§ 702 — Certificates of relief from disabilities issued by courts

New York § 702

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law COR: Correction
• Art. 23: Discretionary Relief From Forfeitures and Disabilities Automatically Imposed By Law

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§ 702. Certificates of relief from disabilities issued by courts. 1.\nAny court of this state may, in its discretion, issue a certificate of\nrelief from disabilities to an eligible offender for a conviction that\noccurred in such court, if the court either (a) imposed a revocable\nsentence or (b) imposed a sentence other than one executed by commitment\nto an institution under the jurisdiction of the state department of\ncorrections and community supervision. Such certificate may be issued\n(i) at the time sentence is pronounced, in which case it may grant\nrelief from forfeitures, as well as from disabilities, or (ii) at any\ntime thereafter, in which case it shall apply only to disabilities.\nWhere such court either imposes a revocable sentence or imposes a\nsentence other than one executed by commitment to an institution under\nthe jurisdiction of the state department of corrections and community\nsupervision, the court, upon application and in accordance with\nsubdivision two of this section, shall initially determine the fitness\nof an eligible offender for such certificate prior to or at the time\nsentence is pronounced.\n 2. Such certificate shall be issued by the court when the court is\nsatisfied that:\n (a) The person to whom it is to be granted is an eligible offender, as\ndefined in section seven hundred of this article;\n (b) The relief to be granted by the certificate is consistent with the\nrehabilitation of the eligible offender; and\n (c) The relief to be granted by the certificate is consistent with the\npublic interest.\n 3. Where a certificate of relief from disabilities is not issued at\nthe time sentence is pronounced it shall only be issued thereafter upon\nverified application to the court. The court may, for the purpose of\ndetermining whether such certificate shall be issued, request its\nprobation service to conduct an investigation of the applicant, or if\nthe court has no probation service it may request the probation service\nof the county court for the county in which the court is located to\nconduct such investigation. Any probation officer requested to make an\ninvestigation pursuant to this section shall prepare and submit to the\ncourt a written report in accordance with such request.\n 4. Where the court has imposed a revocable sentence and the\ncertificate of relief from disabilities is issued prior to the\nexpiration or termination of the time which the court may revoke such\nsentence, the certificate shall be deemed to be a temporary certificate\nuntil such time as the court's authority to revoke the sentence has\nexpired or is terminated. While temporary, such certificate (a) may be\nrevoked by the court for violation of the conditions of the sentence,\nand (b) shall be revoked by the court if it revokes the sentence and\ncommits the person to an institution under the jurisdiction of the state\ndepartment of corrections and community supervision. Any such revocation\nshall be upon notice and after an opportunity to be heard. If the\ncertificate is not so revoked, it shall become a permanent certificate\nupon expiration or termination of the court's authority to revoke the\nsentence.\n 5. Any court that has issued a certificate of relief from disabilities\nmay at any time issue a new certificate to enlarge the relief previously\ngranted, provided, however, that the provisions of subdivisions one\nthrough four of this section shall apply to the issuance of any such new\ncertificate.\n 6. Any written report submitted to the court pursuant to this section\nis confidential and may not be made available to any person or public or\nprivate agency except where specifically required or permitted by\nstatute or upon specific authorization of the court. However, upon the\ncourt's receipt of such report, the court shall provide a copy of such\nreport, or direct that such report be provided to the applicant's\nattorney, or the applicant himself, if he or she has no attorney. In its\ndiscretion, the court may except from disclosure a part or parts of the\nreport which are not relevant to the granting of a certificate, or\nsources of information which have been obtained on a promise of\nconfidentiality, or any other portion thereof, disclosure of which would\nnot be in the interest of justice. The action of the court excepting\ninformation from disclosure shall be subject to appellate review. The\ncourt, in its discretion, may hold a conference in open court or in\nchambers to afford an applicant an opportunity to controvert or to\ncomment upon any portions of the report. The court may also conduct a\nsummary hearing at the conference on any matter relevant to the granting\nof the application and may take testimony under oath.\n