STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2036--B
Cal. No. 1101
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 19, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. BROOKS, HELMING, BORRELLO, HINCHEY, JORDAN, RATH --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Local Government -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and
second report, amended on second report, ordered to a third reading,
and to be reprinted as amended, retaining its place in the order of
third reading
AN ACT to amend the county law and the executive law, in relation to the
reporting of a veteran's suicide
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 677 of the county law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 10 to read as follows:
3 10. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall report
4 to the division of veterans' services, in a form, and time frame devel-
5 oped by such division in a manner that is protective of privacy and
6 contains aggregate, rather than individual data to the extent practica-
7 ble, any death which appears to be a suicide by a person who, to the
8 knowledge of the coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner, is a
9 veteran.
10 § 2. Section 353 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
11 subdivision 26 to read as follows:
12 26. (a) To develop a form by which a coroner, coroner's physician or
13 medical examiner, pursuant to section six hundred seventy-seven of the
14 county law, shall report to the division any death which appears to be a
15 suicide by a person who, to the knowledge of the coroner, coroner's
16 physician or medical examiner, is a veteran. This form shall at a mini-
17 mum: (i) ensure compliance with the strictest privacy protections and
18 encourage data aggregation to the extent feasible; (ii) provide the
19 address to which the form is to be mailed or submitted electronically;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03672-05-1
S. 2036--B 2
1 and (iii) include the county of residence and the branch of service of
2 deceased veterans during the reporting period.
3 (b) The division shall: (i) forward completed forms to the office of
4 mental hygiene pursuant to subdivision (g) of section 7.07 of the mental
5 hygiene law in a timely manner; and (ii) compile such information for
6 inclusion in the annual report pursuant to this section.
7 § 3. Section 353 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
8 subdivision 6-b to read as follows:
9 6-b. To prepare and submit a report in consultation with the depart-
10 ment of health and the department of mental hygiene including the
11 following information to the extent it is reasonably accessible: (a) the
12 number of veterans who died by suicide; (b) trends of veterans suicide
13 rates over the last five years, including details by period of military
14 service; and (c) a comparison of veterans suicide rates by county,
15 statewide and nationwide. Such report shall be delivered to the governor
16 and legislature no later than June thirteenth, two thousand twenty-four
17 and every three years thereafter. Such report shall also be made avail-
18 able on the division's website.
19 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
20 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
21 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
22 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
23 completed on or before such effective date.
