Establishes an address confidentiality program in the office of the secretary of state for domestic violence victims who need to maintain secrecy of their location

BILL NUMBER:S5293

Title of bill

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to authorizing the secretary of state to accept service of process and receipt of mail on behalf of victims of domestic violence for the purpose of maintaining the confidentiality of the location of such victims

Purpose

Directs the Secretary of State to accept service of process and mail on behalf of victims of domestic violence wishing to keep their location secret.

Summary of provisions

Section One - Adds a new section 108 to the Executive Law to allow victims of domestic violence to designate the Secretary of State as their agent for purposes of service of process and receipt of mail.

Section Two - This act shall take effect nine months after the date it shall have become law; provided, however that the secretary of state is authorized and directed to promulgate articles, regulations and forms necessary to implement the provisions of this act, on its effective date, on or before such date.

Justification

Persons attempting to escape from actual or threatened domestic violence frequently establish new addresses in order to prevent their abusers from finding them. A victim of domestic violence who fears for his or her safety or the safety of his or her children and who has left his or her home as a result of domestic violence should be afforded the opportunity to keep their address confidential to prevent against the threat of domestic violence to themselves and/or their children.

Violence frequently escalates when batterers believe they are losing control of their victims. Statistically, the most dangerous time for survivors is during and immediately after their separation from abusers. When victims attempt to flee, they are at greatest risk of serious injury or death. Domestic violence offenders routinely pursue victims to new locations to further harass and abuse the survivor. Batterers often search public records to obtain their victim's physical address to stalk them. This legislation would provide victims the ability to have their mailing address remain anonymous by providing a substitute address for them to use in lieu of their actual address. Upon receipt by the Secretary of State of a process or mail for a victim of domestic violence, the Department shall immediately forward such process or mail to me victim of domestic violence.

There are about thirty-three states that have some form of address confidentiality program. This legislation will enable interagency cooperation with the secretary of state in providing name and address confidentiality for victims of domestic violence, and will enable state and local agencies to accept a program participant's use of an address designated by the secretary of state as a substitute mailing

address. In addition, this bill will enable state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing the location of a victim of domestic violence.

The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to promulgate all necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of this program.

Legislative history

Similar to: 2010: A.10180/S.7379 - Veto 16764 '10 2009: A.2858-A/S.3580-A - Veto 48 '09 2007-08: A.2990 - Passed Assembly 2006: A.11362-A - Passed Assembly 2003-04: A.4299-A. Gov. Ops. 2001-02: A.7737-A. Gov. Ops. 2000: A.9864 Hochberg/S.6435-A. Gov. Ops./S. Rules

Fiscal implications

Minimal, offset by savings from reduced need to access safety net services including police, shelter and health care systems.

Effective date

This act shall take effect nine months from the date on which it shall have become a law.