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Senate bill · S4966 (2025-26)

Allows access to sealed records and certain confidential records by the New York city civilian complaint review board in furtherance of the board's duties and…

New York State Senate

Same as A292, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Latest action Jun 5, 2026

Sponsor: Jamaal Bailey (State Senator, District 36, Democratic/Working Families)

Official titleShow

Allows access to sealed records and certain confidential records by the New York city civilian complaint review board in furtherance of the board's duties and functions

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

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From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 29, 2026. About our data

Summary

Allows access to sealed records and certain confidential records by the New York city civilian complaint review board in furtherance of the board's duties and functions.

Summary from NY Open Legislation. How we handle summaries

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Section 1 of the bill adds a new section 442 to Chapter 18-A of the New York City Charter to provide that, notwithstanding any other provision of state or local law, the Board must be granted access to any sealed record, or any record that is confidential pursuant to section 50-b of the Civil Rights Law, as long as this access is in furtherance of the Board's duties and functions. This section also provides that, once the Board receives sealed records, access to those records will be limited only to members and employees of the Board who have direct involvement in the matter requiring use of the records. These records will generally not be shared outside the Board and will at all times need to be clearly marked as sealed. However, the Board will be allowed to disclose sealed records to a public agency for the purpose of a referral for prosecution or investigation, or in furtherance of a disciplinary proceeding. The Board will also be allowed to disclose sealed records to the employee, who is the subject of a disciplinary proceeding, or that employee's representative, subject to appropriate protections. The new section contains a number of confidentiality protections related to the handling of records obtained by the Board, including notification of those who are protected by confidentiality as well as destruction or return of records when the Board no longer has need of them. The Board will be required to establish protocols in consultation with the City's Chief Privacy Officer to govern the proper acquisition, use, storage, and other handling and disposition of, and access to, records obtained pursuant to the new section. Public agencies, employees subject to a disciplinary proceeding, and those employees' representatives who receive sealed records from the Board, pursuant to this new section, will be subject to the Board protocols and other confidentiality protections similar to those applicable to the Board.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Up for a vote
  4. Passed one chamber
  5. Passed
  6. Enacted

Committee

Cities · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Cities 1 · New York State Senate.

Your position on this bill

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Cosponsors

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab)
  • Democratic10

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The sponsor's argument

Why Jamaal Bailey says this is needed

The Civilian Complaint Review Board receives numerous complaints alleg- ing racial bias in policing. Racial profiling can lead to arrests and/or proceedings that are dismissed and sealed. Access to such sealed records is important to the Board's ability to conduct investigations because sealed information can help the Board identify a pattern of biased behavior. Further, a civilian who has been arrested may not be able to have their complaint fully investigated by the Board because the arrest record is sealed. As a result, the Board is unable to get full access to the records to determine whether their allegations of misconduct are substantiated. Providing the Board with access to sealed records would not only be useful to the thorough, effective, and timely investigation and resolution of individual civilian complaints, it would also be valu- able to the ongoing review of police conduct and to the improvement of community relations with New York City's Police Department. Access to sealed records will also allow the Board to provide concrete, empirical and anecdotal evidence as to the effectiveness of reform efforts. This bill strikes a balance between the police accountability that underlies the mission of the Board and the important policy of maintain- ing the confidentiality of sealed records (as well as records that are confidential under Civil Rights Law section 50-b). This balance is achieved by including many strict requirements governing the proper use and handling of any sealed records shared with the Board, which will provide necessary assurance to those who are protected by the laws and policies governing confidentiality. Given that the Board is an integral part of the review of police officer conduct, it is consistent with the goals of police accountability that it be able to access records of the very conduct that it is required to investigate.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Recorded votes

  • Vote: Committee vote · Codes

    Senate CodesMay 18, 2026Result: passed

    (12) (1) (0) (0)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Cities 1

    Senate Cities 1Feb 3, 2026Result: passed

    (6) (1) (0) (0)

  • Vote: Floor vote

    NY SenateJun 13, 2025Result: passed

    (58) (1) (0) (4)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Rules

    Senate RulesJun 12, 2025Result: passed

    (20) (0) (0) (1)

Full history

  1. Jun 5, 2026

    In committee

    COMMITTED TO RULES

    NY Senate

  2. May 20, 2026

    Advanced to Third Reading

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

    NY Senate

  3. May 19, 2026

    2ND Report CAL.

    2ND REPORT CAL.

    NY Senate

  4. May 18, 2026

    1ST Report CAL.1139

    1ST REPORT CAL.1139

    NY Senate

  5. Feb 3, 2026

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO CODES

    NY Senate

Show full history (11 earlier events)
  1. Jan 7, 2026

    Died in Assembly

    DIED IN ASSEMBLY

    NY Assembly

  2. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CITIES

    NY Assembly

  3. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CITIES 1

    NY Senate

  4. Jun 13, 2025

    Sent to the executive

    DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

    NY Senate

  5. Jun 13, 2025

    Home Rule Request

    HOME RULE REQUEST

    NY Senate

  6. Jun 13, 2025

    Passed a chamber

    PASSED SENATE

    NY Senate

  7. Jun 13, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CITIES

    NY Assembly

  8. Jun 12, 2025

    In committee

    COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES

    NY Senate

  9. Jun 12, 2025

    Ordered to Third Reading CAL.1980

    ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1980

    NY Senate

  10. Feb 14, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CITIES 1

    NY Senate

  11. Jan 8, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CITIES

    NY Assembly

Read the record