File #: Int 1262-2025    Version: * Name: Police commissioner providing district attorneys with access to electronic materials for discovery purposes.
Type: Introduction Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on Public Safety
On agenda: 4/24/2025
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the police commissioner providing district attorneys with access to electronic materials for discovery purposes
Sponsors: Keith Powers , Lynn C. Schulman
Council Member Sponsors: 2
Summary: This bill would require the Police Commissioner to grant the district attorneys for the five boroughs in New York City access to electronic police records containing materials relevant to complying with New York State discovery laws. Specifically, it would require the Police Commissioner to work with the Office of Technology and Innovation to provide each district attorney with at least one set of credentials to access electronic records systems maintained by the Police Department, and would require that the Police Department regularly update these systems.
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No.1262, 2. Int. No.1262, 3. April 24, 2025 - Stated Meeting Agenda

Int. No. 1262

 

By Council Members Powers and Schulman

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the police commissioner providing district attorneys with access to electronic materials for discovery purposes

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1. Section 14-101 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 71 for the year 2016, is amended by adding a new definition of “electronic records system” in alphabetical order to read as follows:

Electronic records system. The term “electronic records system” means any electronic recordkeeping system maintained by the department that contains information required for compliance by a district attorney in the city with discovery obligations established in article 245 of the criminal procedure law, including but not limited to documents, audio files, or video files.

§ 2. Chapter 1 of title 14 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 14-199 to read as follows:

§ 14-199 Access to electronic records systems for district attorneys. a. Provision of access. 1. The commissioner, in coordination with the commissioner of information technology and telecommunications, shall provide each district attorney in the city with a minimum of one set of credentials to access all electronic records systems. The commissioner may limit such access to the viewing, downloading, and printing of records contained within the electronic records system. The commissioner shall limit such access to information required for compliance by a district attorney with discovery obligations established in article 245 of the criminal procedure law.

2. The commissioner, in coordination with the commissioner of information technology and telecommunications, shall ensure that each set of credentials provides access as set forth in paragraph 1 of this subdivision at a minimum within the physical premises of a district attorney’s office.

b. Expeditious updating of electronic records systems. The commissioner shall ensure that the department expeditiously catalogues information, including but not limited to information that would be required for compliance by a district attorney in the city with discovery obligations established in article 245 of the criminal procedure law, in the appropriate electronic records systems.

c. Rulemaking. The commissioner may promulgate rules necessary for the implementation of this section.

§ 3. This local law takes effect 120 days after it becomes law.

 

JMF

LS #18805

04/01/2025 4:35 PM