N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law § 10.05

§ 10.05 Notice and case review.\n (a) The commissioner of mental health, in consultation with the\ncommissioner of the department of corrections and community supervision\nand the commissioner of developmental disabilities, shall establish a\ncase review panel consisting of at least fifteen members, any three of\nwhom may sit as a team to review a particular case. At least two members\nof each team shall be professionals in the field of mental health or the\nfield of developmental disabilities, as appropriate, with experience in\nthe treatment, diagnosis, risk assessment or management of sex\noffenders. To the extent practicable, the workload of the case review\npanel should be evenly distributed among its members. Members of the\ncase review panel and psychiatric examiners should be free to exercise\nindependent professional judgment without pressure or retaliation for\nthe exercise of that judgment from any source.\n (b) When it appears to an agency with jurisdiction that a person who\nmay be a detained sex offender is nearing an anticipated release from\nconfinement, the agency shall give notice of that fact to the attorney\ngeneral and to the commissioner of mental health. When it appears to the\ndepartment of corrections and community supervision that a person who\nmay be a detained sex offender is nearing an anticipated release from\ncommunity supervision, the agency may give such notice. The agency with\njurisdiction shall seek to give such notice at least one hundred twenty\ndays prior to the person's anticipated release, but failure to give\nnotice within such time period shall not affect the validity of such\nnotice or any subsequent action, including the filing of a sex offender\ncivil management petition.\n (c) The notice to the attorney general and the commissioner of mental\nhealth shall, to the extent possible, contain the following:\n (1) The person's name, aliases, and other identifying information such\nas date of birth, sex, physical characteristics, and anticipated future\nresidence;\n (2) A photograph and a set of fingerprints;\n (3) A description of the act or acts that constitute the sex offense\nand a description of the person's criminal history, including the\nperson's most recent sentence and any supervisory terms that it\nincludes;\n (4) The presentence reports prepared pursuant to article three hundred\nninety of the criminal procedure law and other available materials\nconcerning the person's sex offense; and\n (5) A description of the person's institutional history, including his\nor her participation in any sex offender treatment program; and\n (6) Records of parole release interviews prepared pursuant to\nsubparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision six of section two\nhundred fifty-nine-i of the executive law.\n (d) The commissioner shall be authorized to designate\nmultidisciplinary staff, including clinical and other professional\npersonnel, to provide a preliminary review of the need for detained sex\noffenders to be evaluated under the procedures of this section. When the\ncommissioner receives notice pursuant to subdivision (b) of this\nsection, such staff shall review and assess relevant medical, clinical,\ncriminal, and institutional records, actuarial risk assessment\ninstruments and other records and reports, including records of parole\nrelease interviews where applicable, and records and reports provided by\nthe district attorney of the county where the person was convicted, or\nin the case of persons determined to be incapacitated or not responsible\nby reason of mental disease or defect, the county where the person was\ncharged. Upon such review and assessment, the staff shall determine\nwhether the person who is the subject of the notice should be referred\nto a case review team for evaluation.\n (e) If the person is referred to a case review team for evaluation,\nnotice of such referral shall be provided to the respondent. Upon such\nreferral, the case review team shall review relevant records, including\nthose described in subdivisions (c) and (d) of this section, and may\narrange for a psychiatric examination of the respondent. Based on the\nreview and assessment of such information, the case review team shall\nconsider whether the respondent is a sex offender requiring civil\nmanagement.\n (f) If the case review team determines that the respondent is not a\nsex offender requiring civil management, it shall so notify the\nrespondent and the attorney general, and the attorney general shall not\nfile a sex offender civil management petition.\n (g) If the case review team finds that the respondent is a sex\noffender requiring civil management, it shall so notify the respondent\nand the attorney general, in writing. The written notice must be\naccompanied by a written report from a psychiatric examiner that\nincludes a finding as to whether the respondent has a mental\nabnormality. Where the notice indicates that a respondent stands\nconvicted of or was charged with a designated felony, it shall also\ninclude the case review team's finding as to whether the act was\nsexually motivated. The case review team shall provide its written\nnotice to the attorney general and the respondent within forty-five days\nof the commissioner receiving the notice of anticipated release.\nHowever, failure to do so within that time period shall not affect the\nvalidity of such notice or finding or any subsequent action, including\nthe attorney general's filing of a sex offender civil management\npetition subsequent to receiving the finding of the case review team.\n