days after such notification, such district attorney advises
16 the office that a criminal prosecution is pending upon the same alleged
17 crime and requests that action by the office be deferred, the office
18 shall defer all proceedings under this article until such time as such
19 criminal prosecution has been concluded and shall so notify such
20 district attorney and the claimant. When such criminal prosecution has
21 been concluded, such district attorney shall promptly so notify the
22 office. Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the office
23 to grant emergency awards pursuant to section six hundred thirty of this
24 article.
25 § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 633 of the executive law, as amended by
26 section 25 of part A-1 of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to
27 read as follows:
28 1. Records maintained by the office and proceedings by the office
29 based thereon regarding a claim submitted by a victim or a claimant
30 shall be deemed confidential and shall not be shared with any government
31 or private entity, with the following exceptions:
32 (a) requests for information based [upon] on legitimate criminal
33 justice purposes as determined by the agency, provided that, in such
34 case, the office shall furnish only that portion of the information that
35 is legally required;
36 (b) judicial subpoenas;
37 (c) requests for information by the victim or claimant or his or her
38 authorized representative; or
39 (d) for purposes necessary and proper for the administration of this
40 article.
41 § 7. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
42 law.
