What's happening
This bill reforms New York's community supervision revocation process, limits incarceration for technical parole violations, and creates earned time credits for compliant behavior.
Why it matters
Narrows the definition of "technical violations" and limits jail time for most non-criminal parole violations,. meaning people on parole are less likely to be reincarcerated for things like missing curfew, missing appointments, or failing to report changes in employment. This reduces the risk of being sent back to prison for minor rule-breaking that doesn't threaten public safety.
Creates a system of "earned time credits,". allowing people under community supervision to shorten their parole or post-release supervision by 30 days for every 30 days of compliance. This provides a strong incentive for following the rules and can hasten successful reintegration.
Mandates due process protections and legal representation at every stage of the revocation process,. including new requirements for timely hearings, right to counsel (with assigned counsel for those unable to pay), and increased judicial oversight before someone can be detained pre-hearing. This aims to ensure fairer treatment and reduce arbitrary or unnecessary detention.
Requires the use of community-based, non-incarceration sanctions and services before resorting to jail,. and mandates the presence of nonprofit service providers at hearings. This shifts the focus from punishment to rehabilitation and support, potentially reducing recidivism and helping individuals address underlying issues (like substance use or lack of stable housing).
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Parole Revocation Jail Time
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Print number 1343c
- Amend and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
- Print number 1343b
- Amend (t) and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
- Print number 1343a
- Amend and recommit to crime victims, crime and correction
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Reform Parole Revocation Process
In Assembly Committee · Correction · Sponsor Walter T. Mosley
Full text
14 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1343--C
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 14, 2019
Introduced by Sens. BENJAMIN, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, COMRIE, GIANARIS, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KRUEGER, MAY, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE, PARKER, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on… Show allHide
Introduced by Sens. BENJAMIN, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BRESLIN, COMRIE, GIANARIS, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KRUEGER, MAY, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE, PARKER, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the penal law, in relation to revocation of community supervision
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 259 of the executive law is amended by adding five new subdivisions 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to read as follows:
5. "Releasee" means an individual released from an institution under the jurisdiction of the department into the community on temporary release, presumptive release, parole, conditional release, post-release supervision or medical parole.
6. "Technical violation" means any violation of a condition of community supervision in an important respect other than conduct that if proved would be a felony offense, or a misdemeanor offense under article one hundred twenty, one hundred twenty-one, one hundred thirty, one hundred thirty-five, two hundred sixty-five or four hundred eighty-five of the penal law.
7. "Absconding" means intentionally avoiding supervision by failing to maintain contact or communication with the releasee's assigned community supervision officer or area bureau office and to notify his or her assigned community supervision officer or area bureau office of a change
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06090-07-0
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in residence, and reasonable efforts by the assigned community supervision officer to re-engage the releasee have been unsuccessful.
8. "Tier 1 violation" means any technical violation not included in the definition of a Tier 2 violation.
9. "Tier 2 violation" means any of the following technical violations: violating curfew; failure to pay surcharges and fees, including fees imposed pursuant to section 60.35 of the penal law, sections eighteen hundred nine and eighteen hundred nine-c of the vehicle and traffic law, or section 27.12 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law; obtaining a driver's license or driving a car with a valid driver's license, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if such action is explicitly prohibited as a condition of such person's sentence; positive test for or use or possession of alcohol, drugs, a controlled substance without proper medical authorization, or drug paraphernalia, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if the releasee is subject to community supervision due to a conviction related to alcohol or drugs pursuant to section eleven hundred ninetytwo of the vehicle and traffic law; failing to notify a community supervision officer of a change in employment or program status; failing to notify a community supervision officer of a change in residence, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if the releasee was absconding; failure to make office or written reports as directed, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if the releasee was absconding; leaving the state of New York or any other state to which the releasee is released or transferred or any area defined in writing by his parole officer, without permission, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if the releasee was absconding; failure to notify community supervision officer of contact with any law enforcement agency, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if the releasee intended to hide evidence of his or others' behavior that constitutes a violation of the penal law; and failure to obey any other special condition of community supervision, provided however it shall not be a tier 2 violation if the failure cannot be addressed in the community with counseling, treatment, or programming and all reasonable community-based means to address the failure have been exhausted.
§ 2. Subdivision 3 of section 70.40 of the penal law, paragraphs (a) and (b) as amended by section 127-h of subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011 and paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 478 of the laws of 1973, is amended and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows:
3. Delinquency. (a) When a person is alleged to have violated the terms of presumptive release or parole by absconding, and the state board of parole has declared such person to be delinquent, the declaration of delinquency shall interrupt the person's sentence as of the date of the delinquency and such interruption shall continue until the [return of the person to an institution under the jurisdiction of the state department of corrections and community supervision] releasee's appearance in response to a notice of violation or the date of the execution of a warrant, whichever is earlier.
