What's happening
This bill creates an independent Office of the Correctional Ombudsman to oversee New York's correctional facilities, investigate complaints, and enhance transparency and accountability.
Why it matters
The bill establishes an independent Correctional Oversight Board and Correctional Ombudsman, separating oversight from the Department of Corrections. this structural independence is intended to minimize conflicts of interest, increase impartiality, and ensure more credible investigations into prison conditions, staff conduct, and inmate complaints.
The Ombudsman is granted broad investigatory and oversight powers, including subpoena authority, unannounced inspections, confidential interviews, and access to all records (including medical and mental health records). this means the office can proactively uncover abuse, neglect, or systemic problems that might otherwise go unreported or unaddressed.
Comprehensive reporting requirements, public transparency, and anti-retaliation protections are built in. the Ombudsman must issue regular public reports on facility conditions, deaths, and medical care, while also protecting complainants’ confidentiality and investigating alleged retaliation, fostering a safer environment for inmates and whistleblowers to speak up.
Coordination with other agencies and clear enforcement mechanisms are included. the Ombudsman can refer criminal allegations to law enforcement, compel cooperation from state employees, and anyone obstructing investigations faces criminal penalties, which strengthens oversight and accountability in the correctional system.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Create Prison Oversight Office
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 32
1 Co-sponsor
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.
Create Prison Oversight Office
In Assembly Committee · Correction · Sponsor Daniel O'Donnell
Full text
19 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3706
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 13, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- 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 creating the office of the correctional ombudsman; to amend the county law, in relation to reports by coroners; to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to designating investigators of the office of… Show allHide
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to creating the office of the correctional ombudsman; to amend the county law, in relation to reports by coroners; to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to designating investigators of the office of the correctional ombudsman as peace officers; to amend the education law, in relation to the certification of inmate populations; to amend the executive law, in relation to authorizing the attorney general to investigate the alleged commission of any criminal offense committed by an employee of the department of corrections and community supervision in connection with his or her official duties; to amend the executive law, in relation to the division of criminal justice services; to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to clinical records; to amend the public health law, in relation to the confidentiality of certain records; to amend the public officers law, in relation to including the office of the correctional ombudsman records within the definition of public safety agency records; and to amend the social services law, in relation to inspection and supervision
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 3-A to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3-A
OFFICE OF THE CORRECTIONAL OMBUDSMAN Section 50. Definitions.
51. Office of the correctional ombudsman; organization.
52. Correctional oversight board.
53. Powers of the ombudsman.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02936-01-9
S. 3706 2
54. Additional functions, powers and duties of the office of the
ombudsman.
55. Additional duties of the department.
56. Obstructing an investigation by the correctional ombudsman.
§ 50. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Office" refers to the office of the correctional ombudsman.
2. "Ombudsman" refers to the commissioner of the office of the correctional ombudsman.
§ 51. Office of the correctional ombudsman; organization. 1. In order to achieve transparency, fairness, impartiality and accountability in our state correctional facilities, there shall be an independent office of the correctional ombudsman within the executive department. The ombudsman shall report to the correctional oversight board established pursuant to section fifty-two of this article, provided, however, that administrative matters of general application within the executive department shall be also applicable to the office.
(a) Following the initial appointment of the members of the correctional oversight board established pursuant to section fifty-two of this article, such board shall promptly nominate a full-time ombudsman and notify the governor of such nomination. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit the board from appointing an interim ombudsman if there is a vacancy.
(b) The governor, within thirty days after receiving written notice of any nomination of an ombudsman made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, may approve or disapprove such nomination. If the governor approves such nomination, or fails to act on such nomination within such thirty day period, the nominee shall thereupon commence his or her term as ombudsman. If, within such thirty day period, the governor serves upon the chair of such board a written notice disapproving such nomination, the nominee shall not be authorized to serve as ombudsman provided, however, that such board may authorize an interim ombudsman appointed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision to serve or continue to serve as interim ombudsman until such time as an ombudsman is approved, or not timely disapproved, by the governor. Following any disapproval, the board shall have sixty days to submit another nominee, although such period may be extended, upon request of the board, by the governor. A person appointed as interim ombudsman may exercise all of the powers available to the ombudsman.
