Provides that court records in a proceeding under articles 77, 78 and 81 of the mental hygiene law shall not be perused, examined, disclosed, taken or copied by any other person than a party, the attorney or counsel of a party, the guardian, the court evaluator or the court examiner except by order of the court.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9448
SPONSOR: Thiele TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to disclosure of the
records of court proceedings
PURPOSE:
This legislation would limit access to the court records in Article 81
Guardianship proceedings.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends subdivision (b) of Section 81.14 of the Mental Hygiene
Law to provide that the court records in a oroceeding under Article 81
Guardianship proceeding shall not be perused, examined, disclosed, taken
or copied by any other person than a party, the attorney or counsel of a
party, the guardian, the court evaluator or the court examiner except by
order of the court. Also subdivision (d) of Section 81.14 of the Mental
Hygiene Law is amended to remove the requirement of the courts to inform
the allegedly incapacitated person of his or her right to request that
the court records be sealed at the time of the commencement of the hear-
ing.
Section 2. Applicability. The obligation of a County Clerk to limit
access to the records of proceedings occurring prior to the effective
date of this act shall only be limited to the extent that a County Clerk
can readily identify the records of proceedings to which this act
applies. A court may also limit access to the records of proceedings had
prior to the effective date hereof in accordance with this act, which
shall not abridge the court's authority to further restrict access for
good cause shown pursuant to any other law or rule.
Section 3. Provides for an immediate effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, court records of Article 81 Guardianship proceedings are
available for public inspection and contain significant amounts of
personal information which may be used to gain access to and control of
an incapacitated person's financial assets. With the ever-increasing
risk and reports of identity theft, it is necessary to limit access to
the very information used to perpetrate such crimes will go a long way
to protecting those who are unable to protect themselves.
The rise of identity theft poses a serious threat to all of us. Some,
however, are at greater risk and are unable to readily protect them-
selves. Individuals who are disabled mentally and who are unable to
manage their affairs are among the most vulnerable to this epidemic.
These individuals. are also often the subject of court proceedings
instituted for the purpose of appointing someone to manage their
personal needs and property. It is the intent of this legislation to
impose greater safeguards on personal information in these cases by
limiting access to court records in Article 81 Guardianship proceedings.
Various statutes are already in place to prevent the disclosure of
social security numbers. In addition, the Chief Administrative Judge of
the New York State Courts has recently promulgated Uniform Rule Section
202.5(e;(2) which allows the Courts, on their own, to seal "confidential
personal information" which includes social security numbers, dates of
birth and account numbers, among others. The directive of Public Offi-
cers Law Section 96-a which prohibits the County and Court Clerks from
the intentional disclosure of social security numbers, places an onerous
burden on those clerks to safeguard this information.
Under this legislation, access to the court records in an Article 81
proceeding would be in a manner similar to the records in matrimonial
actions. In this case, the records would not be available to anyone
other than a party, the attorney or counsel of a party, the guardian,
the court evaluator or the court examiners except by order of the court.
It also seals all records prior to and after the effective date of this
amendment.
County Clerks will be the officials tasked with complying with this
change in the law. Identification of records whose access is, limited.
by this amendment can be a burden on those officials where past and
present proceedings have not been separately identified as one held
under Article 81. To ameliorate the burden that will be placed on County
Clerks, their obligation to limit the access to these records should be
limited only to the extent that a County Clerk can identify these
records. In furtherance of the goals of this legislation to limit access
to any and all proceedings past, present and future held under Article
81, a court may also limit access to the records of those proceedings in
accordance with this act. Any such action by a court shall not abridge
the court's general authority to further restrict access for good cause
shown under. any other law or rule.
This amendment to the Mental Hygiene Law will go a long way in protect-
ing the most vulnerable of our populace and brings greater consistency
in the treatment of such sensitive information. This proposal is
supported by the New York State Association of County Clerks.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.4070/S.7044
2019-20: A.6229/S.4835
2018:A.10122A/S.7720B
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately an shall apply to any and all
past, present and future proceedings held pursuant to Article 81 of the
Mental Hygiene Law on and after the effective date of this act.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9448
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. THIELE, RAMOS, NORRIS, DeSTEFANO, SMITH -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to disclosure of the
records of court proceedings
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions (b) and (d) of section 81.14 of the mental
2 hygiene law, as added by chapter 698 of the laws of 1992, are amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (b) [The court shall not enter an order sealing the court records in a
5 proceeding under this article, either in whole or in part, except upon a
6 written finding of good cause, which shall specify the grounds thereof.
7 In determining whether good cause has been shown, the court shall
8 consider the interest of the public, the orderly and sound adminis-
9 tration of justice, the nature of the proceedings, and the privacy of
10 the person alleged to be incapacitated. Where it appears necessary or
11 desirable, the court may prescribe appropriate notice and opportunity to
12 be heard.] Court records in a proceeding under this article shall not be
13 perused, examined, disclosed, taken or copied by any other person than a
14 party, the attorney or counsel of a party, the guardian, the court eval-
15 uator or the court examiner except by order of the court. Court records
16 shall include all documents and records of any nature filed with the
17 clerk in connection with the proceeding. Documents obtained through
18 disclosure and not filed with the clerk shall remain subject to protec-
19 tive orders under the civil practice law and rules.
20 (d) At the time of the commencement of the hearing, the court shall
21 inform the allegedly incapacitated person of his or her right to request
22 for good cause [that the court records be sealed and] that a person,
23 persons, or the general public be excluded from the hearing.
24 § 2. Applicability. The obligation of a county clerk to limit access
25 to the records of proceedings occurring prior to the effective date of
26 this act shall only be limited to the extent that a county clerk can
27 readily identify the records of proceedings to which this act applies. A
28 court may also seal or limit access to the records of proceedings held
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14765-01-4
A. 9448 2
1 prior to the effective date of this act, provided, however, that such
2 action shall not abridge the court's authority to further restrict
3 access for good cause shown pursuant to any other law, regulation or
4 rule.
5 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any and
6 all past, present and future proceedings held pursuant to article 81 of
7 the mental hygiene law on and after the effective date of this act.
