Requires the district attorney to notify victims by letter of the final disposition of the case within sixty days of such disposition in cases where such final disposition includes a conviction; provides such letter shall also notify victims of their right to make a victim impact statement; allows them to personally appear at parole hearings and make such a statement.
Summary
S00630 amends New York’s criminal procedure law to expand and clarify notice rights for crime victims after a criminal case ends in a conviction. Under the bill, district attorneys must notify victims by letter within 60 days of the final disposition in every case that results in a conviction, rather than only in certain categories of offenses. The notice must tell victims about the conviction and, if the defendant is sentenced to state custody on an indeterminate sentence, must also explain the victim’s right to submit a written, audiotaped, or videotaped victim impact statement to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision or to meet with a member of the Board of Parole.
The bill further requires that victims be told they may voluntarily appear at the incarcerated person’s personal parole interview and make a statement while the individual is present. A copy of the district attorney’s notice must be sent to the Board of Parole, and the victim’s right to submit a statement or appear applies at each personal interview between the board and the incarcerated individual. The measure takes effect immediately.
Impact
The bill broadens section 440.50 of the criminal procedure law by replacing a narrower, offense-based notice requirement with a universal notice requirement for all convictions. It also reinforces and expands the statutory notice obligations tied to parole-related victim participation under the executive law, increasing the administrative duties of district attorneys and ensuring the Board of Parole receives notice of victim communications rights. Victims of convicted offenses would gain more consistent access to information about parole proceedings and opportunities to be heard.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests strong support for the bill. It passed the Senate Codes Committee and the Senate floor by wide margins, with only one dissenting vote in the 2025 committee and floor votes and unanimous or near-unanimous support in the later 2026 votes shown. No committee transcript is available, but the vote pattern indicates the measure was generally viewed favorably as a victims’ rights and parole-notification bill.
Contention
The main policy issue is the expansion of victim-notification duties to all convictions, which increases the workload on district attorneys and formalizes notice in a broader set of cases. Another point of potential contention is the added opportunity for victims to appear at parole interviews and make statements in the presence of the incarcerated person, which can raise concerns about parole-process burdens or the balance between victim participation and rehabilitation-focused parole review. The sparse opposition reflected in the votes suggests these concerns were limited or not widely shared.
Same As
Requires the district attorney to notify victims by letter of the final disposition of the case within sixty days of such disposition in cases where such final disposition includes a conviction; provides such letter shall also notify victims of their right to make a victim impact statement; allows them to personally appear at parole hearings and make such a statement.
Requires the district attorney to notify victims by letter of the final disposition of the case within sixty days of such disposition in cases where such final disposition includes a conviction; provides such letter shall also notify victims of their right to make a victim impact statement; allows them to personally appear at parole hearings and make such a statement.
Requires the district attorney to notify victims by letter of the final disposition of the case within sixty days of such disposition in cases where such final disposition includes a conviction; provides such letter shall also notify victims of their right to make a victim impact statement; allows them to personally appear at parole hearings and make such a statement.
Requires the district attorney to notify victims by letter of the final disposition of the case within sixty days of such disposition in cases where such final disposition includes a conviction; provides such letter shall also notify victims of their right to make a victim impact statement; allows them to personally appear at parole hearings and make such a statement.
Allows victim impact statements in New York state be video recorded; requires that the members of the parole board and all presiding commissioners for such hearing review all relevant victim impact statements prior to the conduct of a parole hearing and to sign a written attestation confirming that they have done so.
Requires the notice to crime victims of case disposition to inform the victim of the right to attend interviews between the board of parole and the incarcerated individual in cases where the final disposition includes a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of the penal law that results in the commitment of the defendant to the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision for an indeterminate sentence; requires the board of parole to review victim impact statements, failure to review such statements shall make a hearing by the board of parole invalid.
Requires the notice to crime victims of case disposition to inform the victim of the right to attend interviews between the board of parole and the incarcerated individual in cases where the final disposition includes a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of the penal law that results in the commitment of the defendant to the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision for an indeterminate sentence; requires the board of parole to review victim impact statements, failure to review such statements shall make a hearing by the board of parole invalid.
Relating to the notification of the parole hearing and the victim’s right to be heard allowing other notified persons listed on the parole hearing form to be allowed to submit not only written statements, but also speak at the parole board hearings
Requires the notice to crime victims of case disposition to inform the victim that he or she has the right to attend interviews between the board of parole and the incarcerated individual in cases where the final disposition includes a felony defined in article one hundred twenty-five of the penal law that results in the commitment of the defendant to the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision for an indeterminate sentence; requires the board of parole to review victim impact statements, failure to review such statements shall make a hearing by the board of parole invalid.