New York
Every law and rule change USCLI tracks for New York, across the professions, on one page. Each entry links to its full write-up and official sources.
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Licensing Law Tracker
New York licenses private investigators through the Department of State, Division of Licensing Services, under General Business Law Article 7. No law amended Article 7 and no rule changed private investigator licensing from 2023 through October 2026. The changes reached investigators indirectly: a new image-dissemination offense in Penal Law article 250, which the licensing bar covers, the Clean Slate Act’s automatic sealing of older convictions, and a judicial privacy law requiring removal of judges’ personal information.
Full New York page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (4 entries).
Bail enforcement schools no longer send student lists
Repeals 19 NYCRR 171.8, which required a school giving the 25-hour qualifying course for bail enforcement agents to send the Department the names and addresses of students who passed. Bail enforcement agents are licensed under the same Article 7 as private…
Clean Slate Act seals older convictions automatically
Adds Criminal Procedure Law 160.57, which automatically seals eligible convictions 3 years after sentencing or release for misdemeanors and 8 years for felonies, if no charges are pending and other conditions are met; sex offenses and most class A felonies…
Judges can have their personal information taken down
Judiciary Law 859 lets current and former state judges and federal judges send a written request to their court employer, which then notifies, by certified mail, each person, business, or agency the judge names; the recipient must stop making the judge’s…
New image-dissemination offense widens the licensing bar
Chapter 805 added Penal Law 250.70 and 250.71, unlawful dissemination of a personal image, and Chapter 30 of 2023 amended them and repealed 250.72. GBL 74(2)(h) and 81(1) bar a license, and employment by a licensee, after a conviction under any section of…
Officer Certification Tracker
New York has no officer license. A police officer needs a basic-training certificate under standards set by the Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC) in the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), and the certificate can be invalidated when an officer is removed for cause. Since 2023 the State has raised the police hiring age cap to 43, tied certificate validity to mental-health crisis training, barred officers from wearing face coverings while dealing with the public, and created a state-law claim for constitutional violations.
Full New York page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (7 entries).
Officers barred from face coverings; visible ID required
New Civil Rights Law article 10 (sections 100 to 102) bars police officers, peace officers, and federal law enforcement officers from wearing a face covering that conceals their identity while interacting with the public on duty. Items that are not face…
State-law claim for constitutional violations
New Civil Rights Law section 85 lets a person sue anyone who, under color of federal or state law, deprives them of rights secured by the U.S. Constitution. The legislative findings focus on claims against federal officials, but the text covers any person…
Attorney General’s police-death investigations: conflict screens and video confidentiality
Where the Office of Special Investigation’s work conflicts with the Attorney General’s defense of state employees, the Attorney General may designate a deputy or assistant to act instead. The Attorney General must adopt rules that screen the prosecution…
Candidates who fail screening can be removed from eligible lists
New CSL 58(1-a): if the appointing authority finds that a candidate does not meet the MPTC psychological fitness or good moral character standards, it “may request that the local civil service commissioner remove such candidate from the eligible list,” and…
Police hiring age cap raised from 35 to 43
The maximum age at the written exam rises from 35 to 43, and the exhausted-list exception from 39 to 43 (CSL 58(1)(a)). The CSL 58(1) eligibility rules now apply to any appointment, not only provisional or permanent appointments in the competitive class.…
Forensic Science Tracker
No law changed New York’s forensic oversight statute, Executive Law article 49-B, from 2023 through October 2026. The changes came from the Court of Appeals, which upheld familial DNA searching in 2023, and from the Clean Slate Act, which keeps DNA records of people with sealed convictions in the state databank.
Full New York page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (2 entries).
Sealed convictions do not remove DNA from the databank
The Clean Slate Act added CPL 160.57, which automatically seals eligible convictions after set waiting periods. It states that nothing in the section requires sealing or destroying DNA information kept in the state DNA databank under Executive Law article…
Court of Appeals upholds familial DNA searching
Reversed the Appellate Division and dismissed the challenge, holding that the DNA Databank Act gave the Commission on Forensic Science and its DNA Subcommittee authority to adopt the familial DNA search regulations in 9 NYCRR 6192.1 and 6192.3.
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & Investigation