A2350 Summary

• Replaces "certificate of good conduct" and "certificate of relief from disabilities" with a unified "certificate of restoration" throughout New York state law.

• Expands automatic certificate eligibility: courts must issue certificates at sentencing unless public safety would be jeopardized, and the Department of Corrections must issue them to eligible offenders who earned merit time or earned eligibility certificates during incarceration.

• For offenders where sentencing certificates are denied due to public safety concerns, establishes delayed issuance timelines: one year after serving a revocable sentence or one year post-release from incarceration for those without new convictions or pending arrests.

• Removes the restriction preventing certificates from applying to public office eligibility and allows revoked certificates to be reissued under specified conditions.

• Makes conforming amendments across multiple state laws (tax, alcoholic beverage control, agriculture, public health, vehicle and traffic, election, employment, and licensing statutes) to replace outdated certificate terminology with "certificate of restoration."