In Wake of Murders of Prisoners by Guards, New York Passes Legislation to Enhance Safety, Accountability and Training
by Douglas Ankney
Following the murders of prisoners Robert Brooks and Messiah Nautwi in two facilities of the New York Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS), the state legislature passed landmark legislation aimed at enhancing prisoner and staff safety, security training, and accountability.
Senate Bill 8415 and its counterpart, Assembly Bill 8871, were signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) on December 19, 2025, and enacted in ten separate parts. Part A amended the correction law by adding § 22-b. It requires, inter alia, that the DOCCS disclose any and all video footage related to the death of an incarcerated person. The footage is to be disclosed to the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation within 72 hours of the death, or within 24 hours of its discovery if that discovery occurred after the above 72-hour window. Part B amended the correction law by adding § 628.
This new section requires that all areas of every DOCCS facility have continuous, 24-hour surveillance to include both audio and video monitoring. The only exceptions are the interior of cells, shower areas, and toilet areas—the ingress and egress to these areas must also be surveiled in the manner stated above. This section also provides for preservation of such footage to be retained for a minimum of one year and if there is an allegation of staff misconduct, it is to be retained for at least five years.
Part C amended § 624 of the correction law. Among other things, the amendment requires that the DOCCS “shall promptly notify the next of kin or any other person designated as a representative” of the circumstances surrounding an incarcerated person’s death. And within 24 hours of that notification, the DOCCS “shall publish notice of such death on the department’s website.”
Part D requires the commissioner of the DOCCS to “conduct a comprehensive study on deaths in correctional facilities” of the DOCCS in order “to provide data-driven insights and recommendations to improve prison conditions, healthcare, and policies to prevent future tragedies.”
Part E, to be cited as the “Terry Cooper Autopsy Accountability Act,” amended the county law. One amendment requires that “in addition to anything else required by law, an autopsy report shall include all photographs of the body, microscopic slides, and postmortem x-rays taken by or at the direction of the person performing the autopsy, and all photographs, microscopic slides, and postmortem x-rays reviewed by the person performing the autopsy in the course of their examination or in the course of their diagnosis of the cause of death and the means or manner of death.”
Part F amended the executive law by adding § 70-b(8) and amended the county law by adding § 701(6). Both of these sections concern new procedures to be followed by the state Attorney General when there is a conflict between his or her duties under the new amendments and his or her duties in defending a guard charged with wrongdoing.
Part G added §112(7) to the correction law. This subsection requires, among other things, that the DOCCS commissioner collect data related to complaints from incarcerated persons, security staff, and civilian staff.
Part H amended § 41 of the correction law. This amendment increased the number of persons appointed to the state commission of corrections from three to nine. It also changed the qualifications of those appointed to require at least one person from each of the following categories: “a person formerly incarcerated in a correctional facility located in New York”; “a public health professional”; “a behavioral healthcare professional”; “an attorney licensed to practice in this state who has a professional background in indigent criminal defense services or prisoner’s rights litigation”; and “a professional in any other field deemed useful for the promotion of an efficient, humane, and lawful correctional system.”
Part I grants broader authority to the Correctional Association of New York (CANY). CANY is an independent group of deputized citizens created for the purpose of independent monitoring and oversight of the DOCCS’s facilities. Part I extends to CANY the authority to “access, visit, inspect, and examine all state correctional facilities with 24 hours advance notice to the [DOCCS].” And the DOCCS “may not place restrictions on such visits and inspections, including during periods when a facility is locked down or experiencing a facility wide emergency.” CANY members are to be permitted to meet privately with “representatives of the office of mental heath and any other entities or agencies providing services in a facility” without representatives from the DOCCS being present.
Part J amended both the civil practice law and the general municipal law. Of particular note, the statute of limitations for bringing any civil action “by any person to recover damages for physical, psychological, or other injury or condition suffered while under the jurisdiction and in the care and custody or supervision of” the DOCCS has been “extended to three years after such person is released from such custody.”
Commenting on the legislation, Gov. Hochul said, “Every single individual who enters our prisons deserves to be safe, whether they are employed there or serving their time.”
Additional source: WTEN
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