Section 13.09. Powers of the office and commissioner; how exercised

(a)  The  commissioner shall exercise all powers vested in the office.
  He may delegate any function, power, or duty assigned to him or  to  the
  office  to  any  officer  or  employee  of  the office, unless otherwise
  provided by law. He may enter into agreements with  other  commissioners
  of  the  department  in  order  to ensure that programs and services are
  provided for all of the mentally disabled.
    (b) The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations  necessary  and
  proper  to  implement any matter under his jurisdiction. In promulgating
  rules  and  regulations,  the  commissioner  shall   comply   with   the
  requirements of subdivision (e) of section 13.05 of this article.
    * (c)  The commissioner and directors of office facilities may request
  and upon such  request  the  coroner,  coroner's  physician  or  medical
  examiner  shall  provide  to  such  persons  access  to original autopsy
  slides, tissue materials and  specimens  derived  from  any  autopsy  or
  inquiry  with  respect to the death of a patient or resident in a mental
  hygiene facility, as defined in section  45.01  of  this  chapter.  Such
  original  materials  shall  be  preserved intact, except for unavoidable
  changes due to necessary scientific testing and shall be returned to the
  coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner.
    * NB There are 2 sub (c)'s
    * (c) The commissioner shall accept custody of  a  juvenile  under  an
  order  issued  by the family court pursuant to the provisions of section
  322.2 of the family  court  act.  He  may  place  the  juvenile  in  any
  appropriate  facility  or  program  under his jurisdiction, but he shall
  comply with any order requiring treatment in a residential facility made
  pursuant to paragraph (c) of subdivision five of section  322.2  of  the
  family   court  act.  In  determining  the  appropriate  placement,  the
  commissioner shall be furnished with a copy of the findings of the court
  pursuant to subdivision four or five of  section  322.2  of  the  family
  court  act  and  shall  consider  the  nature of the act alleged in such
  findings  and  the  level  of  the  juvenile's  mental  disability.  The
  commissioner  shall  review  the condition of the juvenile in accordance
  with the requirements of section 322.2 of the family court  act  and  he
  may  petition  the family court at any time for any relief authorized by
  such section.
    * NB There are 2 sub (c)'s
    (d) The commissioner shall work cooperatively with the commissioner of
  the office of mental health  and  the  commissioner  of  the  office  of
  temporary  and  disability  assistance  to  assist  the  commissioner of
  education in furnishing integrated employment  services  to  individuals
  with  severe  disabilities,  including  the development of an integrated
  employment implementation plan, pursuant to article  twenty-one  of  the
  education law.
    (e) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to address
  the  communications needs of non-English speaking individuals seeking or
  receiving services in facilities operated or licensed by the  office  in
  order to facilitate their access to services. Such rules and regulations
  shall  include,  but  not be limited to, reasonable means to accommodate
  the  language  capabilities  and  preferences  of  non-English  speaking
  individuals in such facilities where a significant number of non-English
  speaking individuals seek or receive services.
    * (f)  The  commissioner,  in  cooperation with other applicable state
  agencies, shall be authorized to  collect,  retain  or  modify  data  or
  records, or to transmit such data or records to the division of criminal
  justice  services,  or  to  the  criminal  justice  information services
  division of the federal bureau of investigation,  for  the  purposes  of
  responding  to queries to the national instant criminal background check

  system regarding attempts to purchase or otherwise  take  possession  of
  firearms,  as defined in 18 USC 921(a)(3), in accordance with applicable
  federal laws or regulations. Such records shall include only  names  and
  other  non-clinical  identifying  information  of persons who have had a
  guardian appointed for them pursuant to  any  provision  of  state  law,
  based   on  a  determination  that  as  a  result  of  marked  subnormal
  intelligence, mental illness, incapacity,  condition  or  disease,  they
  lack  the  mental  capacity to contract or manage their own affairs, and
  persons who have been involuntarily committed to a facility pursuant  to
  article  fifteen  of  this  chapter,  or article seven hundred thirty or
  section 330.20 of the criminal procedure law or sections 322.2 or  353.4
  of  the  family  court  act. The commissioner shall establish within the
  office  of  mental  retardation  and   developmental   disabilities   an
  administrative  process  to  permit  a  person  who  has  been or may be
  disqualified from possessing such a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922(4)(d)
  to petition for relief from that disability where such  person's  record
  and  reputation are such that such person will not be likely to act in a
  manner dangerous to public safety and where the granting of  the  relief
  would   not  be  contrary  to  public  safety.  The  commissioner  shall
  promulgate  regulations  to  establish  the  relief  from   disabilities
  program,  which  shall  include,  but  not  be  limited  to,  provisions
  providing for: (i) an opportunity for a disqualified person to  petition
  for relief in writing; (ii) the authority for the agency to require that
  the  petitioner  undergo  a clinical evaluation and risk assessment; and
  (iii) a  requirement  that  the  agency  issue  a  decision  in  writing
  explaining  the reasons for a denial or grant of relief. The denial of a
  petition for relief from disabilities may be reviewed de  novo  pursuant
  to the proceedings under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law
  and rules.
    * NB There are 2 sb (f)'s
    * (f) Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation, on request by
  a  representative  of  a cemetery organization or funeral establishment,
  the commissioner and directors of office facilities shall release to the
  representative the name, date of birth, or date of death of a person who
  was a patient at the facility when the person died, unless the person or
  the person's guardian provided written instructions to the facility  not
  to   release  such  person's  name  or  dates  of  birth  and  death.  A
  representative of a cemetery organization or a funeral establishment may
  use a name or date released under this subdivision only for the  purpose
  of inscribing the name or date on a grave marker.
    * NB There are 2 sb (f)'s