Bill Text: NY S08881 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires the office of victim services to provide notification of potential eligibility for crime victims' awards; directs the state police and the municipal police training council to develop procedures for notifying next of kin of available programs and services upon in-person death notifications.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-25 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION [S08881 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S08881-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8881 IN SENATE March 25, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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 requiring the office of victim services to provide notification of potential eligibility for awards following the death of a victim of a crime who died as a direct result of such crime The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 625-b of the executive law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 4 to read as follows: 3 4. In addition, the commissioner of the division of criminal justice 4 services, in cooperation with the office, shall develop and implement a 5 standardized procedure to be used by police officers, county sheriffs' 6 departments and state police officers whereby family members and depen- 7 dents who may be eligible to receive awards under this article are noti- 8 fied about the existence of such awards and the existence of any other 9 relevant services or programs. 10 § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7 of section 840 of the executive 11 law, as added by chapter 531 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 (a) Develop, maintain and disseminate, in collaboration with the 14 office of victim services, a model law enforcement death notification 15 policy setting forth recommended policies and procedures regarding 16 in-person death notifications to a deceased individual's next of kin. 17 Such policies and procedures shall make provisions for education and 18 training of current and new police officers in the planning, prepara- 19 tion, and delivery of in-person death notifications, including but not 20 limited to, policies and procedures for: 21 (i) the identification of the deceased individual, the collection of 22 accurate information regarding the deceased individual, and the iden- 23 tification of the deceased individual's next of kin; and 24 (ii) the actual delivery of in-person death notifications to the 25 deceased's next of kin within twenty-four hours following the identifi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08697-03-4S. 8881 2 1 cation of such individual; provided, however, such policies and proce- 2 dures shall provide that, in the event that an in-person death notifica- 3 tion cannot be provided to the deceased individual's next of kin within 4 such timeframe, the failure or delay of such notification shall be docu- 5 mented and such notification shall instead be made as soon as practica- 6 ble[.]; and 7 (iii) providing information to the deceased individual's next of kin 8 regarding the existence of programs and support services available to 9 them. 10 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 214-h of the executive law, as added by 11 chapter 531 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 12 1. Develop, maintain and disseminate a model law enforcement death 13 notification policy setting forth recommended policies and procedures 14 regarding in-person death notifications to a deceased individual's next 15 of kin. Such policies and procedures shall make provisions for education 16 and training of current and new police officers in the planning, prepa- 17 ration, and delivery of in-person death notifications, including but not 18 limited to, policies and procedures for: 19 (a) the identification of the deceased individual, the collection of 20 accurate information regarding the deceased individual, and the iden- 21 tification of the deceased individual's next of kin; [and] 22 (b) the actual delivery of in-person death notifications to the 23 deceased individual's next of kin within twenty-four hours following the 24 identification of such individual; provided, however, such policies and 25 procedures shall provide that, in the event that an in-person death 26 notification cannot be provided to the deceased individual's next of kin 27 within such timeframe, the failure or delay of such notification shall 28 be documented and such notification shall instead be made as soon as 29 practicable[.]; and 30 (c) providing information to the deceased individual's next of kin 31 regarding the existence of programs and support services available to 32 them. 33 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 34 have become a law.
