STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5066 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 2, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Mental Health AN ACT to amend the executive law, the county law and the criminal procedure law, in relation to the justice center for the protection of people with special needs and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 552 of the executive law, as added by section 3 of 2 part A of chapter 501 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 § 552. Organization of the justice center. 1. The justice center shall 5 house the vulnerable persons' central register created in section four 6 hundred ninety-two of the social services law and shall perform all of 7 the necessary functions related to the receipt and acceptance of reports 8 of allegations of reportable incidents involving vulnerable persons, the 9 investigation of such accepted reports and the review of substantiated 10 findings of abuse or neglect, as defined in subdivision eleven of 11 section four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law, including 12 conducting any disciplinary proceedings for state employees resulting 13 from such substantiated findings (for state entities bound by collective 14 bargaining, the disciplinary process established through collective 15 bargaining shall govern). The justice center shall contain two separate 16 units, headed by two distinct deputies, one responsible for the [prose- 17 cution] investigation of criminal matters and one for the investigation 18 and resolution of non-criminal matters. If, during an investigation, 19 what appeared to be a non-criminal matter warrants consideration for 20 criminal charges, the matter shall be promptly referred to the criminal 21 unit as well as the law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over such 22 matter. Information collected during such investigations may only be 23 shared between such units in accordance with state and federal constitu- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09865-01-3
A. 5066 2 1 tional protections and laws and the secrecy provisions contained in 2 article one hundred ninety of the criminal procedure law, unless so 3 ordered by a court in a pending proceeding. 4 2. (a) The justice center also shall employ a special prosecutor and 5 inspector general for the protection of people with special needs 6 ("special prosecutor"), who shall be appointed by the governor. Other 7 state agencies shall be required to make facilities available for office 8 space throughout the state and to assist when requested with respect to 9 the duties of the office. Pursuant to the provisions of this section, 10 such special prosecutor shall have the duty and power: (i) to investi- 11 gate and, upon the consent of a district attorney, prosecute offenses 12 involving abuse or neglect, as defined in subdivision eleven of section 13 four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law, committed against 14 vulnerable persons by custodians as defined in subdivision two of 15 section four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law; and (ii) 16 to cooperate with and assist district attorneys and other local law 17 enforcement officials in their efforts against such abuse or neglect of 18 vulnerable persons. Provided that nothing herein shall diminish or 19 interfere with the ability of district attorneys at any time to receive 20 complaints, investigate [and] or maintain the ultimate authority to 21 prosecute any offense involving the suspected abuse or neglect of a 22 vulnerable person, or for any persons, whether a mandated reporter or 23 not, to report a complaint to a district attorney or other appropriate 24 law enforcement official. The special prosecutor may request and shall 25 receive, from any agency, department, division, board, bureau or commis- 26 sion of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, cooperation and 27 assistance in the performance of his or her duties, and may provide 28 technical and other assistance to any district attorney or law enforce- 29 ment official requesting assistance in the investigation or prosecution 30 of offenses involving the abuse or neglect of vulnerable persons. 31 (b) The special prosecutor, or one of his or her assistants, duly 32 authorized pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, is empowered 33 to apply for search warrants pursuant to article six hundred ninety of 34 the criminal procedure law, and, except in exigent circumstances, shall 35 give prior notice of the application to the district attorney of the 36 county in which such a warrant is to be executed, and in such exigent 37 circumstances shall give such notice as soon thereafter as is practica- 38 ble; provided, however that the failure to give notice of a search 39 warrant application to a district attorney shall not be a ground to 40 suppress the evidence seized in executing the warrant. [He or she may 41 designate an assistant to exercise any of such powers.] 42 (c) The special prosecutor or one of his or her assistants duly 43 authorized pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, may[, after 44 consultation with the district attorney as to the time and place of such 45 attendance or appearance,] attend in person any term of [the county] 46 court [or supreme court] having appropriate jurisdiction, including an 47 extraordinary special or trial term of the supreme court when one is 48 appointed pursuant to section one hundred forty-nine of the judiciary 49 law, or appear before the grand jury thereof, for the purpose of manag- 50 ing and conducting in such court or before such jury a criminal action 51 or proceeding concerned with an offense where any conduct constituting 52 or requisite to the completion of or in any other manner related to such 53 offense involved the abuse or neglect of a vulnerable person, as defined 54 in subdivision eleven of section four hundred eighty-eight of the social 55 services law. [In such case, such special prosecutor or his or her 56 assistant so attending may exercise all the powers and perform all the A. 5066 3 1 duties in respect of such actions or proceedings which the district 2 attorney would otherwise be authorized or required to exercise or 3 perform.] 4 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 700 of the county law, as amended by 5 chapter 560 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows: 6 1. Except as provided in section seven hundred one of this chapter, it 7 shall be the duty of every district attorney to conduct, or cause to be 8 conducted, all prosecutions for crimes and offenses cognizable by the 9 courts of the county for which he or she shall have been elected or 10 appointed; except when the place of trial of an indictment is changed 11 from one county to another, it shall be the duty of the district attor- 12 ney of the county where the indictment is found to conduct the trial of 13 the indictment so removed, and it shall be the duty of the district 14 attorney of the county to which such trial is changed to assist in such 15 trial upon the request of the district attorney of the county where the 16 indictment was found. He or she shall perform such additional and 17 related duties as may be prescribed by law and directed by the board of 18 supervisors. 19 § 3. Section 702 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi- 20 sion 8 to read as follows: 21 8. Notwithstanding any provision of law with respect to the require- 22 ments of residence or number of appointments, a district attorney may 23 appoint the special prosecutor and/or one or more of his or her assist- 24 ants employed by the justice center for the protection of people with 25 special needs as special assistant district attorneys with respect to 26 any investigation or prosecution involving abuse or neglect, as defined 27 in subdivision eleven of section four hundred eighty-eight of the social 28 services law, committed against a vulnerable person by a custodian as 29 defined in subdivision two of section four hundred eighty-eight of the 30 social services law. Nothing herein shall limit the duration of such 31 appointment, provided however, that such appointment may be rescinded at 32 any time by the district attorney. 33 § 4. Subdivision 32 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, as 34 amended by section 2 of part PPP of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is 35 amended to read as follows: 36 32. "District attorney" means a district attorney, an assistant 37 district attorney or a special district attorney, and, where appropri- 38 ate, the attorney general, an assistant attorney general, a deputy 39 attorney general, a special deputy attorney general, or the special 40 prosecutor and inspector general for the protection of people with 41 special needs or his or her assistants when acting [pursuant to their 42 duties] in [matters arising under] accordance with article twenty of the 43 executive law, or the inspector general of New York for transportation 44 or his or her deputies when acting pursuant to article four-B of the 45 executive law. 46 § 5. Subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law is 47 amended by adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows: 48 (w) A sworn investigator employed by the justice center for the 49 protection of people with special needs. 50 § 6. Subdivision 34 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law is 51 amended by adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows: 52 (w) A sworn investigator employed by the justice center for the 53 protection of people with special needs where such department or force 54 is certified in accordance with paragraph (d) of subdivision one of 55 section eight hundred forty-six-h of the executive law.
A. 5066 4 1 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however that 2 section five of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed on the same 3 date as section 13 of part BBB of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021 takes 4 effect, when upon such date the provisions of section six of this act 5 shall take effect.