What's happening
This bill requires New York to exclude certain long-pending, unresolved criminal cases from most criminal history reports and authorizes sealing of older records.
Why it matters
Limits public and employer access to old, unresolved criminal cases. By excluding certain long-pending “undisposed” cases from most criminal history reports, the bill reduces situations where individuals are negatively impacted by cases that have not resulted in conviction or final disposition, especially after five years without activity.
Narrows the scope of criminal record disclosure. The bill specifically carves out exceptions for the most serious offenses (such as A-I felonies, violent felonies, and sex offenses), meaning that only less severe, unresolved charges become invisible in most background checks, while serious cases remain reportable.
Provides a path to sealing older records. The legislation authorizes the sealing of cases terminated in favor of the accused or resulting in minor convictions (like traffic infractions) from decades ago, potentially benefiting individuals whose records have remained open or accessible for a long time.
Requires system updates and interagency coordination. The law mandates that state agencies update their criminal history records and consult with the courts to ensure accurate reporting and implementation—helping to address outdated or incomplete recordkeeping that can unfairly hurt individuals.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Seal Old Arrest Records
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 59
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to finance
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8203
IN SENATE
April 17, 2018
Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- (at request of the Division of Criminal Justice Services) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the judiciary law, in relation to sealing of records; and to authorize the commissioner of the division of criminal justice services to direct certain records to be sealed
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 845-c to read as follows:
§ 845-c. Criminal history record searches; undisposed cases. 1. When, pursuant to statute or the regulations of the division, the division conducts a search of its criminal history records and returns a report thereon, all references to undisposed cases contained in such criminal history record shall be excluded from such report.
2. For purposes of this section, "undisposed case" shall mean a criminal action or proceeding, other than a criminal action or proceeding for a class A-I felony, a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law, a sex offense as defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law, or an offense as defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 or article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law, for which:
(a) no conviction or imposition of sentence or other final disposition has been recorded; and
(b) no entry has been made in the division's criminal history records for a period of at least five years preceding the issuance of such report; and
(c) no warrant is outstanding.
3. When a criminal action in the division's criminal history record repository becomes an undisposed case pursuant to this section, the division shall notify the district attorney in the county which has jurisdiction. If the district attorney notifies the division that such case is pending and should not meet the definition of an undisposed case, the case shall not be excluded from such report.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14433-01-8
S. 8203 2
4. The provisions of subdivision one of this section shall not apply to criminal history record information (a) provided by the division to qualified agencies pursuant to subdivision six of section eight hundred thirty-seven of this article, or to federal or state law enforcement agencies, for criminal justice purposes; (b) prepared solely for a bona fide research purpose; or (c) prepared for the internal record keeping or case management purposes of the division.
§ 2. Subdivision 2 of section 212 of the judiciary law is amended by adding a new paragraph (w) to read as follows:
(w) Take such actions and adopt such measures as may be necessary to ensure that no written or electronic report of a criminal history record search conducted by the office of court administration, other than a search conducted solely for the internal recordkeeping or case management purposes of the judiciary or for a bona fide research purpose, contains information relating to an undisposed case. For purposes of this paragraph, "undisposed case" shall mean a criminal action or proceeding, other than a criminal action or proceeding for a class A-I felony, a violent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of the penal law, a sex offense as defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law, or an offense as defined in section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 or article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law, for which:
(i) no conviction or imposition of sentence or other final disposition has been recorded; and
(ii) no entry has been made in the division's criminal history records for a period of at least five years preceding the issuance of such report; and
(iii) no warrant is outstanding.
Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be deemed to permit or require the release, disclosure or other dissemination by the office of court administration of criminal history record information that has been sealed in accordance with law.
