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5463--C
2003-2004 Regular Sessions
June 9, 2003
___________
Introduced by Sens. ROBACH, BONACIC, LIBOUS, LITTLE, NOZZOLIO, SPANO --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Rules -- 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 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to closure of correc-
tional facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 45 of the correction law, as added
2 by chapter 865 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows:
3 8. (a) Close any correctional facility which is unsafe, [insanitary]
4 unsanitary or inadequate to provide for the separation and classifica-
5 tion of prisoners required by law or which has not adhered to or
6 complied with the rules or regulations promulgated with respect to any
7 such facility by the commission pursuant to the provisions of subdivi-
8 sion six of this section; provided, however, that before such facility
9 may be closed due to conditions which are unsafe, unsanitary or inade-
10 quate to provide for the separation and classification of prisoners, the
11 commission shall cause a citation to be mailed to the appropriate munic-
12 ipal or other official at least ten days before the return day thereof
13 directing the responsible authorities designated to appear before such
14 commission at the time and place set forth in the citation, and show
15 cause why such correctional facility should not be closed. After a hear-
16 ing thereon or upon the failure to appear, such commission is empowered
17 to order such facility designated in the citation closed within twenty
18 days, during which time the respondent authority may review such order
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14743-07-4
S. 5463--C 2
1 in the manner provided in article seventy-eight of the civil practice
2 law and rules, in the supreme court. Fifteen days after the order to
3 close has been served by a registered letter upon the appropriate offi-
4 cial if no court review has been taken, and fifteen days after the order
5 of such commission has been confirmed by the court, in case of court
6 review, such facility designated in the order shall be closed, and it
7 shall be unlawful to confine or detain any person therein and any offi-
8 cer confining or detaining any person therein shall be guilty of a class
9 A misdemeanor.
10 (b) Before a facility, including but not limited to a correctional
11 facility annex or other designated housing unit, may be closed for a
12 reason other than those set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision,
13 the provisions of section seventy-nine-a of this chapter shall be
14 adhered to.
15 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 70 of the correction
16 law, as added by chapter 141 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as
17 follows:
18 (a) The commissioner may continue to maintain, as a correctional
19 facility, any institution operated by the department prior to May
20 eighth, nineteen hundred seventy, and may add to or close any such
21 place, and may establish and maintain new correctional facilities, in
22 accordance with the needs of the department and provided expenditures
23 for such purposes are within amounts made available therefor by appro-
24 priation; provided, however, that before the closure of any correctional
25 facility, including but not limited to a correctional facility annex or
26 other designated housing unit, for reasons other than those set forth in
27 paragraph (a) of subdivision eight of section forty-five of this chap-
28 ter, the provisions of section seventy-nine-a of this article shall be
29 adhered to.
30 § 3. The correction law is amended by adding two new sections 79-a and
31 79-b to read as follows:
32 § 79-a. Closure of correctional facilities; notice. Before the closure
33 of any correctional facility, which for purposes of this section shall
34 include but not be limited to a correctional facility annex or other
35 designated housing unit, for reasons other than those set forth in para-
36 graph (a) of subdivision eight of section forty-five of this chapter,
37 the commissioner shall take the following actions:
38 1. confer with the department of civil service, the governor's office
39 of employee relations and any other appropriate state agencies to devel-
40 op strategies which attempt to minimize the impact of the closure on the
41 state work force;
42 2. consult with the department of economic development and any other
43 appropriate state agencies to develop strategies which attempt to mini-
44 mize the impact of such closures on the local and regional economies;
45 and
46 3. provide notice to local governments, employee labor organizations,
47 and managerial and confidential employees at least twelve months prior
48 to any such closure.
49 § 79-b. Substantial reduction in services at correctional facilities;
50 notice. 1. Before a substantial reduction in services at any correction-
51 al facility, which for purposes of this section shall include but not be
52 limited to a correctional facility annex or other designated housing
53 unit, the commissioner shall take the following actions:
54 (a) confer with the department of civil service, the governor's office
55 of employee relations and any other appropriate state agencies to devel-
S. 5463--C 3
1 op strategies which attempt to minimize the impact of the reduction in
2 services on the state work force;
3 (b) consult with the department of economic development and any other
4 appropriate state agencies to develop strategies which attempt to mini-
5 mize the impact of such reduction in services on the local and regional
6 economies; and
7 (c) provide notice to local governments, employee labor organizations,
8 and managerial and confidential employees at least twelve months prior
9 to any such reduction in services.
10 2. For purposes of this section, a "substantial reduction in services"
11 shall mean:
12 (a) a reduction in the number of employees in the title of correction
13 officer, as classified by the department of civil service, at a correc-
14 tional facility during any calendar year which in the aggregate for such
15 calendar year equals ten percent or more of the total number of such
16 employees at such facility on the last day of the immediately preceding
17 calendar year; or
18 (b) a reduction in the number of inmates at a correctional facility
19 during any calendar year which in the aggregate for such calendar year
20 equals ten percent or more of the total number of inmates housed in such
21 facility on the last day of the immediately preceding calendar year.
22 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
