2023 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.