Bill Text: HI SB76 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 76 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Corrections; Parole; Earned-time Program

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-17 - Referred to PSM/JDL, WAM. [SB76 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SB76-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	76
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to parole.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that states are creating and expanding earned time programs that reduce the length of stay for certain offenders while maintaining public safety. Among policies that states use to reserve prison beds for the most dangerous offenders, earned time also creates an incentive for motivated offenders to work, take part in rehabilitation, and otherwise prepare to be successful in the community. Earned time helps states reduce the corrections budget burden and allows funds saved to be invested in programs that reduce recidivism and help build safe communities.

Education and work offer the most common opportunities for earned time. In at least twenty-one states, inmates earn time off their sentences by participating in or completing educational courses. In Nevada, for example, an inmate can earn ten days per month for participation in an education program; and an additional sixty, ninety, or one hundred twenty days for completing a certificate, diploma, or degree, respectively.

At least eighteen states provide earned time for work. This includes facility work assignments, jobs with prison industries, or work crews. California, Colorado, and Louisiana laws reward inmates who are trained to work in disaster relief or on conservation projects. Sentence credits for these programs are greater than for ordinary prison work, education, or training. In California, an inmate earns two days' credit for every one day of such service.

Inmates can earn time for participating in, as well as credit for completing, vocational programs in at least sixteen states. Rehabilitative programs, including substance abuse and mental health treatment, provide opportunities for earned time in at least fourteen states.

Special projects are eligible for earned time in Kentucky, Maryland, and Mississippi. At least thirteen states award time for meritorious service, such as preventing escape, helping in emergency situations, and helping to maintain the safety and security of the institution. In North Dakota, meritorious credit is defined as "exceptional quantity or quality of work far beyond the normal expectations for the job assignment, beneficial suggestions resulting in substantial savings to the state, acts of outstanding heroism, or acts which protect the lives of employees or other inmates or the property of the institution."

The national council on crime and delinquency recently published a literature review of studies on state "accelerated release" policies over a twenty-three year period. Of the thirteen research reports reviewed, none found a statistically significant increase in rates of recidivism for those offenders who reduced their length of incarceration. A few studies instead found a decrease in recidivism rates. An evaluation of Wisconsin's earned time policy, for example, found that seventeen per cent of inmates released early returned to prison after the first year, compared to twenty-eight per cent of those freed on their mandatory release date.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reported in 2011 that Hawaii was one of only seven states that did not offer "good time" or "earned time" credits.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a system of earned time that allows inmates in Hawaii or in contracted correctional facilities on the mainland to earn credit toward their minimum time of imprisonment.

SECTION 2. Chapter 353, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§353- Earned-time program. (a) There is established the earned-time program to be administered by the department. Under this program, a committed person shall be eligible for parole before the expiration of the person's minimum term set by the Hawaii paroling authority upon demonstrating progress toward rehabilitation in each of the following categories to the extent that the services listed in the following categories are available at the committed person's correctional facility:

(1) Work, vocational, or occupational training and skills, including consideration of factors such as attendance, promptness, performance, cooperation, care of materials, and safety;

(2) Social adjustment, including skills such as group living, housekeeping, personal hygiene, and cooperation;

(3) Counseling sessions and self-help groups;

(4) Therapeutic and other similar departmental programs; and

(5) Education or literacy programs.

(b) The department shall review the performance of each person committed to the custody of the director, including a review of certified records of the person's performance in the earned-time program and, consistent with this section, may grant, withhold, withdraw, or restore an earned-time deduction from the person's minimum term of imprisonment set by the Hawaii paroling authority. The review shall be conducted annually while the person is incarcerated, and an earned-time deduction shall vest upon being granted. If the annual review changes the amount of earned-time vested for the person committed, the director shall promptly notify the crime victim, if any, of the person's adjusted minimum term completion date."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2014.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Corrections; Parole; Earned-time Program

Description:

Establishes an earned-time program under which a person may be eligible for parole prior to the expiration of the person's minimum term of incarceration. The person must show progress toward rehabilitation with improved social skills or participation in educational, occupational, or counseling programs. Requires the department to review each person's performance annually to determine if the person merits an earned-time deduction.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.