What's happening
This bill allows New York municipalities to set local residency restrictions for registered sex offenders within state-defined distance limits from schools.
Why it matters
Empowers local control. By letting municipalities set their own residency limits (within a state-defined range), the bill gives local governments more authority to tailor policies to their community’s needs and concerns about sex offender proximity to schools.
Sets clear boundaries for restrictions. The bill ensures local residency restrictions cannot be less strict than existing state rules and cannot extend further than 1,500 feet from school grounds, balancing local flexibility with consistent statewide standards.
Potentially impacts housing and reintegration. Stricter or varying local restrictions could affect where registered sex offenders are able to live, impacting their reintegration into society and possibly leading to uneven residency requirements across different towns or cities.
May lead to legal and administrative changes. Localities will need to create, enforce, and defend their own ordinances within the state’s framework, which could result in increased administrative responsibilities and potential legal challenges regarding the fairness or effectiveness of these local laws.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Let Towns Set Residency Rules
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred 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.
Let Towns Set Residency Rules
In Assembly Committee · Correction · Sponsor Patrick Burke
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1545
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- 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 municipal residency restrictions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative findings. It is the sense of the legislature that determinations regarding restrictions upon the residence of sex offenders who are required to register pursuant to the provisions of article 6-C of the correction law should be made by the local municipality in which such offenders reside, subject to state set minimum distance and a permissible maximum distance allowing state interests to determine housing for registered sex offenders. Municipalities are in a better position than the state to determine whether the restrictive residential distance from a school grounds shall remain at one thousand feet, or shall be expanded to up to one thousand five hundred feet.
§ 2. Section 168-w of the correction law, as relettered by chapter 604 of the laws of 2005, is relettered section 168-x and a new section 168-w is added to read as follows:
§ 168-w. Municipal residency restrictions. Any municipality may enact a local law which imposes residency restrictions upon sex offenders required to register pursuant to this article, provided that such residency restrictions are no less restrictive than the requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of subdivision four-a of section 65.10 of the penal law and subdivision fourteen of section two hundred fifty-nine-c of the executive law, and provided that such residency restrictions do not exceed one thousand five hundred feet from a school grounds.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03995-01-9
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 municipal residency restrictions
Summary of provisions
Section 1 Legislative Findings: Ascertains that municipalities are in a better position to determine the restrictive residential requirements of sex offenders in relation to school grounds
Section 2: Amends section 168-w of the correction law, as relettered by chapter 604 of the laws of 2005, is numbered section 168-x and new section 168-w to allow municipalities to increase the residency restrictions of sex offenders up to 500 feet, to 1,500 feet from a school ground.
Section 3: Establishes the effective date
Justification
In 2015, the New York Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to prohibit localities from creating these restrictions, citing they were preempted by the New York State law that prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1000 feet of school grounds.
Until 2015, municipalities had adopted more restrictive residency requirements for registered sex offenders. At least 109 cities, towns, and villages and 21 counties across New York State had adopted addi- tional requirements regarding their proximity to school grounds. This bill authorizes municipalities to expand the "1000 foot rule" up to 1500 feet, to further protect children from registered sex offenders.
Legislative history
2017-18: S.6043 REFERRED TO CRIME AND CORRECTIONS
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.