Relates to certificates of relief from disabilities issued by the board of parole

2 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Liz Krueger

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to certificates of relief from disabilities issued by the board of parole

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill transfers the responsibility for reviewing requests for Certificates of Relief from Disabilities for federal felons to federal probation offices.

Summary of specific provisions

The bill amends section 703 of the correction law to provide that when an application for a certificate of relief from disabilities is filed with the Board of Parole for a person with a federal criminal conviction, the Board shall issue the certificate if recommended by the chief probation officer of the federal district court.

Justification

Under federal and state law, convicted felons who have paid their debt to society are still subject to various civil disabilities, including restrictions on employment. Specifically, former felons are barred from obtaining occupational or professional licenses without a certificate of relief from disabilities (CRD), preventing them from holding positions ranging from garbage collector to private investigator or real estate broker. These certificates are available only to persons who are first-time felony offenders.

Currently, in order to seek relief from state-imposed disabilities, persons convicted of a federal offense residing within New York must apply to the state Board of Parole. The Correction Law provides that the Board of Parole has the power to issue a certificate of relief from disabilities to an eligible offender who resides within New York and whose judgment of conviction was rendered by a court in any other jurisdiction, such as a federal court.

Therefore, a person with a federal conviction presently must apply to a state agency unfamiliar with his or her background for relief from the state imposed civil disabilities. This is an arduous and time-consuming process. Currently, the Board of Parole takes 12-15 months to process an application for relief. Since virtually every federal sentence includes a period of supervised release by the federal probation office following any period of incarceration, the federal probation office estimates that it would be able to provide recommendations to the Board of Parole in 6-8 weeks since the federal probation office will be more familiar with the federal offender and has easy access to his or her relevant records.

This change would reduce the backlog of applications at the state Board of Parole; place the decision about the issuance of certificates of relief from disabilities for persons with a federal conviction in the hands of more familiar probation officers; promote greater efficiency in granting said certificates from state-imposed disabilities; and save money for the overworked state Board of Parole.

Prior legislative history

New bill. A10987 (2006) referred to crime victims, crime and correction. A4570 referred to correction in 2007-2008

Fiscal implications

This bill will reduce state costs with regard to processing applications for certificates of relief for disabilities for persons with a federal conviction.

Effective date

The bill takes effect immediately.