PETITIONER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER UNDER POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, CAN BE PLACED IN RESIDENTIAL CORRECTIONS FACILITIES PENDING THE AVAILABILITY OF COMMUNITY HOUSING THAT IS MORE THAN 1000 FEET FROM A SCHOOL (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, applying standard rules of statutory construction, determined the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) had the authority to place petitioner, a level-three sex offender under post-release supervision, in residential corrections facilities pending the availability of Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA) compliant housing (more 1000 feet from a school):
” Statutes which relate to the same subject matter must be construed together unless a contrary legislative intent is expressed'” … . “The courts must harmonize the various provisions of related statutes and . . . construe them in a way that renders them internally compatible'” … . “In the case of a conflict between a general statute and a special statute governing the same subject matter, the general statute must yield” … . “Finally, [a] construction rendering statutory language superfluous is to be avoided'” … . …
… [C]onstruing the relevant statutes together, DOCCS has authority to temporarily place a level three sex offender who has already completed more than six months of his or her postrelease supervision, as did the petitioner in this case, into residential treatment facility housing in the event such offender is unable to locate SARA-compliant community housing. Moreover, it is clear that DOCCS's authority to keep such an offender in residential treatment facility housing ends when the offender successfully identifies or otherwise obtains SARA-compliant community housing. People v Warden, Westchester County Corr. Facility, 2018 NY Slip Op 05777, Second Dept 8-15-18
CRIMINAL LAW (SEX OFFENDERS, POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, PETITIONER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER UNDER POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, CAN BE PLACED IN RESIDENTIAL CORRECTIONS FACILITIES PENDING THE AVAILABILITY OF COMMUNITY HOUSING THAT IS MORE THAN 1000 FEET FROM A SCHOOL (SECOND DEPT))/SEX OFFENDERS (POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, PETITIONER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER UNDER POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, CAN BE PLACED IN RESIDENTIAL CORRECTIONS FACILITIES PENDING THE AVAILABILITY OF COMMUNITY HOUSING THAT IS MORE THAN 1000 FEET FROM A SCHOOL (SECOND DEPT))/SEXUAL ASSAULT REFORM ACT (SARA) (SEX OFFENDERS, POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, PETITIONER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER UNDER POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, CAN BE PLACED IN RESIDENTIAL CORRECTIONS FACILITIES PENDING THE AVAILABILITY OF COMMUNITY HOUSING THAT IS MORE THAN 1000 FEET FROM A SCHOOL (SECOND DEPT))