Bill Text: NY A05428 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes an ombudsperson for local correctional facilities to receive, investigate and propose resolutions for complaints and grievances concerning the conditions of confinement for individuals currently or formerly incarcerated in local correctional facilities located outside of a city with a population of one million or more.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-14 - referred to correction [A05428 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-A05428-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5428 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to establishing an ombudsperson for local correctional facilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs 1 and 5 of subdivision (b) of section 42 of the 2 correction law, as added by chapter 865 of the laws of 1975, are amended 3 to read as follows: 4 1. To investigate, review or take such other action as shall be deemed 5 necessary or proper in consultation with the ombudsperson with respect 6 to complaints or grievances regarding any local correctional facility or 7 part thereof as shall be called to its attention in writing. 8 5. To report periodically to the commission and the ombudsperson and, 9 where appropriate, to make such recommendations as are necessary to 10 fulfill the purposes of this article to the commission, the ombudsperson 11 and to the administrator of any local correctional facility. 12 § 2. Subdivision (c) of section 42 of the correction law, as added by 13 chapter 865 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows: 14 (c) In addition to the functions, powers and duties prescribed by 15 subdivision (b) of this section, the council shall: 16 1. Advise and assist the commission and the ombudsperson in developing 17 policies, plans and programs for improving the commission's performance 18 of its duties and for coordinating the efforts of the commission and of 19 correctional officials to improve conditions of care, treatment, safety, 20 supervision, rehabilitation, recreation, training and education in 21 correctional facilities; 22 2. Foster and promote research and study in areas of correctional 23 policy and program development deemed necessary or desirable by the 24 commission, the ombudsperson or the council; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09191-01-5A. 5428 2 1 3. Meet at least once per calendar month at a time and place desig- 2 nated by the [chairman] chair of the council[.]; 3 4. Request that the ombudsperson make inquiries and/or conduct inves- 4 tigations into complaints and grievances about any local correctional 5 facility. 6 § 3. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 49-a to 7 read as follows: 8 § 49-a. Ombudsperson for local correctional facilities. 1. There is 9 hereby established the position of ombudsperson for local correctional 10 facilities within the commission. The chair of the commission shall 11 appoint the ombudsperson. The ombudsperson shall be an attorney licensed 12 to practice law in the state of New York and shall be removable for 13 cause by the governor. The ombudsperson shall have the authority to 14 receive, investigate and propose resolutions for complaints and griev- 15 ances concerning the conditions of confinement for individuals currently 16 or formerly incarcerated in local correctional facilities located 17 outside of a city with a population of one million or more. 18 2. The ombudsperson shall have the following powers and duties: 19 (a) Coordinate meetings and activities with the council; 20 (b) Fully participate in the development of the policies, plans and 21 programs of the commission, periodically review procedures established 22 by the commission to carry out the provisions of this section, and 23 recommend policies, regulations and legislation designed to promote the 24 well-being of individuals residing in local correctional facilities to 25 the chair of the commission; 26 (c) Receive and review complaints and grievances from any source, 27 including but not limited to the council, about conditions in local 28 correctional facilities. The ombudsperson shall respond to each such 29 complaint or grievance and may investigate further or provide other 30 information or service; 31 (d) Visit local correctional facilities at any time to hear complaints 32 and grievances of incarcerated individuals, investigate alleged 33 violations of legal or human rights of individuals currently or formerly 34 incarcerated in such facilities, and monitor grievance procedures 35 concerning the individuals incarcerated in such facilities; 36 (e) Serve as a resource for individuals incarcerated in local correc- 37 tional facilities and advise them of pertinent laws, regulations and 38 policies, and their rights thereunder; 39 (f) Enter anywhere on the grounds of any local correctional facility 40 at any time; 41 (g) Not be compelled to testify or release records without a court 42 order, including records from any investigation that has not been 43 completed; 44 (h) Not release any identifying information, personal papers or corre- 45 spondence with any person who has requested assistance from the ombud- 46 sperson unless that person