§ 18.7 Guarding of prisoner

While the prisoner is in the hospital, he shall remain in the custody under sufficient guard of the warden of the jail from which he came, unless custody is transferred to the Office of Mental Health pursuant to an agreement between the warden and the Commissioner of Mental Health.

This proposal is filed as a Consensus rule on the grounds that it is non-discretionary and makes minor technical corrections. No person is likely to object to this proposed rule since it merely conforms the current regulations to a recently amended statute.

Section 508 of the Correction Law authorizes inmates to be transferred from a jail to a hospital when they necessitate physical or mental health care. Pursuant to Chapter 196 of the Laws of 2017, this section of law was amended to allow the jail or warden of the local correctional institution having custody of such inmate to transfer him or her to the custody of a secure facility operated by the Office of Mental Health (OMH) when an inmate is in need of mental health treatment. Such custodial transfer would be executed pursuant to an agreement between the relevant public safety officials and OMH.

This consensus rule amends 14 NYCRR Section 18.7 to conform the regulation with the language of the amended statute.

The amendments to 14 NYCRR Section 18.7 are intended to conform the language of the regulation to the amendments made to Section 508 of the Correction Law pursuant to Chapter 196 of the Laws of 2017. The amendments to the authorizing statute permit the transfer of custody of an inmate who has been involuntarily admitted to a hospital operated by the Office of Mental Health (OMH) under the provisions of Correction Law Section 508 from the local correctional institution to OMH. Because the proposed changes are non-discretionary, there will be no adverse impact on jobs and employment opportunities as a result of these amendments. Thus, a Job Impact Statement is not submitted with this notice.