Add Art 4 401 - 408, Eld L; add 80.20, Pen L; add 420.37, CP L; add 97-uuuu, St Fin L
Establishes an elderly crime prevention and control trust fund to be funded by an initial appropriation and administrative assessment penalties on persons convicted of felonies when an elderly person is a victim; provides that the fund is to be administered by the division of criminal justice services which shall give grants to organizations who will set up programs to prevent crimes against elderly persons.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6838
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 11, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. PARKER, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging
AN ACT to amend the elder law, the penal law, the criminal procedure law
and the state finance law, in relation to crime prevention and
control; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expira-
tion thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The elder law is amended by adding a new article 4 to read
2 as follows:
3 ARTICLE 4
4 ELDERLY CRIME PREVENTION AND CONTROL TRUST FUND ACT
5 Section 401. Short title.
6 402. Legislative finding and declaration.
7 403. Definitions.
8 404. Administration of trust fund.
9 405. Application procedures.
10 406. Rules and regulations.
11 407. Reporting.
12 408. Legislative hearings.
13 § 401. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as
14 the "Elderly Crime Prevention and Control Trust Fund Act".
15 § 402. Legislative finding and declaration. This legislature does
16 hereby find and declare that the elderly population of this state, which
17 for the purposes of this article is defined as individuals over the age
18 of sixty-two years, is uniquely vulnerable to actual and potential crim-
19 inal victimization by virtue of physical frailty, concentrations in high
20 risk urban neighborhoods, and socio-economic household factors advertis-
21 ing seniors as high visibility crime targets. This heightened vulner-
22 ability acts as a precursor for a generalized and debilitating sense of
23 fear which impacts on mobility, concepts of self-worth, and isolation
24 from the larger society. The legislature further finds and declares that
25 on the basis of available demographic information, the elderly popu-
26 lation of this state will continue to expand, thus requiring that the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07903-01-3
S. 6838 2
1 problem of criminal victimization of the elderly be a focus of continu-
2 ing and paramount concern. This legislature further finds that although
3 the state's commitment of general revenue funds to the criminal justice
4 system has increased nearly three-fold in the past decade, crime
5 prevention and control activities targeted to our elderly population
6 have been wedded to moneys originating within the federal system. Addi-
7 tionally, statistical trends in the criminal victimization of the elder-
8 ly promise a continued escalation in seemingly rampant crime rates
9 despite the best efforts of law enforcement and community based organ-
10 izations. These findings, coupled with the philosophic shifts occurring
11 on a national level, mandate that responsibility for the safety and
12 well-being of elderly citizens rests principally with this legislature.
13 In response to that obligation, this legislature does hereby declare
14 and endorse the establishment of an exclusive dedicated revenue source
15 for the operation and maintenance of crime prevention, detection, and
16 enforcement activities for the sole benefit of elderly citizens in this
17 state.
18 § 403. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:
19 1. "Elderly person" means a person sixty-two years of age or older.
20 2. "Commissioner" means the chief administrative officer of the divi-
21 sion of criminal justice services.
22 3. "Grant recipient" means any local government, to include any town,
23 city, or county, or any local government agency that administers a crime
24 prevention, detection or enforcement program principally for the benefit
25 of elderly persons.
26 § 404. Administration of trust fund. The elderly crime prevention and
27 control trust fund, which is established pursuant to section ninety-sev-
28 en-uuuu of the state finance law shall be administered and supervised
29 under the direction of the commissioner pursuant to this article, and it
30 shall be for the establishment and continuance of crime prevention,
31 detection or enforcement programs principally benefitting elderly
32 persons.
33 § 405. Application procedures. Funds appropriated or available for the
34 purposes of this article may be allocated for the purpose of designing,
35 expanding, or implementing interactive crime prevention, detection, and
36 enforcement activities that principally enhance the safety, mobility,
37 physical security and emotional well-being of elderly persons as
38 proposed by grant recipients.
39 1. Grant recipients shall be selected by the commissioner from appli-
40 cations submitted.
41 2. The director shall require that applications submitted for funding
42 include, but need not be limited to, the following:
43 (a) the cost of each proposed program including the proposed compen-
44 sation of employees and purchase of support services and hardware;
45 (b) a description of the proposed community area of service and other
46 characteristics as determined by the commissioner;
47 (c) a program goal to be achieved and an assessment standard measuring
48 achievement of that goal;
49 (d) an endorsement of the chief administrative officer of the locality
50 in which the grant recipient proposes to operate a program, that said
51 program is in congruence with overall efforts of that locality in
52 controlling, containing or reducing the criminal victimization of elder-
53 ly persons;
54 (e) such additional information as is determined to be relevant by the
55 commissioner or the legislature.
S. 6838 3
1 § 406. Rules and regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate rules
2 and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this article, including
3 but not limited to:
4 1. Provisions for periodic monitoring and evaluation of each program
5 awarded a grant recipient;
6 2. Provisions that limit the expenditure of funds for administrative
7 purposes to fifty per centum of the grant award; provided, however, if
8 the local government, local government agency, or community based organ-
9 ization shall match the state grant award with equal local resources,
10 seventy-five per centum may be used for administrative purposes.
