BILL NUMBER: S5811
SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, the executive law, the tax law, the
alcoholic beverage control law, the agriculture and markets law, the
public health law, the town law, the education law, the general business
law, the penal law, the civil rights law, the administrative code of the
city of New York and the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to estab-
lishing a certificate of restoration to replace the certificate of good
conduct and the certificate of relief from disabilities; and to repeal
certain provisions of the correction law relating to certificates of
good conduct
 
PURPOSE:
This bill establishes a certificate of restoration to replace the
certificate of good conduct and certificate of relief from disabilities,
and streamlines the process to obtain such certificate.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill creates a "certificate of restoration" (COR) to take the place
of a "certificate of relief from disabilities" (CRD) and a "certificate
of good conduct" (CGC). If a person receives a definite sentence, the
sentencing court will issue the COR at sentencing, absent a showing that
to do so would jeopardize public safety. Where the certificate is not
issued based on the public safety exception, a COR will be issued upon
application of the person after one year at liberty in the community
without a new criminal conviction or un-disposed criminal arrest.
In the case of a convicted individual sentenced to state prison who is
awarded merit time pursuant to section 803 of the correction law during
such sentence, the board of parole shall issue a COR at time of release
to parole or post-release supervision. Absent merit time, the board of
parole will still issue a COR at time of release from incarceration in
the absence of a showing that it would jeopardize public safety. If the
board of parole finds that issuance of the COR at the time of release
would jeopardize public safety, the board of parole will issue the COR
if the individual remains at liberty for two years without a new crimi-
nal conviction or un-disposed criminal arrest.
In cases where a COR is issued prior to the person's completion of
probation or parole, the COR would be subject to revocation based on a
violation of a condition of supervision or conviction of a new offense.
The bill also makes conforming changes to various sections of law that
currently reference a CRD or CGC.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
More that 200,000 people are convicted of crimes in New York every year.
A criminal record follows a person for his or her entire lifetime and
creates barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities.
Criminal history records are available to prospective employers regard-
less of their antiquity or relevance. Finding effective ways to inte-
grate people with criminal histories into the workforce is critical to
promoting public safety and curbing recidivism rates. Unfortunately,
many employers maintain blanket barriers to employment based solely on
criminal conviction records even when the conviction may be completely
unrelated to the job sought and no threat to the public or property is
present. More than 60% of employers report that they would not knowingly
hire someone with a criminal record.
Employment prospects of formerly-incarcerated individuals in New York
State are further circumscribed by a myriad of occupational licensing
laws that exclude them from participating in many trades. New York State
has struggled to ameliorate-the negative effects of a criminal record on
employability through development of certificates of rehabilitation, and
by requiring employers to show a "direct relationship" between one or
more criminal offenses and the specific license or employment sought
(see Article 23-A of the Correction Law). Unfortunately, few benefit
from such efforts.
Of the approximately 25,000 persons released from New York State prisons
annually, only 300 or so are granted certificates of rehabilitation.
Approximately half of the individuals released from prison are precluded
from even applying for a certificate of rehabilitation until they have
been in the community for a period of three years or more. While many
people leaving prison have participated in prison programming and have
earned early release, they are still ineligible for a certificate of
rehabilitation at the time of their transition back into the community.
Despite the fact that New York State has sought to insure that persons
with criminal histories are not precluded from employment unnecessarily,
studies show that employers are unwilling to hire people with criminal
histories, especially members of minorities. Other studies indicate
that the ability to find gainful employment is a major factor in ensur-
ing that the formerly incarcerated are able to successfully re-enter
society. This bill seeks to address these problems by reforming and
consolidating the process for issuance of certificates of rehabilitation
in order to facilitate employment opportunities for people returning to
the community from incarceration.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.4913 of 2023-2024; Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;
S. 7464 of 201-22: Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;
S. 7653 of 2020: Referred to Crime Victims, Crime and Correction;
A. 4136-A of 2019: Referred to Correction
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law, provided that the amendments to subdivision 5 of section 530
of the vehicle and traffic law made by section thirty-six of this act
shall not affect the expiration of such subdivision and shall be deemed
to expire therewith.

Statutes affected:
S5811: 700 correction law, 700(1) correction law, 703-a correction law, 703-b correction law, 704 correction law, 705 correction law, 175 executive law, 175(3) executive law, 283 tax law, 283(8) tax law, 110 alcoholic beverage control law, 110(1) alcoholic beverage control law, 96-z-3 agriculture and markets law, 96-z-3(4) agriculture and markets law, 129 agriculture and markets law, 129(4) agriculture and markets law, 2897 public health law, 2897(2) public health law, 3454 public health law, 3510 public health law, 3510(2) public health law, 84-a town law, 84-a(5) town law, 175-b town law, 175-b(5) town law, 213-b town law, 213-b(5) town law, 2018-a education law, 2018-a(5) education law, 2018-b education law, 2018-b(6) education law, 69-o general business law, 69-o(2) general business law, 81 general business law, 81(1) general business law, 265.20 penal law, 265.20(a) penal law, 751 correction law, 753 correction law, 753(2) correction law, 79-a civil rights law, 2806 public health law, 2806(5) public health law, 510 vehicle and traffic law, 510(6) vehicle and traffic law, 510-a vehicle and traffic law, 510-a(2) vehicle and traffic law, 530 vehicle and traffic law, 530(5) vehicle and traffic law, 1193 vehicle and traffic law, 1193(2) vehicle and traffic law, 1194 vehicle and traffic law, 1194(2) vehicle and traffic law, 1196 vehicle and traffic law, 1196(7) vehicle and traffic law