Bill > A03704

This bill establishes a temporary state commission to conduct a comprehensive study of local correctional facilities located outside of New York City, focusing on critical issues within these facilities. The commission will consist of 11 members, including representatives from existing state agencies and nine additional members appointed by the governor, senate leadership, and assembly leadership, with a requirement that these nine members reside in the counties being examined. The commission will have broad investigative powers, including unrestricted access to correctional facilities, the ability to conduct confidential interviews with inmates and staff, and access to facility documents, while maintaining legal confidentiality standards. The study will specifically emphasize medical and mental health care, overcrowding, inmate deaths, use of force, restraints, and segregation and solitary confinement practices. The commission members will serve without compensation but will be reimbursed for necessary expenses. They are required to hold public hearings in seven upstate cities and will issue periodic reports, with a final comprehensive report due within three years, which will include recommendations to various state leaders and the state commission of correction. The bill is designed to be temporary, automatically expiring three years after its effective date, with the goal of improving conditions and practices in upstate New York's local correctional facilities.

Justice

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A3704