Correction Law § 168-R

Immunity from liability · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 168-r. Immunity from liability. 1. No official, employee or agency, whether public or private, shall be subject to any civil or criminal liability for damages for any discretionary decision to release relevant and necessary information pursuant to this section, unless it is shown that such official, employee or agency acted with gross negligence or in bad faith. The immunity provided under this section applies to the release of relevant information to other employees or officials or to the general public.

2. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose any civil or criminal liability upon or to give rise to a cause of action against any official, employee or agency, whether public or private, for failing to release information as authorized in this section unless it is shown that such official, employee or agency acted with gross negligence or in bad faith.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/COR/168-R

In plain English

Officials, employees, and public or private agencies generally are protected from civil and criminal liability over registry disclosures:

(1) A discretionary decision to release relevant and necessary information creates no damages liability unless the actor was grossly negligent or acted in bad faith; this covers release to officials, employees, or the public. ★
(2) A failure to release authorized information likewise creates no liability or cause of action unless it involved gross negligence or bad faith.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Clerk in Plain English; Volume 6 — The Court Clerk: Uniform Rules and Everything Else; Volume 2 — Your Career: Criminal Procedure in Plain English.