(b) When a person is alleged to have violated the terms of his or her conditional release or post-release supervision by absconding and has been declared delinquent by the parole board or the local conditional release commission having supervision over such person, the declaration of delinquency shall interrupt the period of supervision or post-release supervision as of the date of the delinquency. For a conditional release, such interruption shall continue until the [return of the
S. 1343--C 3
person to the institution from which he or she was released or, if he or she was released from an institution under the jurisdiction of the state department of corrections and community supervision, to an institution under the jurisdiction of that department. Upon such return, the person shall resume service of his or her sentence] releasee's appearance in response to a notice of violation or the date of the execution of a warrant, whichever is earlier. For a person released to post-release supervision, the provisions of section 70.45 of this article shall apply.
(c) Any time spent by a person in custody from the time of [delinquency] execution of a warrant pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section two hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law to the time service of the sentence resumes shall be credited against the term or maximum term of the interrupted sentence[, provided:
(i) that such custody was due to an arrest or surrender based upon the delinquency; or
(ii) that such custody arose from an arrest on another charge which culminated in a dismissal or an acquittal; or
(iii) that such custody arose from an arrest on another charge which culminated in a conviction, but in such case, if a sentence of imprisonment was imposed, the credit allowed shall be limited to the portion of the time spent in custody that exceeds the period, term or maximum term of imprisonment imposed for such conviction].
4. Earned time credits. (a) After a person has begun a period of community supervision pursuant to this section and section 70.45 of this article, such period shall be reduced by thirty days for every thirty days that such person does not violate a condition of his or her community supervision, provided the person is not subject to any sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment. The calculation of earned time credit periods shall begin on the releasee's first day of community supervision and shall be awarded after each completed thirty day period. Any such awarded earned time credits shall be applied against such person's unserved portion of the maximum term, aggregate maximum term or period of post-release supervision for any current sentence.
(b) Earned time credits may be withheld or revoked only for the thirty-day period commencing from the date of violative behavior sustained at a final revocation hearing, except that earned time credits may be withheld or revoked for the entire time period during which a releasee absconded from supervision, as sustained at a final revocation hearing, and as defined in subparagraph (xii) of paragraph (f) of subdivision three of section two hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law. Earned time credits may not be earned during a period of incarceration imposed based on a sustained violation or new criminal conviction. After a sustained violation, the calculation of an earned time credit period shall recommence on the thirty-first day after the date of the violative behavior or, if the sustained violation resulted in a term of incarceration, on the day the releasee is restored to community supervision, whichever is later.
(c) When a person is subject to more than one period of community supervision, the reduction authorized in this subdivision shall be applied to every period of parole or conditional release to which the person is subject.
(d) Earned time credits shall be awarded to any person subject to community supervision at the time this legislation becomes effective retroactive to the initial date such person began his or her earliest current period of community supervision. Provided however, if a
S. 1343--C 4
releasee's current period of community supervision has been interrupted by a period of incarceration prior to the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty which added this subdivision, no earned time credits shall be awarded for such period of incarceration. The department shall have six months from the effective date of this subdivision to calculate all retroactive earned time credits; however, the department of corrections and community supervision shall prioritize earned time credit calculations for releasees whose terms of community supervision are due to terminate before the conclusion of such six months. Retroactive earned time credits shall not be awarded to any releasee serving a term of incarceration for a sustained parole violation at the time of the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty which added this subdivision until the releasee is returned to community supervision.
§ 3. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 5 of section 70.45 of the penal law, as amended by section 127-j of subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(d) When a person is alleged to have violated a condition of post-release supervision by absconding and the department of corrections and community supervision has declared such person to be delinquent: (i) the declaration of delinquency shall interrupt the period of post-release supervision; (ii) such interruption shall continue until the person is restored to post-release supervision; (iii) if the person is restored to post-release supervision without being returned to the department of corrections and community supervision, any time spent in custody from the date of delinquency until restoration to post-release supervision shall first be credited to the maximum or aggregate maximum term of the sentence or sentences of imprisonment, but only to the extent authorized by subdivision three of section 70.40 of this article. Any time spent in custody solely pursuant to such delinquency after completion of the maximum or aggregate maximum term of the sentence or sentences of imprisonment shall be credited to the period of post-release supervision, if any; and (iv) if the person is ordered returned to the department of corrections and community supervision, the person shall be required to serve the time assessment before being re-released to post-release supervision. [In the event the balance of the remaining period of postrelease supervision is six months or less, such time assessment may be up to six months unless a longer period is authorized pursuant to subdivision one of this section. The] If the person is detained pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section two hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law pending preliminary or revocation hearings, the time assessment shall commence upon the execution of the warrant. If a warrant was executed pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section two hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law but a trial court released the person pending preliminary or revocation hearings, the time assessment shall commence upon the issuance of a determination after a final hearing that the person has violated one or more conditions of community supervision, and shall include the time period between execution of the warrant and release of the person pending preliminary or revocation hearings. If a releasee is committed to the custody of the sheriff pursuant to article five hundred thirty of the criminal procedure law, the time assessment shall include any time the releasee spent in such detention. If a notice of violation was issued pursuant to subdivision three of section two hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law, the time assessment shall commence upon the issuance of a determination after a final hearing that the person has violated one or more
S. 1343--C 5
conditions of supervision. While serving such assessment, the person shall not receive any good behavior allowance pursuant to section eight hundred three of the correction law. Any time spent in custody from the date of delinquency until return to the department of corrections and community supervision shall first be credited to the maximum or aggregate maximum term of the sentence or sentences of imprisonment, but only to the extent authorized by subdivision three of section 70.40 of this article. The maximum or aggregate maximum term of the sentence or sentences of imprisonment shall run while the person is serving such time assessment in the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision. Any time spent in custody solely pursuant to such delinquency after completion of the maximum or aggregate maximum term of the sentence or sentences of imprisonment shall be credited to the period of post-release supervision, if any.