§ 3. The commissioner of the division of criminal justice services is authorized to direct that records of any action or proceeding terminated in favor of the accused, as defined by section 160.50 of the criminal procedure law, on or after September 1, 1976 and before November 1, 1991 maintained by the division of criminal justice services be sealed in the manner provided for by section 160.50 of the criminal procedure law. The commissioner of the division of criminal justice services is further authorized to direct that records of any action or proceeding terminated by a conviction for a traffic infraction or a violation, other than a violation of loitering as described in paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 160.10 of the penal law or the violation of operating a motor vehicle while ability impaired as described in subdivision 1 of section 1192 of the vehicle and traffic law on or after September 1, 1980 and before November 1, 1991 maintained by the division of criminal justice services be sealed in the manner provided for by section 160.55 of the criminal procedure law.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law and shall apply to searches of criminal history records conducted on or after such date; provided, however, that prior to such effective date, the division of criminal justice services, in consultation with the state administrator of the unified court system as well as any other public or private agency, shall undertake such measures as may be necessary and appropriate to update its criminal history records with respect to criminal cases and arrest incidents for which no final disposition has been reported.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law and the judiciary law, in relation to sealing of records; and to authorize the commission- er of the division of criminal justice services to direct certain records to be sealed
Purpose of the bill
This bill would require the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to suppress certain undis- posed case information on criminal history records for civil background checks. This bill would also authorize DCJS to seal records of actions terminated in favor of a defendant or terminated by a conviction for a non-criminal offense prior to November 1, 1991.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill would add a new section 845-c to the Executive Law to prohibit DCJS from including undisposed case information on crim- inal history records (i.e., rapsheets) where the record is produced for a non-law enforcement or non-criminal justice purpose (e.g. a preemploy- ment criminal history record search). The bill defines an "undisposed case" as: (i) a criminal action or proceeding or an arrest incident that appears on an individual's criminal history record for which no final disposition or imposition of sentence has been recorded; (ii) no entry has been made on the DCJS record on that criminal action for a period of at least five years; and (iii) for which no warrant is outstanding. Class A-I felonies, violent felonies, sex offenses, incest, and child pornography cases would be excluded.
Read the full memo (753 words)
Section two of the bill would add new paragraph (s) to subdivision two of section 212 of the ' Judiciary Law to establish a corresponding requirement and stipulations for OCA.
Section three of the bill would authorize DCJS to direct that records of criminal proceedings terminated in favor of the accused or by conviction for a non-criminal offense between September 1, 1976 and November 1, 1991 be sealed in the manner set forth in CPL 160.50 and 160.55, respec- tively.
Section four of the bill provides an effective date of one hundred eighty days after it has become law.
Justification
A number of laws authorize prospective employers to obtain a criminal history background check. Individuals seeking employment may be passed over due to an arrest even if no conviction occurred. Although current law provides for the sealing of certain criminal records, in some cases administrative breakdowns occur, leaving information about cases that have terminated in a person's favor, or have been filed in court but never brought to any final disposition, open on a person's permanent criminal history record maintained by DCJS.
This bill would require DCJS and OCA to suppress "undisposed case" information, as defined by the bill, in any report of a criminal history search conducted by them and provided for employment or licensing reasons. Where the report is produced by DCJS for a "qualified agency," or a federal law enforcement agency, for a criminal justice purpose, or by DCJS or OCA for research, record review, or internal record keeping purposes, those undisposed cases would remain visible. The District Attorney with jurisdiction over the case would be notified that the case is considered "undisposed" and would have an opportunity to provide DCJS with information showing that a prosecution was still pending. This provision would assist individuals in obtaining gainful employment by suppressing possible inaccurate information contained on a rapsheet while allowing such information to be released to law enforcement, courts, and prosecutors.
This bill would effectively address current systemic deficiencies and would help to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the criminal history record keeping system in New York State. Altogether this bill would enhance the economy of the State by helping citizens to find and main- tain employment free from the impediments imposed by faulty data or an unsealed arrest terminated in their favor.
Prior legislative history
A bill containing similar provisions, S.8113/A.10710, was introduced in 2016.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This bill would take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it becomes a law and would apply to searches of criminal history records conducted on or after such date; provided, however, that prior to such effective date, the division of criminal justice services, in consulta- tion with the state administrator of the unified court system as well as any other public or private agency, would undertake such measures as may be necessary and appropriate to update its criminal history records with respect to criminal cases and arrest incidents for which no final dispo- sition has been reported.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.