# New York

New York has no corrections licensing board. Correction officers in state prisons and county jails, parole officers, and probation officers are peace officers who must complete state-approved training and be certified by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) within 12 months of appointment. After the deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, a 2025 omnibus required death-related video to reach the Attorney General within 72 hours; a 2026 chapter amendment extended that to audio, replaced a camera mandate for all jails and prisons with a DOCCS camera plan subject to funding, and cut the State Commission of Correction to five members. Residency rules for state and some county correction officers were also loosened.

Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/new-york

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** No licensing board. Correction officers of any state correctional facility or “penal correctional institution” (including county jails), parole officers, and probation officers are peace officers (CPL 2.10(23), (24), (25)). Every peace officer must complete a training program prescribed partly by the Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC) and partly by the employer. DCJS awards the certificate, and no peace officer may exercise peace officer powers without it “within twelve months of appointment” ([CPL 2.30(1), (2)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CPL/2.30)). The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) trains state correction officers. The State Commission of Correction (SCOC) oversees jails and prisons. The MPTC and the police certificate are covered on the [New York Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/new-york).
- **Statute:** Criminal Procedure Law 2.10 and 2.30 (peace officer status and training); Executive Law 840 and 845 (MPTC and the DCJS registry of police and peace officers); Correction Law article 3 (SCOC, sections 40 to 48), 22-b and 500-q (death-related video and audio), 135-a (DOCCS camera coverage), 137 (HALT segregated confinement limits), and 611 (pregnant incarcerated people); Public Officers Law 3 (residency).
- **Minimum standards:** Statutory hiring qualifications for DOCCS correction officers (age, education) were not located in the sections reviewed; they are set by DOCCS and Civil Service. Residency rules changed: since September 1, 2025, State residency is not required for correction officer trainees and correction officers at state facilities (Public Officers Law 3(9-a)), and since June 26, 2026, listed local correction staff in Rockland and Orange counties may live in those counties or contiguous New York counties (POL 3(2-e)). Entries below.
- **Basic training:** The MPTC portion of the peace officer course may not exceed 180 hours unless law or regulation requires more or the employer asks for more, and the employer adds training specific to the job. Certification is required within 12 months of appointment. Armed duty requires an MPTC-approved course in deadly physical force and firearms, with annual instruction in deadly physical force and firearms ([CPL 2.30(1) to (3)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CPL/2.30)). The length of the DOCCS academy for state correction officers was not verified from an official page.
- **In-service training:** Armed peace officers must receive annual instruction in deadly physical force and firearms (CPL 2.30(3)). Staff of special housing, keeplock, and residential rehabilitation units, and their supervisors, need specialized training before assignment and regularly after, including trauma-informed care, restorative justice, and dispute resolution. Disciplinary hearing officers need 37 hours of training before presiding and one day a year after ([Correction Law 137(6)(n)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/137)). No general annual hour minimum for correction officers was found.
- **Decertification:** Through the training certificate, not a license. DCJS says a police or peace officer’s basic training certificate is immediately invalidated when the officer is removed for cause for misconduct, or resigns or retires in connection with allegations of misconduct, under 9 NYCRR Part 6056; employers must report separations, including removal for cause, to the DCJS registry (Exec. Law 845). Unlike a police officer, a decertified peace officer may be hired again as a peace officer, but must retake and complete basic training within one year of appointment. DCJS posts a Police / Peace Officer Decertification List, updated October 15, 2026 ([DCJS registry page](https://criminaljustice.ny.gov/police-peace-officer-registry)). See the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/new-york) for the Part 6056 text.
- **Jail standards:** The State Commission of Correction must visit, inspect, and appraise the management of correctional facilities, including safety, security, health, sanitation, programs, disturbance and fire preparedness, and incarcerated people’s rights, at least annually for jails and DOCCS facilities. It investigates grievances in local facilities and sets minimum standards (9 NYCRR chapter I) ([Correction Law 45](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/45)). L.2025, ch.707, Part H, as amended by L.2026, ch.36, Part H: the Commission now has five members appointed by the Governor with Senate consent, two of them part-time, including at least one formerly incarcerated person ([Correction Law 41](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/41)).
- **Probation and parole officers:** DOCCS parole officers and warrant officers, and local probation officers, are peace officers subject to the MPTC and DCJS training and certification requirement within 12 months of appointment (CPL 2.10(23), (24), 2.30). Since November 1, 2025, a person under local probation supervision is legally incapable of consent to sexual conduct with a probation department employee who supervises or has supervised them (Penal Law 130.05(3)(k); entry below).
- **Restrictive housing:** HALT Solitary Confinement Act ([Correction Law 137(6)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/137)). Segregated confinement is limited to 15 consecutive days and 20 total days in any 60-day period, after which the person must be released or diverted to a residential rehabilitation unit, except after listed serious acts. Hearings are generally required before placement or within 5 days, with representation allowed. Segregation for protective custody is barred. Residential rehabilitation unit residents have a right to discharge after one year, or within 60 days of release, absent recent listed acts and joint review, and get reviews every 60 days. DOCCS must publish monthly segregation data, including pregnancy status. Whether and how these limits apply to local jails was not verified for this page.
- **Corrections use of force:** No restraints of any kind may be used in transporting a woman known to be pregnant or within 8 weeks after delivery or pregnancy outcome, in state or local facilities, unless there are extraordinary circumstances: an individualized determination with medical consultation, or a transport emergency posing an immediate risk of serious injury. Even then only front wrist restraints may be used, and the use must be documented ([Correction Law 611(1)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/611)). Since December 19, 2025, DOCCS and local jails must give the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation, within 72 hours and unredacted, any video it deems related to the death of an incarcerated person, as amended by L.2026, ch.36 to cover audio and deaths involving DOCCS or jail peace officers, with later-found footage due within 24 hours (Correction Law 22-b, 500-q; L.2025, ch.707, Part A; L.2026, ch.36, Part A).

