BILL NUMBER: S3071
SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to sealed prior
domestic violence cases
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that prosecutors have access to past orders of protection in
domestic violence cases so they can charge abusers with criminal
contempt if they violated a past order of protection.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends part ii of paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section
160.50 of the Criminal Procedure Law to include prosecutors in the list
of those who are allowed to file an ex parte motion requesting access to
sealed documents.
Section 2 amends part ii of paragraph (d) subdivision 1 of section
160.55 of the Criminal Procedure Law to include prosecutors in the list
of those who are allowed to file an ex parte motion requesting access to
sealed documents.
Section 3 sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Domestic abusers often violate orders of protection or abuse previous
victims again. In order to charge repeat offenders with criminal
contempt, prosecutors need to be able to access previous orders of
protection an offender has violated. However, under the existing inter-
pretation of law, only law enforcement officials can petition a court to
access previously sealed records.
Sections 160.50 and 160.55 of the Criminal Procedure Law currently spec-
ify that a "law enforcement agency" may petition the court to access
sealed records that are relevant to a new proceeding. Per a ruling of
the New York Court of Appeals in Katherine B. v. Cataldo (1995), prose-
cutors are not considered a law enforcement agency in this context and
cannot petition the court to access documents from a sealed case even if
they are relevant to a new case. This legislation would add prosecutors
to both relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Law to clarify that
they may file an ex parte motion.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: S404 / A3422
2020: S7127 / A9540
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

Statutes affected:
S3071: 160.50 criminal procedure law, 160.50(1) criminal procedure law, 160.55 criminal procedure law, 160.55(1) criminal procedure law