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Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 59
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to codes
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1785
- Reported and committed to rules
- Referred to finance
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to mandating fingerprint-based criminal history record searches of applicants for police officer appointment
Purpose of the bill
To amend the Executive Law to require fingerprint-based criminal history record searches of applicants for police officer appointment.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill would amend Executive Law § 837-c(b) to mandate fingerprint-based criminal history record searches of applicants for police officer appointment.
Section two would make the bill effective immediately.
Existing law
Executive Law § 837-c(b) currently provides that police departments may provide fingerprints to the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJS) for persons applying for employment with a police department; however, they are not required to, thus, allowing some police officers to forgo criminal history record checks.
Legislative history
This is a new bill.
Statement in support
Police officers have access to criminal history record information, including federal information, through the Interstate Identification Index System. Pursuant to 28 CFR § 20.36, an agency wishing to participate in this system must agree to abide by all rules, policies, and procedures recommended by the Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) Advisory Policy Board and adopted by the Federal Bureau of Identification (FBI).
The CJIS security policy, adopted by the Director of the FBI, specifies that state and national fingerprint-based record checks shall be conducted within 30 days of assignment for all personnel who have access to federal criminal history information. A felony conviction disqualifies an individual from access to criminal history. Additionally, municipal police agencies are subject to certain laws regarding eligibility or dismissal based on criminal history. For example, cities, towns and villages are not specifically required to submit fingerprints for police officer applicants; however, they are prohibited from hiring individuals with particular criminal convictions, which, in essence requires a fingerprint submission (see, e.g., Town Law § 151; Civil Service Law § 50(4)(d)). Thus, a fingerprint-based check is necessary for all police officer candidates prior to an offer of appointment to ensure that such candidates are authorized to access criminal history.
Budget implications
The cost of fingerprinting would generally be borne by the applicant. This could potentially result in increased revenue for the Division.
Local impact
None
Effective date
Immediate.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.