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jun 26, 2026 — **Rockland and Orange county jail staff may live in contiguous counties** — L.2026, ch.136 (A10080-B/S9020), adding Public Officers Law 3(2-e) and 30(9) · Signed June 26, 2026; effective immediately — Local residency requirements do not apply to correction recruits, officers, corporals, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, colonels, chiefs of corrections, assistant wardens, or wardens appointed “by a sheriff’s department or local correctional facility of any political subdivision or municipal corporation in the counties of Rockland and Orange,” if they live in those counties or a contiguous New York county. Section 30(9) keeps a listed title holder employed by such a department or facility as of April 4, 2026 in office if the person lives within 45 miles of Rockland or Orange County, measured from the nearest boundary. — **For corrections staff:** Rockland and Orange county correction staff may live in neighboring New York counties, and staff employed as of April 4, 2026 who live within 45 miles keep their posts. — [A10080-B (2025-26)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A10080/amendment/B)
- Feb 13, 2026 — **Oversight omnibus rewritten: DOCCS camera plan replaces the all-facility mandate; audio added to death-video disclosure; Commission cut to five** — L.2026, ch.36 (A9516), chapter amendment to L.2025, ch.707; repealing Correction Law 628, adding 135-a, amending 22-b, 500-q, 41, 146, and Exec. Law 70-b · Signed February 13, 2026. Part B (section 135-a) effective immediately; Part A takes effect with ch.707, Part A; each other Part has its own date — Part B repeals Correction Law 628, the ch.707 mandate for fixed cameras with audio in all state and local facilities, before its effective date. New section 135-a applies only to DOCCS facilities and vehicles that transport incarcerated people. Within 180 days the Commissioner must write a plan for comprehensive camera coverage (audio and clear video of housing units, common areas, medical units, corridors, program areas, entrances, and exits, around the clock, except inside cells, showers, and toilet areas, and inside occupied transport vehicles), including feasibility and timelines, and then implement it “subject to the availability of appropriated funds.” Rules due within 180 days must require at least 60 days’ retention for all footage and at least five years for footage tied to a DOCCS Office of Special Investigations inquiry into staff misconduct or criminal activity. Footage is released on a formal request with a subpoena or court order. The State Inspector General may investigate complaints and audit compliance. — Part A amends the death-video sections to cover audio recordings and deaths involving DOCCS or local-jail peace officers as well as correction officers. The Commissioner or jail administrator must make reasonable good-faith efforts to find relevant recordings and disclose them within 72 hours of the death, and must disclose later-found recordings within 24 hours, with the circumstances of the discovery. The 90-day delay-on-certification clause is struck; confidentiality and delay now sit in new Executive Law 70-b(3-a). Part H rewrites Correction Law 41: five members appointed by the Governor with Senate consent, two of them part-time, at least one formerly incarcerated and one with a listed professional background. The date of the Part H change is tied to Part HH of chapter 55 of 2025, which was not checked; the Senate’s posted section 41 reads “five persons.” Part I lets DOCCS restrict Correctional Association visits when a facility is locked down or in an emergency. — **For corrections staff:** Death-related video and audio must reach the Attorney General within 72 hours, and DOCCS must plan comprehensive fixed-camera coverage of prisons and transport vans, subject to funding. County jails are no longer under a state camera mandate. — [A9516 (2025-26)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A9516)[Correction Law 41](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/41)
- Dec 19, 2025 — **Prison oversight omnibus after the Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi deaths** — L.2025, ch.707 (S8415/A8871), Parts A to J; amended by L.2026, ch.36 · Signed December 19, 2025, with approval memo 82; Part A effective on signing; other Parts have their own dates — Part A (new Correction Law 22-b and 500-q): DOCCS and local correctional facilities must give the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation unredacted video (fixed cameras, body-worn cameras, handheld devices) that it deems related to an in-custody death. “Such video footage shall be disclosed within seventy-two hours of the occurrence of the death.” L.2026, ch.36 later added audio and peace officers and struck the delay clause (entry above). Part B (Correction Law 628, a camera mandate for all facilities) was repealed by ch.36 before it took effect. Part C requires prompt next-of-kin notice of a death in custody. Part D orders an SCOC study of prison deaths, now due within 18 months. Part G requires quarterly reports from the DOCCS Office of Special Investigations. Part H enlarged the SCOC to nine members, later cut to five by ch.36. Part I expands Correctional Association visits. Part J extends limitation periods for injury claims arising while a person was in DOCCS custody (other than community supervision), a local correctional facility, a Correction Law 400 hospital, or an alternate correctional facility. As amended by L.2026, ch.36, Part J, claimants keep the normal limitations period plus a two-year window after release, in place of the original three years after release. — **For corrections staff:** Any footage related to a death in custody, including body-camera video, must reach the Attorney General within 72 hours. — [S8415 (2025-26)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8415)[A9516 (chapter amendment)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A9516)
