A 495: Relates to conditional release for eligible offenders who complete post-secondary degrees or programs; provides release twelve months before the completion of the controlling minimum period of imprisonment for eligible offenders who complete post-secondary degrees or programs.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 495 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN, CRUZ, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, TAYLOR, MAMDANI, REYES, LEVENBERG, GIBBS, ANDERSON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to conditional release for eligible offenders who complete post-secondary degrees or programs The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subparagraph (i) and clause (A) of subparagraph (ii) of 2 paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 803-b of the correction law, 3 subparagraph (i) as added by section 4 of part L of chapter 56 of the 4 laws of 2009, and clause (A) of subparagraph (ii) as amended by chapter 5 322 of the laws of 2021, are amended to read as follows: 6 (i) in the case of an eligible offender who is subject to an indeter- 7 minate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment, such offender 8 shall be eligible for release six months before the completion of the 9 controlling minimum period of imprisonment as defined by subdivision one 10 of section 70.40 of the penal law, except that such offender shall be 11 eligible for release twelve months before the completion of the 12 controlling minimum period of imprisonment as defined by subdivi- 13 sion one of section 70.40 of the penal law for each successive signif- 14 icant programmatic accomplishment as defined in subparagraph (ii) of 15 paragraph (c) of this subdivision; or 16 (A) in the case of an eligible offender who is not subject to an inde- 17 terminate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment, such offen- 18 der shall be eligible for conditional release six months earlier than as 19 provided by paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 70.40 of the 20 penal law, provided that the department determines such offender has 21 earned the full amount of good time authorized by section eight hundred 22 three of this article, except that such offender shall be eligible for 23 release twelve months before the completion of the controlling EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00605-01-5 
 A. 495 2 1 minimum period of imprisonment as defined by subdivision one of 2 section 70.40 of the penal law for each successive significant program- 3 matic accomplishment as defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of 4 this subdivision; the withholding of any good behavior time credit by 5 the department shall render an incarcerated individual ineligible for 6 the credit defined herein; 7 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 8 have become a law.