§ 112 — Powers and duties of commissioner relating to correctional facilities and community supervision

New York § 112

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law COR: Correction
• Art. 6: Management of Correctional Facilities

Text

§ 112. Powers and duties of commissioner relating to correctional\nfacilities and community supervision. 1. The commissioner of corrections\nand community supervision shall have the superintendence, management and\ncontrol of the correctional facilities in the department and of the\nincarcerated individuals confined therein, and of all matters relating\nto the government, discipline, policing, contracts and fiscal concerns\nthereof. He or she shall have the power and it shall be his or her duty\nto inquire into all matters connected with said correctional facilities.\nHe or she shall make such rules and regulations, not in conflict with\nthe statutes of this state, for the government of the officers and other\nemployees of the department assigned to said facilities, and in regard\nto the duties to be performed by them, and for the government and\ndiscipline of each correctional facility, as he or she may deem proper,\nand shall cause such rules and regulations to be recorded by the\nsuperintendent of the facility, and a copy thereof to be furnished to\neach employee assigned to the facility. He or she shall also prescribe a\nsystem of accounts and records to be kept at each correctional facility,\nwhich system shall be uniform at all of said facilities, and he or she\nshall also make rules and regulations for a record of photographs and\nother means of identifying each incarcerated individual received into\nsaid facilities. He or she shall appoint and remove, subject to the\ncivil service law, subordinate officers and other employees of the\ndepartment who are assigned to correctional facilities.\n 2. The commissioner shall have the management and control of persons\nreleased on community supervision and of all matters relating to such\npersons' effective reentry into the community, as well as all contracts\nand fiscal concerns thereof. The commissioner shall have the power and\nit shall be his or her duty to inquire into all matters connected with\nsaid community supervision. The commissioner shall make such rules and\nregulations, not in conflict with the statutes of this state, for the\ngovernance of the officers and other employees of the department\nassigned to said community supervision, and in regard to the duties to\nbe performed by them, as he or she deems proper and shall cause such\nrules and regulations to be furnished to each employee assigned to\nperform community supervision. The commissioner shall also prescribe a\nsystem of accounts and records to be kept, which shall be uniform. The\ncommissioner shall also make rules and regulations for a record of\nphotographs and other means of identifying each incarcerated individual\nreleased to community supervision. The commissioner shall appoint\nofficers and other employees of the department who are assigned to\nperform community supervision.\n 3. The commissioner may require reports from the superintendent or any\nother officer or employee of the department assigned to any correctional\nfacility or to perform community supervision in relation to his or her\nconduct as such officer or employee, and shall have the power to inquire\ninto any improper conduct which may be alleged to have been committed by\nany person at any correctional facility or in the course of his or her\nperformance of community supervision, and for that purpose to issue\nsubpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production\nbefore him or her of books, writings and papers. A subpoena issued under\nthis section shall be regulated by the civil practice law and rules.\n 4. The commissioner and the chair of the parole board shall work\njointly to develop and implement, as soon as practicable, a risk and\nneeds assessment instrument or instruments, which shall be empirically\nvalidated, that would be administered to incarcerated individuals upon\nreception into a correctional facility, and throughout their\nincarceration and release to community supervision, to facilitate\nappropriate programming both during an incarcerated individual's\nincarceration and community supervision, and designed to facilitate the\nsuccessful integration of incarcerated individuals into the community.\n 5. (a) The commissioner shall not make or promulgate any policy and/or\nregulation requiring an incarcerated individual to waive any religious\nright, including, but not limited to, daily prayer as a condition for\nparticipation in any incarcerated individual program including any such\nprogram developed and/or implemented pursuant to subdivision four of\nthis section including, but not limited to, the shock program and the\nindustrial training program.\n (b) Upon request, incarcerated individuals shall be granted exemptions\nfor activities, including jobs, that coincide with the Sabbath and other\nwork proscription days, including those set forth in the religious\ncalendar.\n 6. (a) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to\nestablish and maintain an annual heat mitigation plan to ensure\nincarcerated individuals and correctional facility staff have options\navailable to stay cool, hydrated and safe during high heat temperatures.\nSuch plan shall include, to the extent possible:\n (i) access to industrial fans, water, ice, and additional access to\nshowers;\n (ii) commissaries fully stocked with personal fans prior to the\nbeginning of summer;\n (iii) monitoring temperatures in housing, program and industry areas;\n (iv) maintaining a list of incarcerated individuals and correctional\nfacility staff who have medical conditions that make them more\nsusceptible to heat and monitor their well-being;\n (v) increased rounds and wellness checks; and\n (vi) providing shade on exercise yards if consistent with the\nfacility's safety and security protocols.\n (b) The commissioner, as part of such heat mitigation plan, shall\nevaluate the financial and operational feasibility of establishing\ncooling stations and a permanent sustainable cooling solution at each\nfacility, provided that upon a determination or finding that a permanent\nsustainable cooling solution is feasible in each facility, the\ncommissioner shall develop a timeline to implement the findings of such\nevaluation.\n 7. (a) The commissioner shall collect data from the office of special\ninvestigations established by the department and report quarterly to the\nspeaker of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, and the\ngovernor regarding complaints received the previous quarter by the\noffice. For the report period, such data and report shall include, but\nnot be limited to:\n (i) the number of confirmed and unconfirmed complaints received by the\noffice of special investigations categorized by facility the complaint\noriginated from, complaint type or allegation, subject of the complaint\n(i.e. incarcerated individual, security staff, civilian staff, or\nother), and how the complaint was received by the office;\n (ii) the total number of complaints: assigned for an investigation by\nthe office of special investigations; assigned to each division or unit\nwithin the office of special investigations; referred to the appropriate\ncentral office division head; referred to a facility superintendent or\ncommunity supervision bureau chief for investigation; referred to a\nfacility superintendent or community supervision bureau chief for other\nappropriate action; and referred to a state, local, or federal agency\nwith jurisdiction. Such data shall include the facility the complaint\noriginated from and the complaint type or allegation;\n (iii) the total number of investigations closed by each office of\nspecial investigations unit or division within the reporting time\nperiod;\n (iv) the total number of referrals for criminal prosecution. Such data\nshall include the facility the complaint originated from, the complaint\ntype or allegation, and the subject of the complaint (i.e. incarcerated\nindividual, security staff, civilian staff, or other);\n (v) the total number of referrals to the department's bureau of labor\nrelations for consideration of employee disciplinary charges including\nwhich facility the referral originated from; and\n (vi) office of special investigations staffing data including the\ntotal number of staff, position type, and number of open positions.\n (b) The commissioner shall report annually the average length of time\nto close an investigation by the office of special investigation by\ndivision for each correctional facility and any recommendations made by\nthe office of special investigations to the relevant departmental\nprogram areas for consideration of a revision to a policy or procedure.\nSuch report shall categorize such recommendations by facility, the\nnature of the recommendation, and any action taken in response to the\nrecommendation.\n