STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3781 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN, HUNTER, BURDICK, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, MEEKS, KELLES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to correctional facility visits by the correctional association The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. Founded in 1844 by concerned citi- 2 zens of the state and deputized by the state to provide independent 3 monitoring and oversight of the state's prisons in 1846, the Correction- 4 al Association of New York is one of the first organizations in the 5 country created to administer civilian oversight of prisons to ensure 6 greater transparency of correctional institutions in the state. The 7 Correctional Association of New York's on-site access to the state's 8 prisons and to information on state prisons is critical for the organ- 9 ization to provide insight into the policies and procedures of the 10 state's prisons through its monitoring and reporting on prison condi- 11 tions, policies, and procedures for the executive, legislature, and 12 public, playing an important role in informing debates on correctional 13 reform and incarcerated individuals' rights. 14 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 146 of the correction law, as amended by 15 chapter 32 of the laws of 2021, paragraph b of subdivision 3 as amended 16 by chapter 486 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 17 3. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 18 correctional association shall be permitted to access, visit, inspect, 19 and examine all state correctional facilities [with seventy-two hours 20 advance notice to the department]. Up to twelve people may comprise the 21 visiting party[; provided, however, that only four people from the party 22 may enter a special housing facility or unit at the same time]. Prior 23 to the visitation authorized pursuant to this subdivision, the correc- 24 tional association shall provide to the department on, at least, an 25 annual basis a list of people who will be visiting the facility or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00543-01-5
A. 3781 2 1 facilities, including names, dates of birth, driver's license numbers 2 and their designation as an employee, board member, or designee in order 3 for the department to perform prompt background checks. The department 4 may not place restrictions on such visits and inspections, including 5 during periods when a facility is locked down or experiencing a facility 6 wide emergency. [In addition] However, the department may restrict 7 access to a portion of a facility in an emergency situation for the 8 duration of the emergency. For the purpose of this subdivision, an emer- 9 gency shall be determined by the commissioner or [his or her] the 10 commissioner's designee and defined as a significant risk to the safety 11 or security of the facility, or the health, safety or security of staff 12 or incarcerated individuals, or an event that significantly compromises 13 the operations of the facility. 14 b. Upon twenty-four hours advance notice, at the commencement and 15 conclusion of any visits to, or inspections and examinations of, state 16 correctional facilities, the superintendent and executive team, [to the 17 extent practicable] upon request by the correctional association, shall 18 meet with the correctional association. Upon twenty-four hours advance 19 notice, [the] privately without representatives of the central office 20 present, representatives of the office of mental health and any other 21 entities or agencies providing services in a facility shall meet with 22 the correctional association upon request during the course of any 23 visit. The correctional association may meet privately with the incar- 24 cerated individual liaison committee and representatives of the incar- 25 cerated individual grievance resolution committee or any other organiza- 26 tion of incarcerated individuals recognized by the department. 27 c. [During the course of any such visit, inspection or examination, 28 upon consent of the person being interviewed, the] The correctional 29 association shall have the power to interview and converse publicly or 30 confidentially with any correctional employee or administrator, any 31 incarcerated individual, and any other person providing, supervising, or 32 monitoring services in a correctional facility, whether or not employed 33 by such facility. Such interviews shall not be restricted by the depart- 34 ment or the office of mental health or any other agency or attended by 35 anyone on behalf of the department or the office of mental health or any 36 other agency, nor shall there be any retaliation or adverse action taken 37 by the department or other state agency against [any incarcerated indi- 38 vidual] anyone who [agrees to speak] speaks with the correctional asso- 39 ciation. The department may not limit the number of individuals the 40 correctional association may interview or the duration of the inter- 41 views[, in any manner unreasonable under the circumstances]. The 42 correctional association shall have the power to conduct private, confi- 43 dential meetings [reasonable in number under the circumstances] at their 44 pleasure and without notice to the department with incarcerated people 45 in housing units and in attorney visiting rooms or other rooms in the 46 facility in which their conversations will remain confidential. No 47 department employee may attend or listen to any such meeting without the 48 consent of the correctional association. 49 d. The correctional association may request and receive from the 50 department information and data as will enable the correctional associ- 51 ation to carry out its functions, powers and duties. 52 (i) The correctional association shall have access to the following 53 information and records on a quarterly basis: 54 (A) individuals admitted into custody, which shall contain, at mini- 55 mum, individual-level records of all individuals admitted to custody, 56 including the individual's departmental ID, demographic information,
