Int 1759-2019

Be it enacted by the Council as follows: Section 1. a. Commission established. There is hereby established a commission on community reinvestment and the closure of Rikers Island. b. Duties. The commission, in consultation with an expert on justice reinvestment appointed by the council, shall provide advice and recommendations to the city council and the mayor with respect to the ways in which the city can invest in neighborhoods and communities that have been disparately affected by mass incarceration to address the drivers of mass incarceration. Within six months of the formation of the commission, no later than the 30th day of each December thereafter, such commission shall submit an annual report to the mayor and the speaker of the city council and publish such report prominently on the website of the department of social services. Such report shall identify neighborhoods and populations most impacted by historical incarceration rates, analyze or assess ways in which reinvestment can reduce incarceration rates and identify opportunities for reinvestment in such communities that shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 1. Investments address the root causes of crime and preventing crime, such as housing, public health and social programs; 2. Practices, policies and community investments that avoid contact with the criminal justice system for persons in mental health crisis, struggling with substance use disorder, homelessness and extreme poverty or other situations in which a traditional law enforcement response may be unwarranted or ineffective; and 3. Proposals for legislation, reviews of prosecutorial practices and police procedures that impact any such issues. c. Membership. 1. The commission shall be composed of the following members: (a) The commissioner of the department of social services or their designee, who shall serve as chair; (b) The comptroller or their designee; (c) The commissioner of the department of probation or their designee; (d) A representative from the office of criminal justice; (e) Seven members appointed by the mayor who have been formerly incarcerated or directly impacted by incarceration; (f) Two members appointed by the mayor who represent community-based organizations focused on serving the needs of neighborhoods historically impacted by mass incarceration, such as Brownsville, The South Bronx, East New York, Harlem, and Bedford-Stuyvesant; (f) One member appointed by the speaker of the council specializing in justice reinvestment; (h) Four members appointed by the speaker of the council who have been formerly incarcerated or directly impacted by incarceration; (i) The commissioner of the department of health and mental hygiene or their designee; (j) The commissioner of the department of housing preservation and development or their designee; (k) A representative from New York city health and hospitals corporation; and (m) A representative from the New York city office of the public advocate. 2. All appointments required by this section shall be made no later than 90 days after the effective date of this local law. 3. Each member of the commission shall serve at the pleasure of the officer who appointed the member. In the event of a vacancy on the commission, a successor shall be selected in the same manner as the original appointment. All members of the commission shall serve without compensation. 4. No member shall be removed from the commission except for cause. d. Meetings. 1. The chair shall convene the first meeting of the commission no later than 30 days after the last member has been appointed. 2. The commission may invite relevant experts and stakeholders to attend its meetings and to otherwise provide testimony and information relevant to its duties. 3. The commission shall meet no less than once each quarter to carry out the duties described in section one. 4. The commission shall hold public hearings on a quarterly basis. e. The commission shall identify between five and ten neighborhoods that have been disparately impacted by mass incarceration, and solicit feedback from community based organizations and service providers focused on serving the needs of such neighborhoods. f. Agency support. Each agency affected by this local law shall provide appropriate staff and resources to support the work of such agency related to the commission. g. Within 60 days after publication of the commission's report, the mayor of the city of New York shall publish a response to each recommendation published by the commission. h. Termination. The commission shall terminate on March 31, 2027. � 2. This local law takes effect immediately. KMD/AS LS 10630 10/9/19 11:55 AM