(c) The ombudsman may not have worked for the department within the last ten years and may not hold any public office or other employment. The ombudsman shall serve a six-year term and may only be removed for good cause shown, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, by a vote of two-thirds or more of the twelve members of the board.
§ 52. Correctional oversight board. 1. There is hereby created the correctional oversight board hereinafter referred to in this section as the "board". The purpose of such board shall be to monitor, study and make efforts to improve the transparency, fairness, impartiality and accountability in state correctional facilities and to appoint the ombudsman. No current employee of the department shall be appointed to or serve on such board. The board shall consist of twelve members who shall be appointed as follows:
(a) one shall be the state inspector general;
(b) two shall be appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the senate;
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(c) two shall be appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the assembly;
(d) two shall be appointed by the governor from a list of at least six nominees submitted by non-profit agencies working in the fields of re-entry or prisoner advocacy;
(e) one shall be appointed by the governor and shall be a former state inmate;
(f) one shall be appointed by the governor and shall be a former employee of the department who is no longer in state service;
(g) one shall be an attorney appointed by the governor from a list of at least four nominees submitted by the state bar association;
(h) one shall be a medical professional appointed by the governor; and
(i) one shall be a mental health professional who works with the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs appointed by the governor.
2. All members of the board shall be appointed for terms of three years with such terms to commence on August first, and expire July thirty-first, provided, however, that the inspector general shall serve ex officio. Initial appointments must be made within sixty days of the effective date of this subdivision. Any member chosen to fill a vacancy created otherwise than by expiration of term shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the member whom he or she is to succeed. Vacancies caused by expiration of a term or otherwise shall be filled promptly and in the same manner as original appointments. Any member may be reappointed for additional terms. A member of the board shall continue in such position upon the expiration of his or her term until such time as he or she is reappointed or his or her successor is appointed, as the case may be.
3. Membership on the board shall not constitute the holding of an office, and members of the board shall not be required to take and file oaths of office before serving on the board. The board shall not have the right to exercise any portion of the sovereign power of the state.
4. The board shall meet at least two times in each year. The first meeting of the board shall be held within thirty days of the appointment of the full board or within sixty days after the effective date of this subdivision, whichever occurs earlier. Special meetings may be called by the chair and shall be called by the chair upon the request of at least five members of the board. The board may establish its own procedures with respect to the conduct of its meetings and other affairs; provided, however, that the quorum and majority provisions of section forty-one of the general construction law shall govern all actions taken by the board.
5. The members of the board shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their functions hereunder.
6. No member of the board shall be disqualified from holding any public office or employment outside of the department, nor shall he or she forfeit any such office or employment, by reason of his or her appointment pursuant to this section, notwithstanding the provisions of any other general, special or local law, ordinance or city charter.
7. The board shall make recommendations to the ombudsman for the improvement of the department's policies and consult with and advise the office of the correctional ombudsman in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of such office. The ombudsman shall report to the board fully on the activities of the office and shall seek board approval on all major decisions or policy changes, including any stand-
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ards or protocols adopted by the ombudsman for the inspection and monitoring of correctional facilities or the resolution of complaints received by the office.
8. Each member of the board shall tour a correctional facility with the ombudsman at least annually.
§ 53. Powers of the ombudsman. 1. The ombudsman shall have the authority to hire and retain counsel to provide confidential advice or to represent the ombudsman if the attorney general has a conflict in representing the ombudsman in any litigation.
2. The office of the ombudsman shall not be located in the same building or buildings as the department but shall be wholly independent of the department except that the department shall provide it with office space, equipment and furnishings within any department facility as needed to carry out its functions and duties.
3. The ombudsman may appoint such assistants, officers, investigators, monitors, employees and consultants as he or she shall determine necessary, prescribe their duties and powers, provide them with appropriate training, fix their compensation and provide for reimbursement of their expenses within the amounts appropriated therefor except that the ombudsman shall not hire any person known to be directly or indirectly involved in an open internal affairs investigation conducted by any federal, state or local agency or who is a named defendant in a pending federal or state lawsuit or criminal proceeding relating to his or her prior work for a state, local or federal correctional or law enforcement agency. The ombudsman may appoint a representative to carry out any of his or her duties under this article except that the ombudsman must attend meetings with the correctional oversight board.