- Nov 1, 2025 — **People on local probation cannot consent to sex with their supervising probation employee** — L.2024, ch.503 (S2922), adding Penal Law 130.05(3)(k) · Signed November 22, 2024; effective “on the first of November next succeeding” enactment, November 1, 2025 (computed) — A person “under the supervision of a local probation department, pursuant to section two hundred seventy-two of the correction law,” or a similar local agency, is deemed incapable of consent when the actor is an employee who supervises the person, or has supervised them while they remain under supervision, and knows or should know of the supervision. — **For corrections staff:** A local probation employee who supervises a person, or has supervised a person who is still under local probation supervision, cannot rely on that person’s consent as a defense to a sex offense. — [S2922 (2023-24)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S2922)
- Sep 1, 2025 — **State residency no longer required for state correction officers** — L.2025, ch.55 (S3005-C/A3005-C, fiscal 2026 public protection budget), Part C, adding Public Officers Law 3(9-a) · Signed May 9, 2025; Part C “shall take effect September 1, 2025” — The Public Officers Law 3 requirement that officers be State residents “shall not apply to any person employed as a correction officer trainee or correction officer who is employed at a state correctional facility.” Part C also raises the State Police mandatory retirement age to 63 and changes police officer age limits in Civil Service Law 58. — **For corrections staff:** DOCCS may hire correction officer trainees who live outside New York. — [S3005-C (2025)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S3005/amendment/C)
- Mar 13, 2025 — **Annual heat mitigation plan for prisons covering incarcerated people and staff** — L.2024, ch.561 (A9169), adding Correction Law 112(6); amended by L.2025, ch.63 (A1676) · Ch.561 signed December 13, 2024, effective on the 90th day, March 13, 2025 (computed); ch.63 signed February 14, 2025, effective on the same date as ch.561 — The Commissioner must adopt rules for “an annual heat mitigation plan to ensure incarcerated individuals and correctional facility staff have options available to stay cool, hydrated and safe.” To the extent possible, the plan includes industrial fans, water, ice, and extra showers; commissaries stocked with personal fans before summer; temperature monitoring in housing, program, and industry areas; a list of incarcerated people and staff with heat-sensitive medical conditions, with monitoring; more rounds and wellness checks; and shade on exercise yards. The chapter amendment, ch.63, requires shade only “if consistent with the facility’s safety and security protocols,” and replaces the timeline for cooling stations and evaporative fans with an evaluation of whether cooling stations and a permanent cooling solution are financially and operationally feasible. A timeline is required only after a finding that permanent cooling is feasible. — **For corrections staff:** Staff with heat-sensitive conditions are to be identified and monitored, and summer rounds and wellness checks increase. — [A9169 (2023-24)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/A9169)[A1676 (2025-26)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A1676)
- Dec 22, 2024 — **DOCCS must notify emergency contacts within 24 hours of a suicide attempt or hospitalization** — L.2024, ch.490 (A9678), new Correction Law 17 · Signed November 22, 2024; effective on the 30th day after becoming law, December 22, 2024 (computed) — Within 24 hours of the attempted suicide or hospitalization of an incarcerated person, or of anyone else in DOCCS custody, the department must notify that person’s emergency contacts. — **For corrections staff:** Facility staff must start the emergency-contact notice within 24 hours of any suicide attempt or hospitalization. — [A9678 (2023-24)](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/A9678)

## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

- **DOCCS camera plan and rules (Correction Law 135-a):** due within 180 days of February 13, 2026; implementation depends on appropriations. Whether the plan has been transmitted was not checked.

The Correction Law 628 camera mandate in L.2025, ch.707, Part B, once set to take effect December 19, 2026 (computed: one year after it became law on December 19, 2025), was repealed by L.2026, ch.36 and will not take effect. Failed bills were not swept: the bill search used the Senate’s signed-bill results for 2023-24 and 2025-26, the service rate-limited requests, and results beyond about six pages per query were not reviewed.

## Checked and unchanged

- No 2025 or 2026 change to HALT (Correction Law 137(6)) or to DOCCS hiring standards after the 2025 correction officer strike was found among signed bills. Any administrative suspension of HALT provisions is agency action, and no primary source for it was checked.
- Not verified: SCOC minimum standards (9 NYCRR) and DOCCS or SCOC rule changes from 2023 to 2026, because the NYCRR is on a commercial host; and when the “at a minimum, annually” inspection language in Correction Law 45(3) was added.