NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6404
SPONSOR: Walker TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to an annual report of
department statistics
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation requires the department of corrections and community
supervision to provide an annual inmate mortality report. Further, it
requires the department to provide a report to the legislation with
seven days following the suicide or other death of an inmate.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Section 29 of the correction law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 5. § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twen-
tieth day after it shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently the department of corrections and community supervision
provides biennial reports on inmate suicides and inmate mortality. This
legislation modifies an existing practice by simply requiring a single
annual report on all inmate deaths.
Additionally, this bill requires the department to provide a preliminary
report to the legislature within seven days of the death of an inmate.
Parents and family members of inmates often contact their elected repre-
sentative when their son or daughter dies in prison. Members of the
legislature should have some knowledge of an inmate's death and some
information as to the circumstances surrounding such inmate's death as
well as the status of the investigation. This bill requires the depart-
ment to provide such information in a timely manner to the speaker,
majority leader, minority leaders and chairs of the assembly correction
committee and the senate crime victim crime and correction committee.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2015-2016: A7822A - Referred to Ways and Means
2017-2018: A6007 - Referred to Ways and Means
2019-2020: A6261 - Referred to Correction
2021-2022: A4336 - Referred to Ways and Means
2023-2024: A324 - Referred to Correction
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6404
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to an annual report of
department statistics
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 29 of the correction law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 5 to read as follows:
3 5. a. On or before the thirty-first day of March, two thousand twen-
4 ty-six, and every year thereafter, the commissioner shall provide an
5 annual report to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
6 the assembly, the minority leader of the senate, the minority leader of
7 the assembly and the chairs of the senate crime victims, crime and
8 correction and assembly correction committees on incarcerated individual
9 mortality investigations conducted by the department. Such report shall
10 include, but not be limited to: factors such as cause of death and
11 circumstances surrounding death, age of incarcerated individual,
12 sentence and time served, gender, race and ethnicity of incarcerated
13 individual, commitment offense, facility and time served in facility in
14 which death occurred, location of death within the facility or outside
15 hospital and a statement as to whether or not such incarcerated individ-
16 ual was in receipt of specialized care or treatment or in disciplinary
17 confinement, whether such incarcerated individual was retrieved by next
18 of kin or buried on prison grounds, and any other such data as the
19 department shall deem relevant. Such report shall include an analysis of
20 any apparent trends and comparison to historic statistical data relating
21 to incarcerated individual mortality.
22 b. For all deaths that result from suicide or other categories of
23 incarcerated individual death, a detailed preliminary report shall be
24 provided to the recipients of the annual report listed in this section
25 within seven days that specifies the name of the incarcerated individual
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05816-01-5
A. 6404 2
1 and the circumstances of their death, the status of the investigation
2 into such death, and whether any other incarcerated individuals, staff
3 or officers involved in the circumstances that resulted in the death of
4 the incarcerated individual were injured, seriously injured or severely
5 injured requiring outside hospitalization, or if any other such person
6 has been suspended, detained or referred for prosecution. Upon
7 completion of its investigation the department shall issue a final
8 report to such recipients.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
10 it shall have become a law.
