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Home/Bills/S 728New York · 2025–2026 Legislative Session
Senate BillIntroduced

S 728: Authorizes the governor and lieutenant-governor, commissioner of general services, secretary of state, comptroller, attorney general, and members of the legislature, provided that such request does not impact upon the department's ability to manage its facilities as determined by the director of the facility, to visit any facility designated by the commissioner of mental health for care and treatment.

New York · Senate · 2025–2026 Legislative Session · last verified March 10, 2026

What S 728 does, verified March 10, 2026

The bill aims to amend the mental hygiene law to authorize certain individuals to visit inmate-patient facilities at their discretion. These individuals include the governor, lieutenant-governor, commissioner of general services, secretary of state, comptroller, attorney general, and members of the legislature. They must notify the facility director in advance to arrange visits. The facility director can deny visits if they interfere with therapeutic activities or impact the facility's management. The bill also specifies that no other person can enter the facility without prior authorization from the commissioner. The changes will take effect 90 days after the bill becomes a law.

Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: NOTICE OF COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION - REQUESTED (2026-03-10)Alert me
Author and sponsors
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Coauthors
George BorrelloPeter OberackerSteven RhoadsJulia Salazar
Recent actions3 total · showing 3
Mar. 10, 2026NOTICE OF COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION - REQUESTED
Jan. 07, 2026REFERRED TO MENTAL HEALTH
Jan. 08, 2025REFERRED TO MENTAL HEALTH
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 8, 2025 · 301 words
  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 728 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. GALLIVAN, BORRELLO, OBERACKER, RHOADS, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to certain persons authorized to visit inmate-patient facilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 29.27 of the mental hygiene law is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision (k) to read as follows: 3 (k) The following persons shall be authorized to visit at pleasure any 4 facility designated by the commissioner for care and treatment under 5 this section, provided that such persons shall make a concerted effort 6 to notify the director of any facility, as soon as practicable, that a 7 visit will occur: the governor and lieutenant-governor, commissioner of 8 general services, secretary of state, comptroller, attorney general, and 9 members of the legislature. The director of a facility shall be author- 10 ized to deny any visit, if the director determines that the visit would 11 interfere with the regularly scheduled therapeutic activities or there 12 would be an impact upon the ability to manage such facility. No other 13 person not otherwise authorized by law shall be permitted to enter a 14 facility of the office except by authority of the commissioner under 15 such regulations, as the commissioner shall prescribe. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 17 have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02817-01-5 
Text of S 728 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions
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