NY Ment Hygiene L § 10.05 (2021)
2021 New York Laws MHY - Mental Hygiene Title B - Mental Health Act Article 10 - Sex Offenders Requiring Civil Commitment or Supervision 10.05 - Notice and Case Review.

§ 10.05 Notice and case review.  (a)  The  commissioner  of  mental  health,  in  consultation with the commissioner of the department of corrections and community  supervision and  the  commissioner  of developmental disabilities, shall establish a case review panel consisting of at least fifteen members, any  three  of whom may sit as a team to review a particular case. At least two members of each team shall be professionals in the field of mental health or the field  of developmental disabilities, as appropriate, with experience in the  treatment,  diagnosis,  risk  assessment  or  management   of   sex offenders.  To  the  extent practicable, the workload of the case review panel should be evenly distributed among its  members.  Members  of  the case  review  panel and psychiatric examiners should be free to exercise independent professional judgment without pressure  or  retaliation  for the exercise of that judgment from any source.  (b)  When  it appears to an agency with jurisdiction that a person who may be a detained sex offender is nearing an  anticipated  release  from confinement,  the  agency shall give notice of that fact to the attorney general and to the commissioner of mental health. When it appears to the department of corrections and community supervision that  a  person  who may  be  a  detained sex offender is nearing an anticipated release from community supervision, the agency may give such notice. The agency  with jurisdiction  shall seek to give such notice at least one hundred twenty days prior to the person's anticipated  release,  but  failure  to  give notice  within  such  time  period shall not affect the validity of such notice or any subsequent action, including the filing of a sex  offender civil management petition.  (c)  The notice to the attorney general and the commissioner of mental health shall, to the extent possible, contain the following:  (1) The person's name, aliases, and other identifying information such as date of birth, sex, physical characteristics, and anticipated  future residence;  (2) A photograph and a set of fingerprints;  (3)  A  description of the act or acts that constitute the sex offense and a description  of  the  person's  criminal  history,  including  the person's  most  recent  sentence  and  any  supervisory  terms  that  it includes;  (4) The presentence reports prepared pursuant to article three hundred ninety of the criminal  procedure  law  and  other  available  materials concerning the person's sex offense; and  (5) A description of the person's institutional history, including his or her participation in any sex offender treatment program; and  (6)   Records  of  parole  release  interviews  prepared  pursuant  to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision  six  of  section  two hundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law.  (d)    The    commissioner    shall   be   authorized   to   designate multidisciplinary  staff,  including  clinical  and  other  professional personnel,  to provide a preliminary review of the need for detained sex offenders to be evaluated under the procedures of this section. When the commissioner  receives  notice  pursuant  to  subdivision  (b)  of  this section,  such staff shall review and assess relevant medical, clinical, criminal,  and  institutional   records,   actuarial   risk   assessment instruments  and  other records and reports, including records of parole release interviews where applicable, and records and reports provided by the district attorney of the county where the person was  convicted,  or in the case of persons determined to be incapacitated or not responsible by  reason  of mental disease or defect, the county where the person was charged. Upon such review and  assessment,  the  staff  shall  determine  whether  the  person who is the subject of the notice should be referred to a case review team for evaluation.  (e)  If  the  person is referred to a case review team for evaluation, notice of such referral shall be provided to the respondent.  Upon  such referral,  the case review team shall review relevant records, including those described in subdivisions (c) and (d) of  this  section,  and  may arrange  for  a  psychiatric examination of the respondent. Based on the review and assessment of such information, the case  review  team  shall consider  whether  the  respondent  is  a  sex  offender requiring civil management.  (f) If the case review team determines that the respondent  is  not  a sex  offender  requiring  civil  management,  it  shall  so  notify  the respondent and the attorney general, and the attorney general shall  not file a sex offender civil management petition.  (g)  If  the  case  review  team  finds  that  the respondent is a sex offender requiring civil management, it shall so notify  the  respondent and  the  attorney  general,  in  writing.  The  written  notice must be accompanied by  a  written  report  from  a  psychiatric  examiner  that includes   a   finding  as  to  whether  the  respondent  has  a  mental abnormality.  Where  the  notice  indicates  that  a  respondent  stands convicted  of  or  was  charged  with a designated felony, it shall also include the case review  team's  finding  as  to  whether  the  act  was sexually  motivated.  The  case  review  team  shall provide its written notice to the attorney general and the respondent within forty-five days of  the  commissioner  receiving  the  notice  of  anticipated  release. However,  failure  to do so within that time period shall not affect the validity of such notice or finding or any subsequent  action,  including the  attorney  general's  filing  of  a  sex  offender  civil management petition subsequent to receiving the finding of the case review team.