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 penal law, in relation to revocation of community supervision
Purpose
Ensures the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision focuses resources on helping people successfully complete community supervision and avoid any future return to DOCCS custody or supervision.
Summary of provisions
This bill facilitates the positive reintegration into society of people who are subject to community supervision (parole, presumptive release, conditional release, and post-release supervision) and to reduce the number of people held in jail and prison in New York, by
Read the full memo (802 words)
(1) allowing people subject to community supervision to receive "earned time credits" to encourage positive behavior and accelerate discharge from supervision;
(2) raising the standard for parole officers to issue a notice of violation or arrest warrant for someone accused of a parole violation;
(3) ensuring that people who are alleged to have violated the terms of their community supervision receive a hearing in a local criminal court to determine whether they should be detained in jail pending adjudi- cation of the alleged violation;
(4) limiting the circumstances under which people subject to community supervision may be re-incarcerated for violations of the terms of commu- nity supervision and capping the length of any such re-incarceration; and
(5) shortening the timeframe for adjudicatory hearings.
Justification
New York reincarcerates more people on parole for technical violations like missing an appointment with a parole officer, being late for curfew, or testing positive for alcohol than any state in the country except Illinois. Of people on parole whom New York sent back to prison in 2016, over 6,300 or 65% were reincarcerated for technical parole violations. That's five times the national average. Only 1,318 or 14% of parolees who were reincarcerated were returned to prison because they were convicted of a new crime. The racial disparity is stark: black people are incarcerated in New York City jails for technical parole violations at more than 12 times the rate of whites.
There are approximately 35,000 people under active parole supervision in New York State who at almost any time can see their efforts to success- fully rejoin the workforce and reintegrate into their families and their communities disrupted by re-incarceration for a technical violation. This not only harms individual lives and families without commensurate public safety gains, but also drives up the population in the state prisons and local jails, wasting taxpayer money. Other states, such as Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah, have already implemented reforms similar to those proposed here, reducing community supervision populations and curbing violations. According to research on the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance Justice Reinvestment Initiative ("JRI") published by the Pew Charitable Trusts, in eighteen JRI states (AK, AR, AZ, DE, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, MT, NH, OR, SC, SD, UT) releasees can short- en their supervision periods by up to 30 days for 30 days of compliance. Further, sixteen Justice Reinvestment states have put caps or guidelines on how long individuals can serve for a technical violation of super- vision conditions (AK, AL, AR, GA, HI, ID, KS, LA, MD, MO, MS, MT, NC, OK, PA, UT). These reforms have worked. After South Carolina adopted graduated sanctions, compliance revocations decreased 46 percent, and recidivism rates for people under supervision dropped by a third. Mean- while, crime rates dropped by over 20 percent. Similarly, after Louisia- na implemented caps on jail or prison terms for first-time technical violations, length of incarceration declined by 281 days and 22% fewer people under community supervision were sent back to prison for new crimes. After Missouri adopted earned time credits for people on probation and parole, supervision terms dropped by 14 months, the super- vised population fell 18 percent, average caseloads decreased 16 percent, and recidivism rates did not change.
Permitting people to earn accelerated discharge off community super- vision will responsibly shrink the number of people subject to such supervision, and allow us to concentrate our finite resources on those who are most in need and who pose the greatest risks. New York can reduce jail and prison populations, support people in the reentry proc- ess, and promote safety and justice for families and communities.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
A single year of incarceration for one individual costs the state approximately $60,000. With a significant fraction of parolees no longer incarcerated for technical parole violations, it is anticipated to reduce state and local costs accordingly.
Local fiscal implications
A single year of incarceration for one individual costs approximately $60,000. With a significant fraction of parolees no longer incarcerated for technical parole violations, it is anticipated to reduce state and local costs accordingly.
Effective date
Will take effect on the first of April after passage.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.