New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is making a last-minute push to permanently assign cases where someone dies following an encounter with a member of law enforcement to the state Attorney General's Office for an investigation, rather than a local district attorney.

That's designed to prevent a conflict of interest that some have alleged could be presented by local prosecutors investigating members of law enforcement who they may know personally, or be more likely to give the benefit of the doubt.

The measure would codify an executive order from Cuomo four years ago that appointed the state Attorney General's Office as a special prosecutor when an unarmed civilian was killed by a member of law enforcement. Cuomo has since asked lawmakers to make that order permanent through legislative action and even included it in his executive budget proposal in January.

He argued Monday that if lawmakers don't approve a bill codifying the order, it would disappear when he leaves office. That would direct cases of police-involved deaths back to local prosecutors.

“We were supposed to pass a law that enshrined a special prosecutor for police misconduct. That has never happened,” Cuomo said. “I'm not going to continue to do this under executive order. I want a real office set up with real funding and real expertise.”

It's not something that Democrats in the Legislature have resisted, but this year was the first time since the executive order that they've had a real chance of codifying the idea into state law. Democrats took control of both houses of the Legislature this year for the first time in nearly a decade.

Republicans, who previously controlled the State Senate, had blocked the proposal from moving in recent years. It, conversely, passed in the Democrat-led Assembly last year, largely along party lines.

But, this year, it hasn't been approved by either chamber as of yet. State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx, said earlier this year that the version Cuomo proposed in his executive budget didn't go as far as they wanted when codifying the measure. Bailey sponsors legislation to permanently direct cases of police-involved deaths to the state Attorney General's Office.

His bill, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Nick Perry, D-Brooklyn, would go beyond Cuomo's executive order. Cuomo's version would only direct cases where a civilian is unarmed to the state Attorney General's Office for investigation and possible prosecution.

The proposal from Bailey and Perry would have the Attorney General's Office handle all cases where a civilian dies after an interaction with law enforcement, regardless of whether they were armed or not. It would also make certain grand jury proceedings more readily available to the public.

The legislation started to move in recent weeks after it was amended to its current version. It was approved by the Senate Codes Committee last week and was referred to another committee to be considered before it can come to the floor. The Assembly Codes Committee hasn't taken up the legislation since it was amended last month.

Bailey said the newly amended bill isn't a three-way agreement between the Legislature and the governor, but that he and Perry are pushing for the measure to pass both chambers by the end of session. They hadn't spoken to the governor or his staff about the bill as of last week.

“As of right now, we have the same-as bill and as session comes down we're looking for ways to continue to have this conversation and hopefully get this passed by the end of session,” Bailey said.

The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, the group representing the state's prosecutors, hasn't taken a position on Cuomo's current proposal. But it was against the executive order when Cuomo first issued it in 2015. The group took issue with the notion, implied by the order, that prosecutors could not objectively investigate police-involved fatalities.

DAASNY did not immediately comment on Cuomo's renewed push to codify the executive order.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, has long been a supporter of the measure. She mentioned it repeatedly while campaigning for the position last year, and has maintained her position on the proposal since taking office.

James even put out her own proposal last year that would broaden the jurisdiction of her office over police-involved incidents. She called for her office to also have permanent jurisdiction over cases where civilians are injured during an interaction with law enforcement or when an officer is accused of sexual assault or a hate crime.

Representatives for James did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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