11 § 407. Reporting. Grant recipients shall bi-annually provide the
12 commissioner such data as to reasonably reflect the funded program
13 activities for the inclusive period of January first through June thir-
14 tieth, and July first through December thirty-first of each calendar
15 year in which fund moneys are received and expended. 1. The commissioner
16 shall annually report to the appropriate committees of the legislature:
17 (a) the name, address, and program description of all grant applica-
18 tions received and funding level sought;
19 (b) the name, address, and program description of all grant applica-
20 tions approved;
21 (c) the name, address, and program description of all grant applica-
22 tions denied and a brief explanation for the basis of denial.
23 2. An annual report for public distribution detailing the activities
24 and accomplishments of programs funded under the provisions of this
25 article shall also be submitted.
26 § 408. Legislative hearings. The legislature shall annually conduct
27 public hearings on the proposed use and distribution of funds to be
28 provided under this article. 1. The commissioner shall cause to be
29 prepared a detailed plan, for submission to the appropriate legislative
30 committees, projecting:
31 (a) anticipated revenues available under this trust fund for the
32 forthcoming state fiscal year;
33 (b) unexpended funds from the current state fiscal year operations;
34 and
35 (c) encumbered and contracted funds from the current state fiscal
36 year.
37 2. On the basis of the plan submitted by the commissioner, joint
38 legislative committee hearings shall be conducted at the pleasure and
39 convenience of the appropriate committee chairpersons.
40 3. Expenses attendant to legislative hearings conducted pursuant to
41 this article shall be borne by the division of criminal justice
42 services.
43 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 80.20 to read as
44 follows:
45 § 80.20 Mandatory administrative assessments required upon conviction of
46 a felony where an elderly person is a victim.
47 1. For purposes of this section "elderly person" means a person
48 sixty-two years of age or older.
49 2. Every person convicted of a felony involving a victim who is an
50 elderly person shall, in addition to any sentence imposed by the court,
51 pay a mandatory administrative assessment of two hundred dollars.
52 3. A person convicted and subject to the provisions set forth in this
53 article shall pay the mandatory administrative assessment to the clerk
54 of the court that rendered the conviction. Each mandatory administrative
55 assessment collected by the clerk shall be paid over to the state comp-
S. 6838 4
1 troller for deposit under the provisions of section ninety-seven-uuuu of
2 the state finance law.
3 4. When a person is convicted of a felony involving a victim who is an
4 elderly person, the mandatory administrative assessment shall be paid to
5 the state comptroller for deposit under the provisions of section nine-
6 ty-seven-uuuu of the state finance law.
7 5. For the purposes of this section, adjudication as a youthful offen-
8 der shall not exempt a person from the provisions of this section.
9 6. The clerk of the court, wherein the conviction occurred, resulting
10 in a mandatory administrative assessment being collected, shall be enti-
11 tled, on behalf of the court, to retain a fee not to exceed five per
12 centum of the mandatory administrative assessment.
13 § 3. The criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new section
14 420.37 to read as follows:
15 § 420.37 Mandatory administrative assessments; applicability to
16 sentences mandating payment of fines.
17 The provisions of section 430.20 of this title governing the commit-
18 ment of a defendant for failure to pay a fine shall be applicable to
19 mandatory administrative assessments imposed pursuant to section 80.20
20 of the penal law.
21 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-uuuu
22 to read as follows:
23 § 97-uuuu. Elderly crime prevention and control trust fund. 1. There
24 is hereby established in the custody of the state comptroller a special
25 fund to be known as the "elderly crime prevention and control trust
26 fund".
27 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated for the purposes
28 of such fund, and all moneys received as a result of mandatory adminis-
29 trative assessments and any other sums payable to the fund pursuant to
30 section 80.20 of the penal law.
31 3. Moneys of the elderly crime prevention and control trust fund, when
32 allocated, shall be available to the division of criminal justice
33 services for the purposes of administering and funding activities
34 related to the prevention and control of criminal victimization of the
35 elderly pursuant to the provisions of article four of the elder law.
36 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, no
37 moneys shall be available from the elderly crime prevention and control
38 trust fund until a certificate of allocation and a schedule of amounts
39 to be available therefor shall have been issued by the director of the
40 budget, upon the recommendation of the commissioner of the division of
41 criminal justice services and a copy of such certificate filed with the
42 comptroller, the chairperson of the senate finance committee and the
43 chairperson of the assembly ways and means committee. Such certificate
44 may be amended from time to time by the director of the budget, upon the
45 recommendation of the commissioner of the division of criminal justice
46 services and a copy of each such amendment shall be filed with the comp-
47 troller, the chairperson of the senate finance committee and the chair-
48 person of the assembly ways and means committee.
49 5. The moneys, when allocated, shall be paid out of the fund on the
50 audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved
51 by the commissioner of the division of criminal justice services or by
52 an officer or employee of the division of criminal justice services
53 designated by the commissioner.
54 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire June 30,
55 2026 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed
56 repealed.
