S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
6725--A
I N S E N A T E
February 1, 2010
___________
Introduced by Sens. SCHNEIDERMAN, ADAMS, BRESLIN, DILAN, DUANE, ESPADA,
HASSELL-THOMPSON, HUNTLEY, KLEIN, KRUEGER, MONTGOMERY, ONORATO, OPPEN-
HEIMER, PARKER, PERALTA, PERKINS, SAVINO, SERRANO, SQUADRON, STAVISKY,
STEWART-COUSINS, THOMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and
Correction -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the correction law, the legislative law, and the munici-
pal home rule law, in relation to the collection of census data
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that for purposes
2 of determining legislative districts, incarcerated persons in correc-
3 tional facilities in this state have been classified as residents of the
4 districts where they are incarcerated rather than as residents of their
5 places of residence prior to incarceration. Article 2, section 4 of the
6 New York constitution requires that for the purpose of voting, no person
7 shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence while confined in any
8 public prison. Likewise, subdivision 1 of section 5-104 of the election
9 law directs that for the purpose of registering and voting no person
10 shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence while confined in any
11 public prison. Despite these provisions, the legislature finds that the
12 decennial census does not provide the information necessary to allocate
13 incarcerated persons to their residences prior to incarceration in the
14 manner that the foregoing provisions of the constitution and laws of
15 this state require. This legislation is intended to facilitate the prop-
16 er allocation of incarcerated persons to their residences prior to
17 incarceration for purposes of determining legislative districts, without
18 requiring revision of the enumeration of the decennial census.
19 S 2. Section 71 of the correction law is amended by adding a new
20 subdivision 8 to read as follows:
21 8. (A) IN EACH YEAR IN WHICH THE FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS IS TAKEN BUT
22 IN WHICH THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF THE CENSUS DOES NOT IMPLEMENT A
23 POLICY OF REPORTING INCARCERATED PERSONS AT EACH SUCH PERSON'S RESIDEN-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15664-05-0
S. 6725--A 2
1 TIAL ADDRESS PRIOR TO INCARCERATION, THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL
2 SERVICES SHALL BY JULY FIRST OF THAT SAME YEAR DELIVER TO THE LEGISLA-
3 TIVE TASK FORCE ON DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND REAPPORTIONMENT THE FOLLOW-
4 ING INFORMATION FOR EACH INCARCERATED PERSON SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION
5 OF THE DEPARTMENT AND LOCATED IN THIS STATE ON THE DATE FOR WHICH THE
6 DECENNIAL CENSUS REPORTS POPULATION:
7 (I) A UNIQUE IDENTIFIER, NOT INCLUDING THE NAME, FOR EACH SUCH PERSON;
8 (II) THE STREET ADDRESS OF THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY IN WHICH SUCH
9 PERSON WAS INCARCERATED AT THE TIME OF SUCH REPORT;
10 (III) THE RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS OF SUCH PERSON PRIOR TO INCARCERATION
11 (IF ANY); AND
12 (IV) ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AS THE TASK FORCE MAY SPECIFY PURSUANT
13 TO LAW.
14 (B) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL PROVIDE THE INFORMATION SPECIFIED IN PARA-
15 GRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION IN SUCH FORM AS THE LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE
16 ON DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND REAPPORTIONMENT SHALL SPECIFY.
17 S 3. Section 83-m of the legislative law is amended by adding a new
18 subdivision 13 to read as follows:
19 13. (A) THE TASK FORCE SHALL SPECIFY THE FORM IN WHICH THE DEPARTMENT
20 OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES SHALL PROVIDE SUCH INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE
