HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3965        FILED ON: 11/18/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3825

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Randy Hunt

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to provide Addiction/Sobriety Solutions through Increased Substance Treatment (ASSIST).

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3965        FILED ON: 11/18/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3825

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act to provide Addiction/Sobriety Solutions through Increased Substance Treatment (ASSIST).

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  There is hereby established a special commission for the purposes of developing eligibility criteria for mandated treatment or monitoring of nonviolent offenders with substance addictions and proposing reforms. The court addiction commission shall consist of the court administrator or designee, who shall serve as the chair; the chief justice of the trial court or designee; the attorney general or designee; the secretary of public safety and security or designee; the commissioner of the department of correction or designee; the chair of the parole board or designee; the commissioner of the department of probation or designee; the chief counsel of the committee for public counsel services or designee; one member of the senate, appointed by the senate president; one member of the senate, appointed by the senate minority leader; one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house; one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the house minority leader; the president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association or designee; the president of the Massachusetts Bar Association or designee; one substance addiction treatment expert, appointed by the governor; and one mental health treatment expert, appointed by the governor.

SECTION 2.  Such investigation and study shall include, but not be limited to: (a) evaluation of the application and effectiveness of “Standards on Substance Abuse,” approved by the justices of the supreme judicial court on April 28, 1998, and recommendations to improve and ensure the consistent application of the standards in the courts; (b) evaluation and recommendations for improvement of specialty courts that address substance addictions, including current eligibility requirements or practices, availability of such courts, and use of best practices in establishing quality of services; (c) evaluation of  the number and type of nonviolent offenses committed by substance addicted defendants adjudicated in the commonwealth; (d) development of a definition of nonviolent substance addicted offender; (e) consideration of removing judiciary discretion relative to sentencing nonviolent substance addicted offenders with no prior felony convictions to a period of incarceration versus sending such offenders to a treatment program; (f) consideration of eliminating or adjusting mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent substance addicted offenders; and (g) an estimate of the total annual number of nonviolent substance addicted offenders who would require addiction treatment upon adoption of new or amended laws as proposed by the court addiction commission, to be shared with the addiction services commission established in SECTION 4.

The court addiction commission shall submit its report and findings, along with any draft of legislation, to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on the judiciary, and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate on or before December 31, 2014.

SECTION 3.  Chapter 38 of the Acts of 2013 shall be amended by inserting the following:--

0330-XXXX     For the administration and research expenditures of the court addiction commission              $100,000

SECTION 4.  There is hereby established a special commission for the purposes of developing plans to expand effective, evidence based addiction treatment programs for nonviolent substance addicted offenders, whether government managed, privately managed, or managed by public/private partnerships. The addiction services commission shall consist of the commissioner of the department of public health or designee, who shall serve as the chair; the director of the bureau of substance abuse services or designee; the commissioner of the department of mental health or designee; the secretary of the department of veterans’ services or designee; the chief justice of the trial court or designee; the court administrator or designee; the secretary of public safety and security or designee; the commissioner of the department of correction or designee; the commissioner of the department of probation or designee; one member of the senate, appointed by the senate president; one member of the senate, appointed by the senate minority leader; one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house; one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the house minority leader; one substance addiction treatment expert, appointed by the governor; and one mental health treatment expert, appointed by the governor.

SECTION 5.  Such investigation and study shall include, but not be limited to: (a) an examination of best practices relative to specialty courts that deal with substance addicted offenders, both within the commonwealth and in other states; (b) an assessment of the quantity, quality and availability of effective, evidence based addiction treatment programs in the commonwealth; (c) the optimum number and estimated expansion costs associated with the drug courts necessary to meet the needs of the total annual number of nonviolent substance addicted offenders as estimated by the court addiction commission; (d) an assessment of the cost of expanding addiction treatment resources to meet the needs of the total annual number of nonviolent substance addicted offenders; and (e) the probable savings of diverting nonviolent substance addicted offenders to treatment versus incarceration in terms of reduced government expenditures and estimated reduction in inmate population at the commonwealth’s correctional facilities, to be shared with the correctional facilities commission established in SECTION 7.

The Commission shall submit its report and findings, along with any draft of legislation, to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on public health, the joint committee on veterans and federal affairs, the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate on or before December 31, 2014.

SECTION 6.  Chapter 38 of the Acts of 2013 shall be amended by inserting the following:--

4510-XXXX     For the administration and research expenditures of the addiction services commission         $100,000

SECTION 7.  There is hereby established a special commission for the purposes of determining the effects of a reduced prison and jail population on the operations and capital needs of the corrections system. The correctional facilities commission shall consist of the commissioner of the department of correction or designee, who shall serve as chair; the secretary of public safety and security or designee; the president of the Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association or designee; the secretary of administration and finance or designee; the commissioner of the department of capital asset management and maintenance or designee; one member of the senate, appointed by the senate president; one member of the senate, appointed by the senate minority leader; one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house; one member of the house of representatives, appointed by the house minority leader; and two leaders of unions that represent correctional facility workers, appointed by the governor.

SECTION 8.  Such investigation and study shall include but not be limited to: (a) an evaluation of current jail and prison populations; (b) an examination of current correctional facilities and any plans to build facilities; (c) the capital needs of the corrections system; (d) the probable impact that expanded treatment programs and diversion programs for nonviolent substance addicted offenders would have on the current jail and prison populations, based on the estimate of reduced number of inmates provided by the addiction services commission; and (e) coordination with the addiction services commission relative to correctional system employees filling roles within an expanded specialty court network.

The Commission shall submit its report and findings, along with any draft of legislation, to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, the house committee on bonding, capital expenditures and state assets, and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate on or before December 31, 2014.

SECTION 9.  Chapter 38 of the Acts of 2013 shall be amended by inserting the following:--

8900-XXXX     For the administration and research expenditures of the correctional facilities commission                    $50,000