4. The ombudsman may create, abolish, transfer and consolidate bureaus and other units within the office as he or she may determine necessary for the efficient operation of the office, subject to the approval of the director of the budget.
5. The ombudsman may request and shall receive from any department, division, bureau, commission or any other agency of the state or political subdivision thereof or any public authority such assistance, information and data as will enable the office to carry out its functions, powers and duties.
6. The ombudsman shall be responsible for the contemporaneous public oversight of internal affairs and the disciplinary process of the department of corrections and community supervision. The ombudsman shall have discretion to provide oversight of any department investigation relating to the well-being, treatment, discipline, safety or any other matter concerning inmates or persons under community supervision as needed, including personnel investigations.
7. The ombudsman may review specific policies, practices, programs and procedures of the department that raise a significant correctional issue relevant to the well-being, treatment, discipline, safety, rehabilitation or any other matter concerning inmates or persons under community supervision. The ombudsman is authorized to inspect, investigate or examine all aspects of the department's operations and conditions, including, but not limited to, staff recruitment, training, supervision, discipline, inmate deaths, medical and mental health care, use of force, inmate violence, conditions of confinement, inmate disciplinary process, inmate grievance process, substance-abuse treatment, educational, vocational and other programming and re-entry planning. During the course of a review the ombudsman shall identify areas of full and partial compliance or noncompliance with departmental policies and procedures, specify
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deficiencies in the completion and documentation of processes and recommend corrective actions, including, but not limited to, additional training, additional policies or changes in policies, as well as any other findings or recommendations he or she deems appropriate.
8. The ombudsman may place such members of his or her staff as he or she deems appropriate as monitors in any correctional facility which, in the judgment of the ombudsman, presents an imminent danger to the health safety or security of inmates or employees of such correctional facility or the public.
9. The ombudsman shall accept, with the approval of the governor, as agent of the state any grant, including federal grants, or any gift for any of the purposes of this article. Any moneys so received may be expended by the ombudsman to effectuate any purpose of this article, subject to the same limitations as to approval of expenditures and audit as are prescribed for state moneys appropriated for the purposes of this article.
10. The ombudsman may enter into contracts with any person, firm, corporation, municipality, or governmental agency.
11. The ombudsman shall adopt, amend or rescind such rules and regulations, in accordance with applicable state law, as may be necessary or convenient to the performance of the functions, powers and duties of the office.
12. The ombudsman shall do all other things necessary or convenient to carry out its functions, powers and duties expressly set forth in this article.
13. When exigent circumstances of unsafe or life threatening situations arise involving inmates, staff, people on community supervision or other individuals, the ombudsman shall notify the governor, temporary president of the senate and speaker of the assembly and commence an immediate review of such circumstances. Upon completion of a review, the ombudsman shall prepare a complete written report which shall be disclosed with the underlying materials that the ombudsman deems appropriate to the commissioner, the requesting entity and any appropriate law enforcement agency.
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 creating the office of the correctional ombudsman; to amend the county law, in relation to reports by coroners; to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to designating investigators of the office of the correctional ombudsman as peace officers; to amend the education law, in relation to the certif- ication of inmate populations; to amend the executive law, in relation to authorizing the attorney general to investigate the alleged commis- sion of any criminal offense committed by an employee of the department of corrections and community supervision in connection with his or her official duties; to amend the executive law, in relation to the division of criminal justice services; to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to clinical records; to amend the public health law, in relation to the confidentiality of certain records; to amend the public officers law, in relation to including the office of the correctional ombudsman records within the definition of public safety agency records; and to amend the social services law, in relation to inspection and supervision
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill creates the office of the correctional ombudsman.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 creates the office of the correctional ombudsman; section 2 amends section 2 of the correction law; sections 3-7 amend sections 40, 42, 45, 46, and 47 of the correction law, respectively; sections 8-10 amends sections 89-a, 89-3 and 89-f of the correction law, respectively; section 11 amends section 112 of the correction law; section 12 amends section 146 of the correction law; sections 13-15 amend sections 853, 854 and 857 of the correction law, respectively; section 16 amends section 677 of the county law; section 17 amends section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law; section 18 amends section 285 of the education law; section 19 amends section 63 of the executive law; section 20 amends section 169 of the executive law; section 21 amends section 837-a of the executive law; section 22 amends section 33.13 of the mental hygiene law; sections 23-24 amend sections 2782 and 2786 of the public health law, respectively; section 25 amends section 92 of the public officers law; and section 26 amends section 460-c of the social services law.
