Bill > A07927

This bill amends the executive law, county law, and criminal procedure law to provide additional powers and responsibilities to the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs. The key provisions include: 1. Establishing a criminal investigation unit and a non-criminal investigation unit within the Justice Center, with the ability to refer matters between the units as necessary. 2. Empowering the Justice Center's special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute, with the consent of the district attorney, offenses involving abuse or neglect of vulnerable persons by their custodians. 3. Allowing district attorneys to appoint the Justice Center's special prosecutor and assistants as special assistant district attorneys for investigations and prosecutions related to the abuse or neglect of vulnerable persons. 4. Defining the Justice Center's sworn investigators as "district attorneys" under the criminal procedure law, granting them certain investigative powers. 5. Providing for a staggered implementation, with some provisions taking effect immediately and others upon the expiration of a related law.