New York Senate Bill S03552

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/28/25
• Refer: 1/28/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Establishes the parole board accountability act which requires incarcerated individuals who are released on parole, via a vote that is not unanimous, be placed in the community where one of the two board members primarily reside; establishes the procedure of which of the two board member's community the releasee shall be released to.

Summary

S03552 would create a new section of the Executive Law called the “parole board accountability act.” It applies only when the Parole Board votes to grant parole but the vote is not unanimous. In that situation, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision would be required to place the person being released in a shelter, halfway house, or transitional residential facility in the community of one of the two board members who voted in favor of release. The bill further requires the commissioner to use a coin flip to decide which of the two supporting board members’ communities will be used, and the coin flip must be livestreamed on the department’s website. The release location must then be the geographically closest qualifying facility in that chosen community. The bill would take effect immediately if enacted.

Impact

The bill would amend the New York Executive Law by adding a new parole-placement rule tied to split parole-board decisions. It would impose a new administrative duty on the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to determine release placement based on the residence of a parole board member who voted for release, rather than on the releasee’s own circumstances, available housing, or existing placement practices. It would also create a public livestream requirement for the coin-flip selection process and could affect shelters, halfway houses, transitional residential facilities, and parole release planning.

Sentiment

No committee transcript or vote record is available in the provided materials, so there is no documented legislative debate or recorded support/opposition to gauge sentiment. Based on the bill text alone, the proposal appears framed as a transparency and accountability measure, but its unusual coin-flip mechanism suggests it may also be intended as a provocative critique of parole decision-making rather than a conventional policy fix.

Contention

The main point of contention is likely the bill’s unusual and arguably arbitrary placement rule: it ties a parolee’s release location to the primary residence of a board member who voted for parole, and then uses a coin flip to choose between the two supporting members. Critics could argue this has little relation to public safety, reentry needs, or fairness, and may be administratively impractical. Supporters may view it as a way to hold parole decision-makers accountable and highlight concerns about where parolees are released, but no direct statements from legislators or stakeholders are included in the record provided.