consents in writing to the release of such 47 information, papers or correspondence; 48 (i) Recommend policy changes to the sheriff of a local correctional 49 facility; 50 (j) Have the discretion to conduct inspections of any local correc- 51 tional facility, including the delivery of medical and mental health 52 care at such facility; 53 (k) Report to the chair of the commission, the chair of the council 54 and other commission staff monthly on the number of individuals served 55 by the ombudsperson, major complaints, grievances and other issues 56 concerning the conditions of confinement in local correctional facili-A. 5428 3 1 ties, the number and types of complaints and issues from each correc- 2 tional facility, the number of facilities visited, the number of inves- 3 tigations conducted, and such other information as the chair of the 4 commission or the chair of the council shall require. When the ombud- 5 sperson has concluded an investigation, the final written report of the 6 investigation and any response of the sheriff shall be included in such 7 report; 8 (l) Report to the governor, the legislature and the public concerning 9 the complaints and grievances of individuals currently or formerly 10 incarcerated in local correctional facilities on a periodic basis, but 11 not less than annually. The report shall indicate the nature of any 12 complaint or grievance which has been investigated and resolved and the 13 manner in which it was resolved, the number and kind of complaints and 14 grievances received from each local correctional facility, and other 15 nonconfidential information required by the chair or the legislature. 16 Such report shall be posted in electronic form on the commission's 17 website. A print copy of the report shall be provided to all libraries 18 or book lending programs within local correctional facilities. No public 19 report by the ombudsperson shall disclose information where prohibited 20 by law; and 21 (m) Perform all other actions necessary to carry out the functions, 22 powers and duties of the ombudsperson. 23 3. (a) The ombudsperson may receive communications in any form from 24 any individual who believes they have information that may describe 25 improper governmental activities, wrongdoings or failure to take appro- 26 priate action within any local correctional facility. 27 (b) Mail of incarcerated individuals to the ombudsperson shall be 28 treated in the same manner as legal mail and may not be restricted by a 29 local correctional facility or any other governmental or private entity. 30 (c) The ombudsperson shall create and disseminate materials for all 31 individuals incarcerated in local correctional facilities detailing the 32 services the ombudsperson can offer to such individuals and how they can 33 contact the ombudsperson. 34 (d) All individuals incarcerated in local correctional facilities 35 shall have access to a telephone to make a toll-free call to the ombud- 36 sperson in a manner which reasonably assures such conversations are 37 private. Such calls shall not be recorded by the local correctional 38 facility or by any telephone service provider operating under contract 39 with such facility. Any such calls placed by an individual incarcerated 40 in such correctional facility shall not count against such individual's 41 limit on phone calls pursuant to the rules of the local correctional 42 facility. 43 (e) The chair of the commission shall maintain a public website 44 containing a toll-free telephone number and a complaint form for making 45 complaints to the ombudsperson. 46 4. (a) The ombudsperson may investigate complaints and grievances from 47 any source pertaining to individuals currently or formerly incarcerated 48 in local correctional facilities and may in pursuing such investigation 49 visit any local correctional facility without prior notice. At the 50 ombudsperson's request, the local correctional facility shall inform 51 individuals incarcerated at the facility of the ombudsperson's avail- 52 ability on site. The ombudsperson shall have access to any incarcerated 53 individual upon request and the facility shall provide a suitable room, 54 if so requested, for a confidential meeting with any incarcerated indi- 55 vidual upon such individual's consent. The ombudsperson shall have the 56 right to inspect the facility, visit all areas and observe all parts andA. 5428 4 1 aspects of facility functions and programs. The ombudsperson may inter- 2 view any state, county or municipal employee on a confidential basis. 3 Such employee must comply with the request to be interviewed, must be 4 given time off to comply with such request, and may be accompanied by 5 counsel. 6 (b) The ombudsperson shall have access to all books, records, video 7 and audio recordings, logs, reports, medical and mental health records, 8 memoranda and any and all other materials or written documents in 9 possession of any local correctional facility pertaining to such facili- 10 ty and/or to specific individuals who are incarcerated or were formerly 11 incarcerated in such facility. The ombudsperson may copy or refer to any 12 such records or documents and, unless the entirety of such record or 13 document is confidential pursuant to statute or regulation, may include 14 a copy in their public report, with any confidential information redact- 15 ed by the ombudsperson. Consistent with applicable laws and regulations, 16 the confidentiality of records and documents obtained must be maintained 17 by the ombudsperson. 