Int. No. 1173
By Council Members J. Sanchez and Santosuosso
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of corrections to conduct outreach to formerly incarcerated individuals regarding unclaimed commissary funds
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision d of section 9-162 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 157 for the year 2026, is amended to read as follows:
d. [Awareness plan. No later than December 1, 2022, the department shall establish a plan, upon consultation with the agency or agencies designated by the mayor, for raising awareness regarding the procedures by which formerly incarcerated individuals can obtain institutional funds and for retrieving information necessary to return such funds to such individuals. The department shall make reasonable efforts to return unused institutional funds to their rightful owners.] Outreach to formerly incarcerated individuals. The department shall regularly conduct outreach and informational campaigns to inform formerly incarcerated individuals of how to learn whether they have unclaimed institutional funds and if so, how such funds may be retrieved and best practices for their safe retrieval. Such outreach may include individualized counseling, posting notice in conspicuous places likely to be seen by formerly incarcerated individuals, or distributing other informational materials. In conducting such outreach and campaigns, the department shall coordinate with community groups and agencies that provide reentry or other support services to formerly incarcerated individuals, including the office of criminal justice, the department of small business services, the city commission on human rights, the department of social services, the department of homeless services, and department of health and mental hygiene.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 270 days after it becomes law.
JLB
LS #s 26601/26602
10/26/2026 12:07 PM