Establishes the "Address Confidentiality Act" which allows state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing the location of certain victims of abuse.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1535
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 10, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GALEF -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing the
"Address Confidentiality Act" which allows state and local agencies to
respond to requests for public records without disclosing the location
of certain victims
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Address Confidentiality Act".
3 § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that persons attempt-
4 ing to escape from actual or threatened abuse, sexual assault, or
5 threatened abuse, sexual assault, or stalking frequently establish new
6 addresses in order to prevent their assailants or probable assailants
7 from finding them. The purposes of the address confidentiality act are
8 to enable state and local agencies to respond to requests for public
9 records without disclosing the location of a victim of abuse, sexual
10 assault, or stalking, to enable interagency cooperation with the office
11 of the secretary of state in providing address confidentiality for
12 victims of abuse, sexual assault, or stalking, and to enable state and
13 local agencies to accept a program participant's use of an address
14 designated by the secretary of state as a substitute mailing address.
15 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new article 21-C to read
16 as follows:
17 ARTICLE 21-C
18 ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY ACT
19 Section 613. Definitions.
20 614. Substitute address; application to secretary of state;
21 approval; certification; renewal; prohibited acts;
22 violation; penalty.
23 615. Certification; forfeiture or cancellation.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04176-01-1
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1 616. Address or substitute address; use.
2 617. Vote as absentee voter; authorization.
3 618. Secretary of state; use of substitute address; exceptions.
4 619. Program participants; application assistance.
5 § 613. Definitions. For purposes of this article the following words
6 and phrases shall have the following meanings:
7 1. "Abuse" means causing or attempting to cause physical harm, placing
8 another person in fear of physical harm, or causing another person to
9 engage involuntarily in sexual activity by force, threat of force, or
10 duress, when committed by (a) a person against his or her spouse, (b) a
11 person against his or her former spouse, (c) a person residing with the
12 victim if such person and the victim are or were in a dating relation-
13 ship, (d) a person who formerly resided with the victim if such person
14 and the victim are or were in a dating relationship, (e) a person
15 against a parent of his or her children, whether or not such person and
16 the victim have been married or resided together at any time, (f) a
17 person against a person with whom he or she is in a dating relationship,
18 (g) a person against a person with whom he or she formerly was in a
19 dating relationship, or (h) a person related to the victim by consan-
20 guinity or affinity;
21 2. "Address" means a residential street address, school address, or
22 work address of an individual as specified on the individual's applica-
23 tion to be a program participant;
24 3. "Dating relationship" means an intimate or sexual relationship;
25 4. "Program participant" means a person certified as a program partic-
26 ipant pursuant to section six hundred fourteen of this article.
27 § 614. Substitute address; application to secretary of state;
28 approval; certification; renewal; prohibited acts; violation; penalty.
29 1. An adult, a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor, or a
30 guardian acting on behalf of an incapacitated person may apply to the
31 secretary of state to have an address designated by the secretary of
32 state serve as the substitute address of such adult, minor, or incapaci-
33 tated person. The secretary of state shall approve an application if it
34 is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the secretary of
35 state and if it contains:
36 (a) A sworn statement by the applicant that the applicant has good
37 reason to believe (i) that the applicant, or the minor or incapacitated
38 person on whose behalf the application is made, is a victim of abuse,
39 sexual assault, or stalking and (ii) that the applicant fears for his or
40 her safety, his or her children's safety, or the safety of the minor or
41 incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made;
42 (b) A designation of the secretary of state as agent for purposes of
43 service of process and receipt of mail;
44 (c) The mailing address and the telephone number or numbers where the
45 applicant can be contacted by the secretary of state;
46 (d) The new address or addresses that the applicant requests not be
47 disclosed for the reason that disclosure will increase the risk of
48 abuse, sexual assault, or stalking; and
49 (e) The signature of the applicant and of any individual or represen-
50 tative of any office designated in writing pursuant to section six
51 hundred nineteen of this article who assisted in the preparation of the
52 application and the date on which the applicant signed the application.
53 2. Applications shall be filed in the office of the secretary of
54 state.
