Bill > A04949

This bill establishes a comprehensive emergency management release plan for correctional facilities during state disaster emergencies, creating a nine-member advisory board to develop and oversee these plans. The board will include representatives from various state agencies, formerly incarcerated individuals, correctional officers, emergency planning experts, and a constitutional rights attorney. The board's responsibilities include visiting correctional facilities, evaluating facility-specific emergency release processes, and making recommendations for safely releasing or managing incarcerated individuals during emergencies. The bill outlines specific eligibility criteria for emergency release, such as age (over 55), medical vulnerability, terminal illness, primary caregiver status, pregnancy, and proximity to sentence completion. The plan requires the department to develop facility-based emergency management plans within one year, provide detailed reporting within 48 hours of a disaster emergency, and ensure individualized decision-making for potential releases. Importantly, the bill mandates that individuals released under this emergency plan cannot be re-incarcerated simply because the state of emergency has ended, and provides clear definitions for terms like "medically vulnerable" and "primary caregiver" to guide implementation.

Justice

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A4949