N.Y. CPL Law § 390.50 — New York Code / Act CPL / Part 2 / Title L / Article 390 / Section 390.50
Confidentiality of pre-sentence reports and memoranda
Status: in_force

§ 390.50 Confidentiality of pre-sentence reports and memoranda.\n  1. In general. Any pre-sentence report or memorandum submitted to the\ncourt pursuant to this article and any medical, psychiatric or social\nagency report or other information gathered for the court by a probation\ndepartment, or submitted directly to the court, in connection with the\nquestion of sentence is confidential and may not be made available to\nany person or public or private agency except where specifically\nrequired or permitted by statute or upon specific authorization of the\ncourt. For purposes of this section, any report, memorandum or other\ninformation forwarded to a probation department within this state from a\nprobation agency outside this state is governed by the same rules of\nconfidentiality. Any person, public or private agency receiving such\nmaterial must retain it under the same conditions of confidentiality as\napply to the probation department that made it available.\n  2. Pre-sentence report; disclosure, victim access to impact\nstatements; general principles.  (a) Not less than one court day prior\nto sentencing, unless such time requirement is waived by the parties,\nthe pre-sentence report or memorandum shall be made available by the\ncourt for examination and for copying by the defendant's attorney, the\ndefendant himself, if he has no attorney, and the prosecutor. In its\ndiscretion, the court may except from disclosure a part or parts of the\nreport or memoranda which are not relevant to a proper sentence, or a\ndiagnostic opinion which might seriously disrupt a program of\nrehabilitation, or sources of information which have been obtained on a\npromise of confidentiality, or any other portion thereof, disclosure of\nwhich would not be in the interest of justice. In all cases where a part\nor parts of the report or memoranda are not disclosed, the court shall\nstate for the record that a part or parts of the report or memoranda\nhave been excepted and the reasons for its action. The action of the\ncourt excepting information from disclosure shall be subject to\nappellate review. The pre-sentence report shall be made available by the\ncourt for examination and copying in connection with any appeal in the\ncase, including an appeal under this subdivision. Upon written request,\nthe court shall make a copy of the presentence report, other than a part\nor parts of the report redacted by the court pursuant to this paragraph,\navailable to the defendant for use before the parole board for release\nconsideration or an appeal of a parole board determination or an\napplication for resentencing pursuant to section 440.46 or 440.47 of\nthis chapter. In his or her written request to the court the defendant\nshall affirm that he or she anticipates an appearance before the parole\nboard or intends to file an administrative appeal of a parole board\ndetermination or meets the eligibility criteria for and intends to file\na motion for resentencing pursuant to 440.46 of this chapter or has\nreceived notification from the court which received his or her request\nto apply for resentencing pursuant to section 440.47 of this chapter\nconfirming that he or she is eligible to submit an application for\nresentencing pursuant to section 440.47 of this chapter. The court shall\nrespond to the defendant's written request within twenty days from\nreceipt of the defendant's written request.\n  (b) The victim impact statement prepared pursuant to subdivision three\nof section 390.30 of this article shall be made available by the\nprosecutor prior to sentencing to the victim or victim's family in\naccordance with his responsibilities under subdivision one of section\n60.27 of the penal law and sections six hundred forty-one and six\nhundred forty-two of the executive law. The district attorney shall also\ngive at least twenty-one days notice to the victim or victim's family of\nthe date of sentencing and of the rights of the victim pursuant to\nsubdivision two of section 380.50 of this chapter, including the victim\nor victim's family's obligation to inform the court of its intention, at\nleast ten days prior to the sentencing date, to make a statement at\nsentencing. If the victim has not received timely notice pursuant to\nthis paragraph, the court may proceed with sentencing if it determines\nthat the victim and the defendant have received reasonable notice or may\nadjourn sentencing for no more than seven days in order to afford such\nreasonable notice. Failure to give notice shall not affect the validity\nof any sentence imposed.\n  3. Public agencies within this state. A probation department must make\navailable a copy of its pre-sentence report and any medical, psychiatric\nor social agency report submitted to it in connection with its\npre-sentence investigation or its supervision of a defendant, to any\ncourt, or to the probation department of any court, within this state\nthat subsequently has jurisdiction over such defendant for the purpose\nof pronouncing or reviewing sentence and to any state agency to which\nthe defendant is subsequently committed or certified or under whose care\nand custody or jurisdiction the defendant subsequently is placed upon\nthe official request of such court or agency therefor. In any such case,\nthe court or agency receiving such material must retain it under the\nsame conditions of confidentiality as apply to the probation department\nthat made it available, except that an agency with jurisdiction as that\nterm is defined in subdivision (a) of section 10.03 of the mental\nhygiene law shall make such material available to the commissioner of\nmental health, attorney general, case review panel, or psychiatric\nexaminers described in article ten of the mental hygiene law when such\npersons or entities request such material in the exercise of their\nstatutory functions, powers, and duties under article ten of the mental\nhygiene law.\n  4. Public agencies outside this state. Upon official request of any\nprobation, parole or public institutional agency outside this state, a\nprobation department may make any information in its files available to\nsuch agency. Any such release of information shall be conditioned upon\nthe agreement of the receiving agency to retain it under the same\nconditions of confidentiality as apply to the probation department that\nmade it available.\n  5. Division of criminal justice services. Nothing contained in this\nsection may be construed to prevent the voluntary submission by a\nprobation department of data in its files to the division of criminal\njustice services.\n  6. Professional licensing agencies. Probation departments shall\nprovide a copy of presentence reports prepared in the case of\nindividuals who are known to be licensed pursuant to title eight of the\neducation law to the state department of health if the licensee is a\nphysician, a specialist's assistant or a physician's assistant, and to\nthe state education department with respect to all other such licensees.\nSuch reports shall be accumulated and forwarded every three months,\nshall be in writing, may be submitted in a hard copy or electronically,\nand shall contain the following information:\n  (a) the name of the licensee and the profession in which licensure is\nheld,\n  (b) the date of the conviction and the nature thereof,\n  (c) the index or other identifying file number.\n  In any such case, the state department receiving such material must\nretain it under the same conditions of confidentiality as apply to the\nprobation department that made it available.\n