21 REPORTED TO THE TASK FORCE PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION EIGHT OF SECTION
22 SEVENTY-ONE OF THE CORRECTION LAW.
23 (B) UPON RECEIPT OF SUCH INFORMATION FOR EACH INCARCERATED PERSON
24 SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES,
25 THE TASK FORCE SHALL DETERMINE THE CENSUS BLOCK CORRESPONDING TO THE
26 STREET ADDRESS OF EACH SUCH PERSON'S RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS PRIOR TO INCAR-
27 CERATION (IF ANY), AND THE CENSUS BLOCK CORRESPONDING TO THE STREET
28 ADDRESS OF THE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY IN WHICH SUCH PERSON WAS HELD
29 SUBJECT TO THE JURISDICTION OF SUCH DEPARTMENT. UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE
30 UNITED STATES BUREAU OF THE CENSUS SHALL IMPLEMENT A POLICY OF REPORTING
31 EACH SUCH INCARCERATED PERSON AT SUCH PERSON'S RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS PRIOR
32 TO INCARCERATION, THE TASK FORCE SHALL USE SUCH DATA TO DEVELOP A DATA-
33 BASE IN WHICH ALL INCARCERATED PERSONS SHALL BE, WHERE POSSIBLE, ALLO-
34 CATED FOR REDISTRICTING PURPOSES, SUCH THAT EACH GEOGRAPHIC UNIT
35 REFLECTS INCARCERATED POPULATIONS AT THEIR RESPECTIVE RESIDENTIAL
36 ADDRESSES PRIOR TO INCARCERATION RATHER THAN AT THE ADDRESSES OF SUCH
37 CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES. FOR ALL INCARCERATED PERSONS WHOSE RESIDENTIAL
38 ADDRESS PRIOR TO INCARCERATION WAS OUTSIDE OF THE STATE, OR FOR WHOM THE
39 TASK FORCE CANNOT IDENTIFY THEIR PRIOR RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, AND FOR ALL
40 PERSONS CONFINED IN A FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITY ON CENSUS DAY, THE
41 TASK FORCE SHALL CONSIDER THOSE PERSONS TO HAVE BEEN COUNTED AT AN
42 ADDRESS UNKNOWN AND PERSONS AT SUCH UNKNOWN ADDRESS SHALL NOT BE
43 INCLUDED IN SUCH DATA SET CREATED PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH. THE TASK
44 FORCE SHALL DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN SUCH AMENDED POPULATION DATA SET AND
45 SHALL MAKE SUCH AMENDED DATA SET AVAILABLE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, AS
46 DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION EIGHT OF SECTION TWO OF THE MUNICIPAL HOME RULE
47 LAW, AND FOR THE DRAWING OF ASSEMBLY AND SENATE DISTRICTS. THE ASSEMBLY
48 AND SENATE DISTRICTS SHALL BE DRAWN USING SUCH AMENDED POPULATION DATA
49 SET.
50 (C) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, THE INFORMATION
51 REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION EIGHT OF SECTION SEVEN-
52 TY-ONE OF THE CORRECTION LAW SHALL BE TREATED AS CONFIDENTIAL AND SHALL
53 NOT BE DISCLOSED BY THE TASK FORCE EXCEPT AS AGGREGATED BY CENSUS BLOCK
54 FOR PURPOSE SPECIFIED IN THIS SUBDIVISION.
55 S 4. The opening paragraph, subclause (i.) of clause (a.) and clause
56 (c.) of subparagraph 13 of paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 10 of
S. 6725--A 3
1 the municipal home rule law, as added by chapter 834 of the laws of
2 1969, are amended to read as follows:
3 The apportionment of its legislative body and, only in connection with
4 such action taken pursuant to this subparagraph, the composition and
5 membership of such body, the terms of office of members thereof, the
6 units of local government or other areas from which representatives are
7 to be chosen and the voting powers of individual members of such legis-
8 lative body. [The] EXCEPT FOR THE EQUAL APPORTIONMENT REQUIREMENTS IN
9 SUBCLAUSE (I.) OF CLAUSE (A.) AND CLAUSE (C.) OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH,
10 WHICH SHALL APPLY GENERALLY TO ANY LOCAL GOVERNMENT, THE power granted
11 by this subparagraph shall be in addition to and not in substitution for
12 any other power and the provisions of this subparagraph shall apply only
13 to local governments which adopt a plan of apportionment thereunder.
14 (i.) The plan shall provide substantially equal weight for [all] the
15 [voters] POPULATION of that local government in the allocation of repre-
16 sentation in the local legislative body.
17 (c.) As used in this subparagraph the term "population" shall mean
18 residents, citizens, or registered voters. FOR SUCH PURPOSES, NO PERSON
19 SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE GAINED OR LOST A RESIDENCE, OR TO HAVE BECOME A
20 RESIDENT OF A LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION EIGHT OF
21 SECTION TWO OF THIS CHAPTER, BY REASON OF BEING SUBJECT TO THE JURISDIC-
22 TION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES AND PRESENT IN A STATE
23 CORRECTIONAL FACILITY PURSUANT TO SUCH JURISDICTION. A population base
24 for such a plan of apportionment shall utilize the latest statistical
25 information obtainable from an official enumeration done at the same
26 time for all the residents, citizens, or registered voters of the local
27 government. Such a plan may allocate, by extrapolation or any other
28 rational method, such latest statistical information to representation
29 areas or units of local government, provided that any plan containing
30 such an allocation shall have annexed thereto as an appendix, a detailed
31 explanation of the allocation.
32 S 5. Severability. If any section, subdivision, paragraph, subpara-
33 graph, clause or other part of this act or its application is held to be
34 invalid by final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, such
35 invalidity shall not be deemed to impair or otherwise affect the validi-
36 ty of the remaining provisions or applications of this act that can be
37 given effect without such invalid provision or application, but such
38 invalidity shall be confined to the section, subdivision, paragraph,
39 subparagraph, clause or other part of this act or its application
40 directly held invalid thereby, which are declared to be severable from
41 the remainder of this act. It is declared to be the intent of the legis-
42 lature that this act would have been enacted but for any such invalid
43 provision or application thereof.
44 S 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
45 the amendments to section 83-m of the legislative law made by section
46 three of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall
47 be deemed repealed therewith.