Read the full memo (1,126 words)
Section 27 provides an effective date.
Justification
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has come under increased public scrutiny in the last few years. The union for correc- tional officers, NYSCOBA, claims that assaults on staff aerttplag stead- ily, and our state prisons are becoming more violent!'The CBI recently opened an investigation into the severe beating of an inmate whose eye sockets were broken by correctional officers at Downstate Correctional Facility. Two security staff members at Greene Correctional Facility were fired after arranging for an inmate who had lodged complaints against them to be beaten up in the shower and then covering up the attack. The incident was investigated by the State inspector General because the DOCCS Inspector General was forced to step down after being accused of sexual harassment of a staff member as part of a broader pattern of harassment that went on for years. In April 2015, two inmates, Samuel Harrell and Karl Taylor, were killed in separate alter- cations with security staff at Fishkill and Sullivan Correctional Facil- ities. In June 2015, two inmates escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Dannemora, New York, near the Canadian border. The inmates received tools and information aiding in t heir escape from a correctional officer and a civilian correctional employee who had a prior complaint lodged against her for having an inappropriate relationship with one of the inmates. That complaint was internally investigated and dismissed by the Department The inmate involved was not even transferred out of Clinton, but kept working with the same civilian employee in the tailor shop. Although one of th e escapees was shot dead by the border patrol, the other inmate was captured. He told investigators that they had spent several months preparing for the escape, sawing through their cell walls at night and exploring the heating and sewer systems in order to find a route out of the prison. Security is supposed to conduct hourly bed checks of inmates. After the escape, inmates from Clinton complained of retali- ation against many inmates in the same housing block as the escapees, including inability to communicate with family members, transfer to solitary confinement cells, deprivation of food, medicine and personal property, harassment, threats and beatings to extract information.
It is difficult to evaluate or understand what is happening behind pris- on walls. The State Inspector General and the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs do not, with limited exceptions, have jurisdiction over the prison system. State police are sometimes called in when DOCCS believes a crime has been committed, but usually only when inmates are alleged to have committed a crime, not when staff may have acted illegally. Currently, DOCCS maintains its own investi- gative body, the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), to investigate grievances and unusual incidents, among other issues. There is an inher- ent conflict of interest in having DOCCS staff investigate incidents involving correctional employees. DOCCS investigators, most of whom are former or current security staff, are not impartial or unbiased, nor is it reasonable to expect them to be so given the very polarized atmos- phere of some prisons in which both inmates and staff feel unsafe.
This bill would not force DOCCS to stop investigating unusual incidents in its prisons, it would simply create an independent public oversight agency, the office of the correctional ombudsman, to monitor the pris- ons, investigate complaints and report to the governor, the legislature, DOCCS and the public. The goal of this legislation is to achieve trans- parency, fairness, impartiality and accountability in our state correc- tional system. Many other states and countries have ombudsman or inspec- tor generals who remain outside of the correctional department and who work with its staff to create safer and more humane prisons. The Inspec- tor General of the California prison system says that the role of his office is to be a guide dog, not an attack dog, they only bark when the department steps off the sidewalk. That is the role envisioned for the Office of the Correctional Ombudsman; to solve problems, provide trans- parency and make recommendations to the Department.
Prior legislative history
A. 9939 (2015-16, passed Assembly)
S. 7899 (2018, referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections)
S. 8059 (2016, referred to Rules)
Fiscal implications
To be determined
Local fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.