REPORT TITLE:
Intermediate Sanctions


DESCRIPTION:
Addresses the prison overcrowding issue by continuing the
comprehensive schedule of incarceration alternatives and
continuing rehabilitative and assistive program for arrestees and
incarcerated person. (HB157 HD1) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        157
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CRIME.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that rehabilitation
 
 2 programs that educate and prepare persons awaiting trial, after
 
 3 conviction, who are incarcerated or on parole, are critical to
 
 4 the future well-being of the community.  In addition, prompt
 
 5 handling of drug cases and more intensive judicial involvement
 
 6 with monitoring will help ensure the effectiveness of the system.
 
 7      The legislature further finds that alternatives to
 
 8 incarceration that do not undermine public safety include
 
 9 intensive supervision of appropriate probationers that was proven
 
10 effective as a pilot project in the first circuit court several
 
11 years ago.  The integrated community sanctions program will
 
12 implement this concept through structured intermediate sanctions
 
13 established by probation offices of the circuit courts for
 
14 nonviolent offenders.  Targeted offenders include probation
 
15 violators, who may not qualify under a drug diversion program,
 
16 and sentenced felons or misdemeanants who commit nonviolent
 
17 property offenses.  The program will provide community sanctions
 
18 of house arrest, intensive supervision, and curfew using
 
19 electronic monitoring devices.  To improve surveillance,
 

 
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 1 probation supervision operations will be decentralized, using
 
 2 existing community sites such as rural district court facilities.
 
 3 On Oahu, two teams of two officers each will:
 
 4      (1)  Be dedicated to a specific geographic area;
 
 5      (2)  Supervise approximately thirty-five offenders per team;
 
 6           and
 
 7      (3)  Conduct late evening surveillance as required.
 
 8      The purpose of this Act is to address the issue of prison
 
 9 overcrowding at a time when budget considerations constrain
 
10 investment in new prison facilities by:
 
11      (1)  Continuing the comprehensive schedule of alternatives
 
12           to incarceration established by Act 25, Special Session
 
13           Laws of Hawaii 1995; and
 
14      (2)  Continuing the rehabilitative and assistance programs
 
15           for arrestees and incarcerated persons established by
 
16           Act 25, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 1995.
 
17      SECTION 2.  The judiciary may establish an appropriate
 
18 number of temporary positions for the purpose of implementing the
 
19 integrated community sanctions program for fiscal biennium 1999-
 
20 2001.
 
21      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
22 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
23 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
 2 year 2000-2001 for the integrated community sanctions program.
 
 3      SECTION 4.  The legislature finds that early intervention of
 
 4 drug treatment for nonviolent drug offenders is an essential part
 
 5 of the drug court concept and will divert offenders from jail
 
 6 into residential or appropriate out-patient treatment programs
 
 7 upon initial detention.  The department of public safety, the
 
 8 offices of the prosecuting attorneys in the various circuits, and
 
 9 the drug court in the first circuit and other courts, as
 
10 appropriate, may identify the substance abuser after arrest,
 
11 assess the extent of addiction, determine the level of treatment
 
12 needed, and refer the individual to a substance abuse program
 
13 until clinical discharge with approval of the appropriate
 
14 authority.  Failure to successfully complete drug treatment will
 
15 result in increasing sanctions, including incarceration.
 
16      Many pretrial detainees currently qualify for such a program
 
17 but none are available because of limited resources.  The
 
18 legislature therefore finds it necessary to fund drug treatment
 
19 programs for offenders diverted from jail on supervised release
 
20 by the courts and in connection with programs of deferred
 
21 prosecution that may be established by offices of prosecuting
 
22 attorneys in the various circuits.  It is anticipated that at
 
23 least 48 pretrial offenders per year will be diverted to drug
 
24 treatment in connection with the first circuit drug court.  The
 

 
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 1 department of public safety estimates that 48 other offenders in
 
 2 the first year, and 96 in the second year of the biennium would
 
 3 be eligible for diversion through deferred prosecution programs.
 
 4      SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 5 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
 6 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
 7 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
 8 year 2000-2001 for the drug treatment programs.
 
 9      SECTION 6.  The legislature finds that the primary mission
 
10 of the State's correctional function is the protection of the
 
11 public.  One way this protection is achieved is through programs
 
12 that prepare inmates for successful reintegration into the
 
13 community after their release from incarceration.  Without this
 
14 preparation, most inmates will have great difficulty in
 
15 establishing meaningful, productive, crime-free lives.  Upon
 
16 entry into prison, approximately 60 per cent of the inmates are
 
17 functionally illiterate, most have no real vocational skills, and
 
18 85 per cent have a history of substance abuse.  The number of
 
19 inmates who are sex offenders is growing rapidly.
 
20      Unless programs are available to address these issues, these
 
21 inmates cannot safely be released into the community.  The Hawaii
 

 
 
 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 paroling authority has found that a large majority of parole
 
 2 violations are attributable to substance abuse.  In addition,
 
 3 many sex offenders are not adequately prepared for release into
 
 4 the community because of limited treatment opportunities in
 
 5 prison, and thus must remain incarcerated, contributing to
 
 6 overcrowding.
 