55 3. Upon filing a properly completed application, the secretary of
56 state shall certify the applicant as a program participant. Such
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1 certification shall be valid for four years following the date of filing
2 unless the certification is withdrawn or invalidated before that date.
3 The secretary of state may by rule and regulation establish a renewal
4 procedure.
5 4. A person who falsely attests in an application that disclosure of
6 the applicant's address would endanger the applicant, the applicant's
7 children, or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the
8 application is made, or who knowingly provides false or incorrect infor-
9 mation upon making an application, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
10 § 615. Certification; forfeiture or cancellation. 1. If a program
11 participant obtains a name change, he or she shall forfeit his or her
12 certification as a program participant unless the program participant
13 applies to the secretary of state for recertification and provides
14 documentation of the legal name change.
15 2. The secretary of state may cancel a program participant's certif-
16 ication if there is a change in the mailing address from the one listed
17 on the application pursuant to section six hundred fourteen of this
18 article, unless the program participant provides the secretary of state
19 with notice of the change of address in such manner as is provided by
20 rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the secretary of state.
21 3. The secretary of state may cancel certification of a program
22 participant's address if mail forwarded to the program participant's
23 address is returned as undeliverable.
24 4. The secretary of state shall cancel certification of a program
25 participant who applies using false information.
26 § 616. Address or substitute address; use. 1. A program participant
27 may request that state and local agencies use the address designated by
28 the secretary of state as the program participant's substitute address.
29 When creating a new public record, a state or local agency which has a
30 bona fide statutory, tax situs, or administrative requirement for the
31 participant's residence address may request that the participant verbal-
32 ly provide the agency with such residence address if the agency has the
33 capability to use such address for such bona fide purpose without perma-
34 nently entering it into the agency's records. If the agency does not
35 have such capability, it shall accept the address designated by the
36 secretary of state as a program participant's substitute address, unless
37 the secretary of state determines that:
38 (a) The state or local agency has a bona fide statutory, tax situs, or
39 administrative requirement for the use of the address which would other-
40 wise be confidential under the address confidentiality act; and
41 (b) The address will be used only for such bona fide statutory, tax
42 situs, or administrative requirement.
43 2. The secretary of state shall forward all first-class mail to each
44 program participant's substitute address.
45 § 617. Vote as absentee voter; authorization. 1. A program partic-
46 ipant who is otherwise qualified to vote may apply as an absentee voter
47 pursuant to section 8-400 of the election law. The county clerk or
48 election commissioner shall transmit the absentee ballot to the program
49 participant at the address designated by the program participant in his
50 or her application as an absentee voter. Neither the name nor the
51 address of a program participant shall be included in any list of regis-
52 tered voters available to the public.
53 2. The county clerk or election commissioner shall not make a program
54 participant's address contained in voter registration records available
55 for public inspection or copying except under the following circum-
56 stances:
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1 (a) If requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement
2 agency; or
3 (b) If directed by a court order, to a person identified in the order.
4 § 618. Secretary of state; use of substitute address; exceptions. The
5 secretary of state shall not make any records in a program participant's
6 file available for inspection or copying, other than the substitute
7 address designated by the secretary of state, except under the following
8 circumstances:
9 1. If requested of the secretary of state by the chief commanding
10 officer of a law enforcement agency or the officer's designee in the
11 manner provided for by rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by
12 the secretary of state;
13 2. To a person identified in a court order upon the receipt by the
14 secretary of state of that court order which specifically orders the
15 disclosure of a particular program participant's address and the reasons
16 stated therefor; or
17 3. To verify the participation of a specific program participant, in
18 which case the secretary of state may only confirm or deny information
19 supplied by the requester.
20 § 619. Program participants; application assistance. The secretary of
21 state shall designate state and local agencies and nonprofit entities
22 that provide counseling and shelter services to victims of abuse, sexual
23 assault, or stalking to assist persons applying to be program partic-
24 ipants. Any assistance or counseling rendered by the office of the
25 secretary of state or its designees to such applicants shall not be
26 deemed legal advice or the practice of law.
27 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
28 it shall have become a law. The secretary of state is authorized to
29 promulgate any and all rules and regulations and take any other measures
30 necessary to implement this act on or before such date.
