What's happening
This bill requires annual reports to include the release voting rates of each parole commissioner in New York.
Why it matters
Increases transparency. by requiring disclosure of each parole commissioner’s individual voting record on release decisions, making it easier for the public and policymakers to see patterns or disparities in parole outcomes.
Enables oversight and accountability. by allowing lawmakers, advocates, and the public to identify commissioners whose voting behavior may systematically differ from their peers, potentially prompting further investigation or reforms if biases or irregularities are detected.
Supports data-driven policy. by adding another layer of detailed information to annual parole reports, which can inform debates about parole practices, fairness, and reform efforts across New York State.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Track Parole Vote Records
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 32
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.586
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.753
- 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.
Report Parole Voting Records
In Assembly Committee · Correction · Sponsor David Weprin
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4953
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 2, 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 executive law, in relation to reporting voting rates for parole commissioners
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 13 of section 259-c of the executive law, as amended by chapter 292 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
13. transmit a report of the work of the state board of parole for the preceding calendar year to the governor and the legislature annually. Such report shall include statistical information regarding the demographics of persons granted release and considered for release to community supervision or deportation, including but not limited to age, gender, race, ethnicity, region of commitment and other relevant categories of classification and commitment, and the rate at which each parole commissioner votes to release persons appearing before the board;
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11006-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to reporting voting rates for parole commissioners
Purpose
This bill require the board of parole to report each parole commission- er's release rate annually.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends Executive Law § 259-c (13).
Section 2 establishes an effective date.
Justification
In an effort to make the parole process more transparent, we passed a law in 2018 saying that the board must track the demographics of people appearing before it and report such demographic data to the legislature, with release rates for each demographic group. This bill is an addendum to the new law, asking the board to also inform the legislature of each parole commissioner's release rate. The board used to track such infor- mation, but it stopped doing so within the last few years. While release rates tend to vary by facility for a number of reasons (e.g. almost everyone should be released from shock facilities, thereby driving up the release rates of commissioners who routinely sit on those boards), commissioners should have roughly similar rates of release for similarly situated prisoners if the process is objective. If the process is not objective, we should reevaluate our parole statutes.
Prior legislative history
New Bill.
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.