Expands who may visit local correctional facilities to include persons and accompanying staff of the chief executive officer of a county, members of a county legislative body, mayor of the city of New York, New York city public advocate, New York city comptroller, and members of the New York city council.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2119--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN, SHRESTHA, EPSTEIN, ANDERSON, COOK,
SIMONE, SAYEGH, ALVAREZ, JACOBSON, ZACCARO, STECK, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
RAGA, KELLES, SIMON, BORES, MEEKS, LEVENBERG, DAVILA, GIBBS, REYES,
MAMDANI, TAPIA, SHIMSKY, BURDICK, R. CARROLL, CLARK, RIVERA, GALLAGHER
-- 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 who may visit local
correctional facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 500-j of the correction law, as amended by chapter
2 291 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 500-j. Who may visit local correctional facilities. 1. The follow-
4 ing persons and their accompanying staff may visit, at their pleasure,
5 all local correctional facilities: The governor [and], lieutenant-gover-
6 nor, secretary of state, comptroller [and], attorney-general, members of
7 the legislature, judges of the court of appeals, justices of the supreme
8 court [and], county judges, and district attorneys [and every].
9 2. The following persons and their accompanying staff may visit, at
10 their pleasure, the local correctional facilities located in the county
11 or city of their jurisdiction: the chief executive officer of a county,
12 members of a county legislative body, mayor of the city of New York, New
13 York city public advocate, New York city comptroller, and members of the
14 New York city council.
15 3. Every clergyman or minister, as such terms are defined in section
16 two of the religious corporations law, [having] may visit, at their
17 pleasure, the local correctional facilities located in the county or
18 city of which they have charge of a congregation [in the county in which
19 such facility is located].
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05549-04-5
A. 2119--A 2
1 4. No other person not otherwise authorized by law shall be permitted
2 to enter the rooms of a local correctional facility in which convicts
3 are confined, unless under such regulations as the sheriff of the coun-
4 ty, or in counties within the city of New York, the commissioner of
5 correction of such city, or in the county of Westchester, the commis-
6 sioner of correction of such county shall prescribe.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