18 (c) The ombudsperson may decline to investigate a complaint or griev- 19 ance or may act informally to resolve a complaint or grievance without 20 an investigation, including providing referrals or information to the 21 complainants, facilitating resolutions to individual matters, mediating 22 or providing other assistance. 23 (d) At the conclusion of an investigation of a complaint or grievance, 24 the ombudsperson shall report the findings and recommendations of the 25 investigation to the complainant and any other person designated by the 26 complainant to receive such report. If the ombudsperson does not inves- 27 tigate a complaint or grievance, they shall notify the complainant and 28 such other person of the decision not to investigate and the reason for 29 the decision. If the complainant is deceased at the time of the 30 completion of an investigation, the ombudsperson shall report their 31 findings and recommendations to the complainant's next of kin or other 32 representative when such person is known to the ombudsperson or to the 33 local correctional facility. 34 (e) When a complaint or grievance is investigated, the ombudsperson 35 shall issue a final written report with findings of the investigation to 36 the chair of the commission, the chair of the council, the complainant 37 and the sheriff of the local correctional facility about which the 38 complaint or grievance was made. Such report shall include any recommen- 39 dations for resolving the complaint or grievance. The final report and 40 the sheriff's reply shall be posted together on a public website main- 41 tained by the commission. All identifying information relating to the 42 complainant or any individual currently or formerly incarcerated in a 43 local correctional facility and any records or correspondence from any 44 person who initiated the review of such complaint or grievance shall be 45 redacted from the public record. Information which would reveal confi- 46 dential material that may not be released pursuant to federal or state 47 law will be redacted by the ombudsperson from any such report prior to 48 publication. 49 (f) Where the ombudsperson believes an allegation of criminal miscon- 50 duct has been made by a complainant, they shall report such allegation 51 to the appropriate law enforcement agency. 52 5. (a) The sheriff and staff of a local correctional facility shall 53 cooperate fully with any investigation, visit or inspection by the 54 ombudsperson and shall provide the ombudsperson any and all unredacted 55 copies of unusual incident reports or other significant records, includ- 56 ing audio and video recordings, involving any individual currently orA. 5428 5 1 formerly incarcerated in such facility as required by the ombudsperson, 2 as well as any other information the ombudsperson may request. 3 (b) The sheriff may charge the ombudsperson the cost per copy their 4 institution pays for reproduction of any written documents copied or 5 requested by the ombudsperson but may not include staff labor costs or 6 any other fees for making copies. 7 (c) The sheriff shall respond in writing to any recommendations made 8 by the ombudsperson within forty-five days of the receipt of the final 9 report of any investigation by such office and shall state with specif- 10 icity any reasons for failing to act on any such recommendation. Fail- 11 ure to respond shall be deemed as agreement with the recommendations. 12 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 146 of the correction law, as amended by 13 chapter 274 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 14 1. The following persons shall be authorized to visit at pleasure all 15 correctional facilities: The governor and lieutenant-governor, commis- 16 sioner of general services, secretary of state, comptroller and attor- 17 ney-general, members of the commission of correction, the commission of 18 correction's ombudsperson and staff, members of the commission's citi- 19 zen's policy and complaint review council, members of the legislature 20 and their accompanying staff and any employee of the department as 21 requested by the member of the legislature if the member requests to be 22 so accompanied, provided that such request does not impact upon the 23 department's ability to supervise, manage and control its facilities as 24 determined by the commissioner, judges of the court of appeals, supreme 25 court and county judges, district attorneys and every [clergyman] clergy 26 member or minister, as such terms are defined in section two of the 27 religious corporations law, having charge of a congregation in the coun- 28 ty wherein any such facility is situated. No other person not otherwise 29 authorized by law shall be permitted to enter a correctional facility 30 except by authority of the commissioner of correction under such regu- 31 lations as the commissioner shall prescribe. 32 § 5. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 33 law.