Amends the criminal procedure law, the family court act, the civil practice law and rules, the penal law and the social services law to restrict violent felons from accessing victim records

BILL NUMBER:A245

Title of bill

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, the family court act, the civil practice law and rules, the penal law and the social services law, in relation to restricting the ability of perpetra- tors of violent crimes to access personal records of their victims; and to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to service of a subpoena by a pro se litigant

Purpose

Prohibits violent felons from directly accessing the personal records of the victims of their crimes without legitimate legal purpose.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends Section 240.50 of the criminal procedure law by adding a new subdivision 5 that provides that violent felons may only be allowed to obtain records of their victims with a subpoena by a court in which an action against him or her is pending in that court; all such subpoenas must be served by the defendant's agent.

Section 2 amends Section 331.5 of the family court act by adding a new subdivision 5 to apply the same restrictions as Section 1 of the bill for family courts.

Section 3 amends Section 3103 of the civil practice law and rules by adding a new subdivision (d) to apply the same restrictions as Section 1 of the bill for the civil practice law and rules.

Section 4 amends the penal law by adding a new section 60.36 to estab- lish a mandatory order of protection for personal information pertaining to victims of violent crimes.

Section 5 and Section 6 amend subdivision 2 of Section 378-a of the social services law and subdivision 5 of section 390-b of the social services law respectively; these amendments provide that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow a person convicted of a felony to access records of his or her victim in violation of a protective order issued pursuant to section 60.36 of the penal law.

Section 7 establishes an effective date.

Justification

This bill seeks to address a situation that arose in a Central New York school district, wherein a convicted level 2 sex offender entered school grounds with a duly signed subpoena requesting the records of his 13-year-old victim in person. The perpetrator of a violent crime should not be able to obtain the personal records of his or her victim - particularly when the victim is a child - in person. If the violent felon needs these records for a court proceeding, then an agent should be required to obtain the records on his or her behalf.

Legislative history

2007-2008: A.9923

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

On the ninetieth day after it shall have become law.