Summary of the Perfected Version of the Bill

HCS HB 1826 -- OFFENDERS UNDER THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

CORRECTIONS (Fitzwater)

COMMITTEE OF ORIGIN: Committee on Corrections

This substitute allows the Board of Probation and Parole within

the Department of Corrections, or a hearing panel of the board,

to conduct a hearing with an offender by means of a videoconference at its discretion. Victims having a right to

attend parole hearings may testify at the site where the board is

conducting the videoconference or at the institution where the

offender is located. The use of videoconferencing cannot be

utilized if the offender, victim, or victim’s family object to

it.

The Director of the Department of Corrections is authorized to

establish, as a three-year pilot program, a mental health

assessment process. Upon a motion filed by the prosecutor in a

criminal case, the judge who is hearing the case may request that

an offender be placed in the department for 120 days for a mental

health assessment and for treatment if it appears that the person

has a mental disorder or illness that may qualify him or her for

probation including community psychiatric rehabilitation programs

and if the probation is appropriate and not inconsistent with

public safety. Before the judge rules on the motion, the victim

must be given the opportunity to be heard by the court. Upon

recommendation of the court, the department must determine the

offender’s eligibility for the mental health assessment process.

Following the assessment and treatment period, an assessment

report must be sent to the sentencing court. The court, if

appropriate, may release the offender on probation to be

supervised by a state probation and parole officer who must work

with the Department of Mental Health to enroll eligible offenders

in community psychiatric rehabilitation programs. A person

convicted of certain specified serious offenses or any offense

where probation or parole is prohibited or anyone who has been

found to be a predatory sexual offender is not eligible for

probation. At the end of the three-year pilot, the directors of

the departments of Corrections and Mental Health must jointly

submit recommendations by December 31, 2015, to the Governor and

General Assembly on whether to expand the process statewide.

FISCAL NOTE: Estimated Net Cost on General Revenue Fund of

Unknown less than $100,000 in FY 2013, FY 2014, and FY 2015. No

impact on Other State Funds in FY 2013, FY 2014, and FY 2015.

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