 7      The legislature therefore finds that correctional programs
 
 8 need to be properly funded to:
 
 9      (1)  Protect the public;
 
10      (2)  Alleviate overcrowding; and
 
11      (3)  Give inmates the opportunity to successfully return to
 
12           the community.
 
13      SECTION 7.  The department of public safety may establish
 
14 appropriate temporary positions for inmate basic education and
 
15 vocational programs; the purchase of services for medically
 
16 disabled inmates in the sex offender treatment program; personnel
 
17 costs for surveillance groups in the sex offender treatment
 
18 program; personnel costs, other current expenses, and equipment
 
19 for the assessment center of the sex offender treatment program;
 
20 and personnel costs and other current expenses for substance
 
21 abuse programs for fiscal biennium 1999-2001.
 
22      SECTION 8.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
23 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
 2 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
 3 year 2000-2001 for the community reintegration programs.
 
 4      SECTION 9.  The Hawaii paroling authority is limited in
 
 5 program options by the lack of alternatives for a parolee who is
 
 6 employed but who is violating technical conditions of the
 
 7 parolee's parole.  Current practice is to return the parolee to
 
 8 custody for up to ninety days, due to high caseloads, rather than
 
 9 providing extensive daily supervision and keeping the parolee out
 
10 of custody.  In this situation, the parolee invariably loses the
 
11 parolee's job, reducing the chances of successful parole
 
12 completion.
 
13      In fiscal year 1994, approximately thirty per cent or
 
14 eighty-six technical parole violators could have utilized a
 
15 structured residential program in lieu of revocation and
 
16 reincarceration.  Many are drug users who must be removed from
 
17 their current environment to abstain from drugs and enter
 
18 treatment.  This can be accomplished at the residential facility.
 
19      The legislature finds that it is more practical and
 
20 financially responsible to place these employed parolees in a
 
21 residential facility with work release than to return these
 
22 offenders to prison.
 

 
 
 
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 1      SECTION 10.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 2 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
 3 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
 4 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
 5 year 2000-2001 for the residential work-furlough program.
 
 6      SECTION 11.  The legislature finds that in order to promote
 
 7 successful reintegration into the community, there is a need to
 
 8 provide an opportunity for the exiting offender to assume
 
 9 increasing levels of responsibility, while at the same time,
 
10 providing sufficient monitoring of the offender's activity to
 
11 promote community safety and to continue the sanction of the
 
12 sentence.
 
13      SECTION 12.  The department of public safety shall establish
 
14 a "Halfway In, Halfway Back" program for inmates who are within
 
15 the last six months of their incarceration.  This shall be a
 
16 graduated transitional release program, which will permit an
 
17 inmate to live at his or her home and work at gainful employment,
 
18 while continuing official supervision in the community by both
 
19 residential facility staff and department of public safety staff.
 
20 The program will provide highly structured supervision,
 
21 reporting, employment, restitution, and community activities for
 
22 inmates.  The program will be operated by existing residential
 
23 facility contractors providing these services statewide.  The
 
24 program's overview is as follows:
 

 
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 1      (1)  Residential facility staff shall monitor the program on
 
 2           a seven-day-a-week, 25-hour-a-day basis;
 
 3      (2)  The residential facility director shall oversee daily
 
 4           operations and act as a liaison to the department of
 
 5           public safety;
 
 6      (3)  Violations may result in the inmates' return to a more
 
 7           restrictive level of supervision and reporting;
 
 8      (4)  The residential facility staff will assure offender
 
 9           compliance with the individual release plan program
 
10           through routine scheduled and unscheduled checks with
 
11           the inmate;
 
12      (5)  The residential facility case manager shall review and
 
13           approve daily and weekly schedules; and
 
14      (6)  The residential facility staff shall verify offender
 
15           compliance in the community by random home, school, or
 
16           work site telephone contacts.
 
17      SECTION 13.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
18 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
19 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
20 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
21 year 2000-2001 for the "Halfway In, Halfway Back" program.
 
22      SECTION 14.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
23 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 

 
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 1 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
 2 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
 3 year 2000-2001 for the early parole program.
 
 4      SECTION 15.  Without continued treatment while on parole,
 
 5 sex offenders will pose a significant danger to the community.
 
 6 Similarly, drug-dependent offenders crave illegal substances and
 
 7 will do almost anything to continue their addiction.  Without
 
 8 substance abuse treatment, they will pose a continuing threat to
 
 9 the community.  In addition, an estimated 80 per cent (or two
 
10 hundred twenty-nine) of parole violators who returned to prison
 
11 return due to drug-related activities.  Without substance abuse
 
12 treatment while in the community, drug dependent offenders pose a
 
13 risk to community safety and are more likely to fail parole and
 
14 be incarcerated.
 
15      SECTION 16.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
16 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much
 
17 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000 and the sum
 
18 of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal
 
19 year 2000-2001 for sex offender and substance abuse treatment
 
20 services.
 
21      SECTION 17.  The sums appropriated shall be expended by the
 
22 department of public safety for the purposes of this Act.
 
23      SECTION 18.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.