What's happening
This bill establishes a program allowing certain county jail inmates to work, with their earnings applied to overdue child support.
Why it matters
Targets incarcerated parents with significant unpaid child support. The program is specifically designed for county jail inmates who owe at least four months of current child or combined child and spousal support, focusing efforts on those with sustained nonpayment issues.
Directs inmate earnings to families and children. Money earned by participants goes straight to the support collection unit, helping provide financial relief to children and custodial parents who might otherwise go without needed assistance.
Includes labor protections and limits to avoid displacing local workers. The bill prohibits work assignments that would replace existing jobs in the community or flood trades with excess labor, and ensures state labor department oversight of working conditions, maintaining fairness for both inmates and non-incarcerated workers.
Mandates oversight and transparency. Annual reports from sheriffs to the legislature will summarize program outcomes and recommend improvements, creating accountability and a public record of how the program functions and evolves.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Jail Inmates Work for Child Support
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
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History
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4403
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 13, 2017
Introduced by Sen. TEDISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to child support work programs for county jails
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The correction law is amended by adding a new article 28 to read as follows:
ARTICLE 28
CHILD SUPPORT WORK PROGRAM FOR COUNTY JAILS Section 890. Establishment of the child support work program.
891. Procedures.
892. When employment prohibited.
893. Prisoner not an agent of county.
894. Annual report.
§ 890. Establishment of the child support work program. The sheriff, upon approval of the legislative body of the county, shall establish a child support work program pursuant to which a prisoner, under a court order to pay child support or combined child and spousal support to a support collection unit on behalf of persons receiving services under title six-A of article three of the social services law, who has accumulated support arrears equivalent to or greater than the amount of current support due for a period of four months, and who is sentenced to and confined in any county jail under his or her jurisdiction, may be granted the privilege of performing work at the jail for an amount of compensation that shall be paid to a support collection unit on behalf of persons receiving services under title six-A of article three of the social services law. For purposes of determining whether a support obligor has accumulated support arrears equivalent to or greater than the amount of current support due for a period of four months, the existence
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06363-01-7
S. 4403 2
of any retroactive support shall not be included in the calculation of support arrears pursuant to this section; however, if at least four months of support arrears has accumulated subsequent to the date of the court order, the entire amount of any retroactive support may be collected pursuant to the provisions of this article or as otherwise authorized by law.
§ 891. Procedures. Pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the sheriff and approved by the department, any prisoner sentenced to and confined in any jail for which the sheriff has established a child support work program pursuant to this article may be required by the sheriff to participate in such program. The sheriff shall prepare a specific, written child support work plan for the prisoner which shall contain such terms and conditions as shall be deemed reasonably proper and necessary. The work release plan may be revoked, suspended or modified by the sheriff at any time for good cause, with or without notice to the prisoner.
§ 892. When employment prohibited. (a) No employment under the child support work program for any prisoner shall be approved if it is ascertained by the sheriff that such employment will result in the displacement of employed workers, or be applied in skills, crafts or trades in which there is a surplus of available labor in the locality.
(b) The state department of labor shall exercise the same supervision over conditions of employment for prisoners participating in the child support work program as such department does over conditions of employment for free persons.
§ 893. Prisoner not an agent of county. No prisoner participating in a child support work program shall be deemed an agent, employee or involuntary servant of the county while working while in confinement pursuant to the terms of any child support work plan.
§ 894. Annual report. The sheriff shall annually prepare a report of the child support work program which shall be transmitted to the legislature on or before the first day of March in each year. Such annual report shall include a summary of the operations and activities of the program for the preceding year and such recommendations for the improvement of the program as the sheriff shall deem necessary and proper.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law, provided however, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of the foregoing section of this act on its effective date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to child support work programs for county jails
Purpose or general idea of the bill
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to child support work programs for county jails.
Summary of specific provisions
Creates Article 28 of the Correction Law to empower counties to establish and operate child and spousal support work programs for persons delinquent in their payments.
Justification
Currently, if a person is jailed for failure to make child or spousal support payments they are credited for the time they serve. Consequently, families lose out on additional support payments during the period the prisoner is unable to be employed due to incarceration. This discourages families from pursuing delinquent support poses further financial hardship payments in cases where punitive incarceration
Prior legislative history
New Bill
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become law, provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of the foregoing section of this act on its effective date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.