BILL NUMBER: S7506
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to the unauthorized
release of sealed records
 
PURPOSE:
To establish the crime of intentionally contents of a sealed record.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill adds 6 72-b to the public officers law relating
to the unauthorized release of sealed records. Subdivision 1 establishes
that it shall be a class B misdemeanor, with a maximum fine of $1,000
and no term of imprisonment for any public officer or employee of a
public officer to intentionally releases or discloses to an unauthorized
person a sealed record or the contents of a sealed record that an indi-
vidual knew or reasonable should have known were sealed unless required
by law or by court order.
Subdivision 2 provides that the individual who is the subject of the
sealed record, the representative of the estate of a deceased person who
is the subject of a sealed record is not prohibited from revealing the
contents of the individual's sealed record. This subdivision also speci-
fies that the provisions of this section do not apply to a public offi-
cer or employee thereof from releasing such records or their contents
prior to the records being sealed, from discussing the events so long as
it does not confirm or disclose the contents of a sealed record, from
releasing a sealed record or disclosing their contents if the officer or
employee if they believed in good faith and with sufficient cause that
the person that received the sealed record or their contents were enti-
tled to receive them, or from disclosing the nature or existence of a
sealed record in a good faith response to an inquiry when the disclosure
is for the benefit of the subject of the sealed record.
Subdivision 3 defines "sealed record" and "unauthorized person."
Section two of the bill provides the effective date
 
EXISTING LAW:
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Under limited circumstances, criminal and family court records may be
sealed to protect the subject of the record from the significant and
fundamental limitations, scrutiny, and stigma that they might otherwise
suffer as a result of a public record. Once a record is sealed, in the
eyes of the law, the entire incident never occurred. In most respects,
a sealing restores you to the status you occupied before being arrested
or charged.
Sealed records must remain sealed unless a statute specifies an excep-
tion or upon a written order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction
lest we undermine the very purpose and policy we instituted when we
granted the power to seal court records. In recent years, there have
been instances in which public officials have released sealed criminal
and family court records in an effort to justify action taken against
the individual. This cannot be tolerated. The sealing provision attaches
to a record, not to a person. To be clear, even if the subject of the
record is deceased, records that have been sealed by the court are to
remain sealed. Violation of this law may result in a criminal
conviction punishable by up to a year in jail.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2018: A.350-A - Third Reading Calendar
2017: A.350-A - Referred to Codes
2016: A.6428 - Referred to Rules
2015: A.6428 - Referred to Codes
2014: A.4337/S.7867 - Passed Assembly / Rules
2013: A.4337 - Referred to Rules
2012: A.3087-A - Third Reading Calendar
2011: A.3087-A - Referred to Codes
2010: A.11389/5.7863-A - Vetoed, Memo 6787
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
none
 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
none
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately