S 6345: Enacts the New York civil rights cold case records collection act; directs the state archivist to create a civil rights cold case records collection; creates the civil rights cold case records review board which shall assist the archivist in the collection of civil rights cold case records.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6345 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 11, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SANDERS, MAY, MYRIE, RIVERA, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation AN ACT to amend the arts and cultural affairs law, in relation to enact- ing the New York civil rights cold case records collection act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The arts and cultural affairs law is amended by adding a 2 new article 57-C to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 57-C 4 NEW YORK CIVIL RIGHTS 5 COLD CASE RECORDS COLLECTION ACT 6 Section 57.60. Definitions. 7 57.61. Civil rights cold case records collection. 8 57.62. Grounds for postponement of public disclosure. 9 57.63. Civil rights cold case records review board; establish- 10 ment and powers. 11 § 57.60. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following 12 terms shall have the following meanings: 1. "Civil rights cold case" 13 means any unsolved case occurring within a jurisdiction in New York 14 state arising out of events which occurred during the period beginning 15 on January first, nineteen hundred forty and ending on December thirty- 16 first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and involving: 17 (a) conspiracy against rights under 18 USC § 241; 18 (b) deprivation of rights under color of law under 18 USC § 242; 19 (c) federally protected activities under 18 USC § 245; 20 (d) peonage and involuntary servitude under 18 USC § 1581 and 18 USC § 21 1584; or 22 (e) the Fair Housing Act under 42 U.S.C. 3631. 23 2. "Civil rights cold case record" means a New York state record that: 24 (a) is related to a civil rights cold case; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00250-01-5 
 S. 6345 2 1 (b) was created or made available for use by, obtained by, or other- 2 wise came into the possession of the New York state archives or any 3 state agency; and 4 (c) any New York state local government, or component thereof, that 5 provided support or assistance or performed work in connection with a 6 federal inquiry into a civil rights cold case. 7 3. "The archivist" means the state archivist of the New York state 8 archives. 9 4. "The collection" means the civil rights cold case records 10 collection established under section 57.61 of this article. 11 5. "Official investigation" means the review of a civil rights cold 12 case conducted by any entity of the federal government, a New York state 13 agency, or any local government in New York state. 14 6. "Public interest" means the compelling interest in the prompt 15 public disclosure of civil rights cold case records for historical and 16 governmental purposes and for the purpose of fully informing the people 17 of New York. 18 7. "Review board" means the civil rights cold case records review 19 board established under section 57.63 of this article. 20 8. "State agency" means any state board, body, bureau, commission, 21 council, department, executive agency, public authority, public corpo- 22 ration, division, office, or other governmental entity performing a 23 governmental or proprietary function for the state, but shall not 24 include the state legislature. 25 § 57.61. Civil rights cold case records collection. 1. Establishment. 26 Not later than ninety days following the effective date of this article, 27 the archivist shall: 28 (a) commence establishing a collection of civil rights cold case 29 records to be known as the "New York state civil rights cold case 30 records collection" that shall ensure the physical integrity and 31 original provenance of all records in such collection; 32 (b) commence preparing and publishing a subject guidebook and index to 33 the collection; and 34 (c) establish criteria for state agencies to follow when transmitting 35 copies of civil rights cold case records to the archivist. 36 2. Contents. The collection shall include: 37 (a) a copy of each civil rights cold case record: 38 (i) transmitted to the archivist; or 39 (ii) that has been disclosed to the public in an unredacted form 40 before the effective date of this article; and 41 (b) all review board records, as required under this article. 42 3. Disclosure of records. All civil rights cold case records transmit- 43 ted to the archivist for disclosure to the public shall be: 44 (a) available to the public for inspection and copying at the New York 45 state archives not later than sixty days after the transmission of the 46 record to the archivist; and 47 (b) prioritized for digitization by the New York state archives. 48 4. Fees for copying. The archivist shall: 49 (a) use efficient electronic means when possible; 50 (b) charge reasonable fees for copying civil rights cold case records; 51 and 52 (c) grant waivers of such fees when the archivist shall deem appropri- 53 ate. 54 5. Security of records. The archivist shall ensure the security of 55 civil rights cold case records in the collection for which disclosure is 56 postponed. 
 S. 6345 3 1 6. Digitization of records. Each state agency shall make text-searcha- 2 ble documents available to the review board upon request of such board. 3 Not later than seven days before a civil rights cold case record is 4 publicly disclosed, the state agency releasing such civil rights cold 5 case record shall take all reasonable efforts to provide such civil 6 rights cold case record to the victims of the events to which such civil 7 rights cold case record relates, or to their next of kin. 8 7. Additional policies. The archivist, in consultation with the attor- 9 ney general, shall develop and implement any policies not enumerated in 10 this article that such archivist shall deem necessary for the implemen- 11 tation of this article. 12 § 57.62. Grounds for postponement of public disclosure. Disclosure of 13 civil rights cold case records or particular information within a civil 14 rights cold case record to the public may be postponed subject to policy 15 developed by the state attorney general, in consultation with the archi- 16 vist, to promote justice and to protect innocent parties. 17 § 57.63. Civil rights cold case records review board; establishment 18 and powers. 1. Establishment. There is hereby established a board to be 19 known as the "New York civil rights cold case records review board". 20 2. Appointment. The review board shall consist of thirteen members, to 21 be appointed as follows: (a) seven members to be appointed by the gover- 22 nor, one of whom the governor shall appoint as the chair; (b) two 23 members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate; (c) 24 one member shall be appointed by the senate minority leader; (d) two 25 members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and (e) one 26 member shall be appointed by the assembly minority leader. 27 3. Compensation. The members of the review board shall receive no 28 compensation for their services, but shall be allowed their actual and 29 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties under 30 this article. The review board may employ and at pleasure remove such 31 personnel as it may deem necessary for the performance of its functions 32 and fix their compensation within the amounts made available by appro- 33 priation therefor. 34 4. Powers. The review board shall have the power and authority to act 35 in any manner prescribed under this article including, but not limited 36 to, the power and authority to: 37 (a) obtain access to civil rights cold case records that have been 38 identified and organized by a state agency; 39 (b) direct a state agency to make available to the review board, and 40 if necessary to investigate the facts surrounding, additional informa- 41 tion, records, or testimony from individuals, that the review board 42 deems necessary to fulfill its functions and responsibilities under this 43 article; 44 (c) subpoena private persons to compel the production of documents or 45 other records necessary for the fulfillment of its responsibilities 46 under this article; 47 (d) receive information from the public regarding the identification 48 and public disclosure of civil rights cold case records; and 49 (e) hold hearings, administer oaths, and subpoena documents and other 50 records. 51 5. Enforcement of subpoenas. Any subpoena issued under this section 52 shall be enforced by any appropriate court acting pursuant to a lawful 53 request of the review board. 54 6. Advisory committees. The review board shall create any advisory 55 committees it deems necessary to fulfill its responsibilities under this 56 article. 
 S. 6345 4 1 7. Termination. (a) The review board shall terminate not later than 2 four years after the date of the appointment of its members. 3 (b) Before its termination, the review board shall submit reports to 4 the governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of 5 the assembly, including a complete and accurate accounting of expendi- 6 tures made during its existence, and shall complete all other reporting 7 requirements under this article. 8 (c) Upon termination, the review board shall transfer all of its 9 records to the archivist for inclusion in the collection. 10 (d) The records of the review board shall not be destroyed, except 11 that the archivist may destroy routine administrative records covered by 12 a general records schedule following notification in the state register 13 and after considering comments. 14 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.