Amendment ID: S2216-1-R1

Redraft Amendment 1

Community Correction Centers

Mr. Moore moves to amend the bill by inserting the following new section:-

Section XX. (a) There shall be a commission to study the use of community corrections centers, consisting of the following members:

(1) the first justice of the superior court or his designee

(2) a district court judge appointed by the chief justice of the trial court

(3) a probation officer appointed by the commissioner

(4) a representative of the parole board appointed by the secretary of public safety

(5) a representative from the District Attorneys Association

(6) a public defender appointed by the committee for public counsel services

(7) a mental health professional or substance abuse counselor appointed by the department of public health

(8) a representative of the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association

(9) the commissioner of the department of correction or his designee

(10) a representative from the department of administration and finance

(11) an expert in restorative justice practices, appointed by the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary

(12) The house chair of the Committee on Public Safety, or his designee

(13) The senate chair of the Committee on Public Safety, or his designee

(b) The commission on community corrections centers shall study the decline in referrals to this program from the agencies it serves, and determine strategies that will promote a more efficient use of community correction centers in the future.  Specifically, the commission shall examine (1) evidenced based practices that utilize intermediate sanctions as a means to reduce recidivism (2) increasing referrals, cooperation and streamlining of post release supervision between department of corrections, probation services, parole board, and sheriffs departments (3) exclusions that limit the types of eligible offenders, (4) aligning statute with state sentencing guidelines that suggest for “intermediate sanctions,” (5) increasing the use of community correction centers as a sentence from district and superior court judges, (6) alternatives to commitment for certain violations, (7) the feasibility of transferring control of the community correction centers to the county sheriffs department.

(c) The commission shall file the report of the study with recommendations no later than June 30, 2017 to the clerk of the house of representatives and the senate, and the secretary of public safety.