It’s Time for Elder Parole: Justice, Dignity, and Fiscal Sense for Aging Incarcerated New Yorkers

New York’s prisons are aging — but our justice system hasn’t caught up. Today, more than one in every four people incarcerated in New York State is age 50 or older. Many of these individuals have served decades of their sentences, many with clean disciplinary records and evidence of personal transformation. 

The Elder Parole Bill (A00514/S00454) offers a solution. The bill would provide that incarcerated people aged 50 and older who have served at least 20 years are given the opportunity for a parole hearing. This simple solution would work toward a more just prison system, alleviating unnecessary punishment for older prisoners.  It’s a modest reform with major implications for justice, public safety, and state finances. Despite being introduced repeatedly over the past decade, the bill has yet to become law.

The bill was referred once again to the Assembly’s Committee on Correction and the Senate’s Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction at the start of the session (1). Will 2025 be the year New York finally acts?

New York’s overall prison population has dropped by more than half since 2008 — from 63,000 to 31,000. But the number of older adults in prison has remained virtually the same, increasing slightly from 7,500 to 7,600. As a result, the proportion of incarcerated people who are aged 50 and older has more than doubled, from 12% to 25% (2). The average age of someone in state custody has risen by over four years since 2008 — from 36.2 to 40.3 years (3). In 2021, Columbia University’s Center for Justice released a report that the state would save $522 million annually with the passage of this bill (4).

This trend isn’t just a statistical anomaly. It’s a signal that New York’s prison system is holding older people who pose little risk to public safety — and doing so at enormous cost.

New York spends an estimated $100,000 to $240,000 per year per older incarcerated person (5). Much of this cost is driven by healthcare needs, which escalate with age. Because federal law prohibits states from using Medicaid funds to cover prison healthcare in most cases (6), the full burden falls on the state budget. Upon release, many individuals become eligible for Medicaid or other health coverage that is partially federally funded — saving the state money.

The Elder Parole Bill doesn’t promise release. It simply ensures that those who have served 20 years and are 50 or older have an opportunity to make their case before a parole board. It recognizes that people can change — and that decades of incarceration should not be a life sentence by default.

Many older incarcerated individuals have demonstrated rehabilitation, taken responsibility, and contributed positively to their prison communities. Denying them even the chance at parole is both cruel and counterproductive. It’s a system focused on endless punishment, not accountability or healing.

Versions of this bill have been introduced again and again, under different sponsors and bill numbers — A.2034, A.8855, A.9040, S.8581, and others — and have repeatedly died in committee (7). The political will to pass Elder Parole has been lacking, even as support from advocates, families, and budget analysts continues to grow. With the bill now reintroduced as A00514/S00454, lawmakers in Albany have another chance to do the right thing. 

In an age where government efficiency is at the top of headlines, we urge the state of New York to make this sensible measure to make New York more just while also decreasing budgetary costs for the state. Twenty-Three states and the District of Columbia have already made this vital step (8). It is past time for New York to join the fold.

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(1) New York State Senate, “Bill S454,” The New York State Senate, accessed April 23, 2025, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S454.

(2) Office of the New York State Comptroller, New York State’s Aging Prison Population: The Share of Older Adults Keeps Rising, September 2023, https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/new-york-states-aging-prison-population-share-older-adults-keeps-rising.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Center for Justice at Columbia University, Unlocking Billions: A Fiscal Analysis of Pending Justice Reforms in New York State (New York: Center for Justice at Columbia University, 2021), https://centerforjustice.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Final%20Unlocking%20Billions%20Report.pdf.

(5) Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, “Elder Parole Campaign Brief,” 2023, https://rappcampaign.com/elder-parole.

(6) Social Security Act, §1905(a), 42 U.S.C. §1396d(a).

(7) New York State Assembly and Senate Legislative History, 2009–2024.

(8) National Conference of State Legislatures. “State Medical and Geriatric Parole Laws.” National Conference of State Legislatures. Accessed April 24, 2025. https://www.ncsl.org/civil-and-criminal-justice/state-medical-and-geriatric-parole-laws.