A. 3781 3 1 admission type, reception facility name and housing unit, reception 2 date, sentencing, and crime information; 3 (B) individuals under custody, which shall contain, at minimum, indi- 4 vidual-level records of all individuals presently under custody, includ- 5 ing the individual's departmental ID, demographic information, current 6 facility name and housing unit, date of original and latest reception at 7 the facility, out counts, sentencing and crime information, and parole 8 eligibility and relevant dates; 9 (C) individuals released from custody, which shall contain, at mini- 10 mum, individual-level records of all individuals released from custody, 11 including the individual's departmental ID, demographic information, 12 releasing facility name and housing unit, release date, release county, 13 sentencing and crime information, and parole eligibility and relevant 14 dates; 15 (D) individuals on parole, which shall contain, at minimum, individu- 16 al-level records of all individuals on parole, including the individ- 17 ual's departmental ID, demographic information, discharging facility 18 name and housing unit, start and release date, sentencing and crime 19 information, custody status, and voting pardon status; 20 (E) programming, education, vocational, and work assignment require- 21 ments, enrollment, and fulfillment, which shall contain, at minimum, 22 individual-level records of all individuals under custody, including the 23 individual's departmental ID, fields indicating the requirements of 24 their sentence, and indicators of whether the individual is not 25 enrolled, is on the waitlist, or has already completed any such require- 26 ment; 27 (F) departmental staffing levels, which shall contain, at minimum, 28 facility-level records of budgeted fill level, recommended staffing 29 level, and actual filled items split by job category, including data on 30 staff on long-term leave, workers compensation leave, and on the average 31 of daily closed posts for each quarter; 32 (G) deaths, which shall contain, at minimum, individual-level records 33 of all individuals who died while under custody, including the individ- 34 ual's departmental ID, date and time of death, date of report, demo- 35 graphic information, facility name and housing unit at time of death, 36 location of terminal incident, reported immediate cause of death, and an 37 indicator of whether an autopsy was performed; 38 (H) unusual incidents, which shall contain, at minimum, report-level 39 information for all unusual incidents, as defined by the department at 40 the current time, including the incident code, the name and code of the 41 facility where the incident took place, the date and time of the inci- 42 dent, the location within the facility, the name and code of the catego- 43 ries and subcategories indicated in the report, the roles of all indi- 44 viduals involved in the report (including incarcerated and 45 nonincarcerated individuals), the weapons used by each individual, the 46 type of force applied by department staff on each individual, if appli- 47 cable, and the degree of injury to staff and incarcerated individuals; 48 (I) disciplinary charges and penalties, which shall contain, at mini- 49 mum, charge-level information for all disciplinary incidents, including: 50 the incarcerated individual's departmental ID and facility name; the 51 location, date, and time of the incident; the tier, code, and 52 description of each charge; the date of the hearing; and the outcome and 53 penalty associated with each charge; 54 (J) grievances and appeals, which shall contain, at minimum, griev- 55 ance-level information for all grievances filed with the department, 56 including those resolved informally, including: the incarcerated indi-
A. 3781 4 1 vidual's departmental ID; ID, date filed, category, type, and facility 2 of the grievance; and the outcomes and outcome dates for all reviews, 3 including those by the incarcerated grievance resolution committee, 4 superintendent, and central office review committee; 5 (K) department employee disciplinary records, which shall contain, at 6 minimum, incident-level information for all employee discipline issued 7 by the department, including the incident facility, date, position of 8 the relevant employee, a brief description of the incident, and the 9 resulting penalty; and 10 (L) parole eligibility and hearing outcomes, which shall contain, at 11 minimum, individual-level records for all incarcerated individuals 12 currently under custody, including the incarcerated individual's depart- 13 mental ID, parole eligibility date, type and date of interview, and date 14 and outcome of interview. 15 (ii) The correctional association shall have access to the annual 16 budget of correctional facilities and records on a yearly basis. Such 17 records shall contain facility and spending category-level information 18 of the departmental budget for the year. 19 e. The correctional association shall periodically[, but not less than 20 every five years,] conduct inspections of each state correctional facil- 21 ity, prioritized based on the correctional association's assessment of 22 systemic issues, and [shall] issue reports and recommendations to the 23 governor, the legislature and the public about the conditions and issues 24 at [each such facility] correctional facilities. When preparing such 25 formal reports and recommendations, the correctional association shall 26 submit a tentative copy of such report and recommendations to the 27 commissioner. The commissioner [may] shall submit a written response to 28 such tentative report within [sixty] thirty days of the receipt thereof, 29 including a plan of action for addressing the findings and recommenda- 30 tions. When the correctional association thereafter submits its final 31 report and recommendations, it shall contain a complete copy of the 32 response, if any, submitted to the tentative report and recommendations. 33 [e.] f. The correctional association may send, and distribute during 34 prison visits, confidential written and electronic surveys or question- 35 naires to people in custody or employees concerning conditions of 36 confinement, working conditions, or other subjects within the scope of 37 their mission without prior approval of the department. People incar- 38 cerated shall be permitted to confidentially complete and return to the 39 correctional association such surveys either in written format or elec- 40 tronically. The correctional association may also receive free confiden- 41 tial phone calls and emails from incarcerated individuals and/or set up 42 a confidential hotline for individuals to use if they choose to contact 43 them. Physical mail received and sent to the correctional association is 44 defined as privileged correspondence, and any and all processing 45 controls, allowances for limited free postage, and advances of incarcer- 46 ated individual funds for postage shall apply to privileged correspond- 47 ence received and sent to the correctional association. For the purposes 48 of this section, identical incoming blank surveys and questionnaires 49 shall not be defined as privileged correspondence. 50 [f.] g. The access, visits, and inspection of state correctional 51 facilities by the correctional association pursuant to this subdivision 52 shall be undertaken solely in furtherance of the correctional associ- 53 ation's lawful powers, duties and obligations, and information obtained 54 pursuant to these powers shall be used solely in furtherance of the 55 correctional association's mission. Employees, board members and desig- 56 nees shall be required to sign [a waiver] an acknowledgement of the
A. 3781 5 1 foregoing as a condition of entry into a correctional facility pursuant 2 to this subdivision. 3 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.