Amendment #546 to H3600

Allowing for pretrial offenders to be eligible for services at Offices of Community Corrections

Mr. Tucker of Salem moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

"Section XX:

SECTION 1.   Section 1 of chapter 211F of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following 2 definitions:

“Pretrial services plan”, a written proposal submitted to the executive director for approval and funding as a pretrial services program.

“Pretrial services program”, any program that is operated by a state, local, or private service agency, that the office of community corrections has deemed appropriate for a person awaiting trial. Pretrial service programs shall be a separate track of programming from community correction programs offered under section 3 of this chapter. Sanctions under said section 3 shall not be applicable to the pretrial service program track.

SECTION 2. Section 2 of said chapter 211F, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “of”, in line 3, the following words:- pretrial services program and.

SECTION 3. Said section 2 of said chapter 211F, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting the word “developing,” in line 5, the following words:- pretrial services programs and.

SECTION 4. Said section 2 of said chapter 211F, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “corrections,” in line 9, the following words:- and pretrial services.

SECTION 5. Said chapter 211F is hereby amended by inserting after section 3 the following 2 sections:-

Section 3A. (a) Participation in a pretrial services program may be ordered by the court, in lieu of bail or as a condition of release consistent with sections 57, 58, and 58A of chapter 276. The court may dictate the duration and conditions of the pretrial services program. Any conditions should be imposed to ensure return of the defendant to court or, where permitted by law, to assure the safety of any person or the community.

(b) The probation department may utilize pretrial services programs for pretrial supervision consistent with sections 87 and 87A of chapter 276, upon agreement by the person before the court who is charged with an offense or crime.

(c) If the sheriff who has custody of a person held on bail under section 57 or 58 of chapter 276 determines that the person would benefit from entering a pretrial services program, the sheriff shall provide a written recommendation of such determination to the court, the commissioner of probation, the prosecuting office, and the person, or where applicable the person’s attorney. The prosecuting office may notify the victim of the sheriff’s recommendation upon receipt of such recommendation. If the commissioner of probation or the prosecuting office objects to such recommendation, they shall file a written objection with the court within fourteen days of receipt of such notice. Upon receipt of such objection, the court may set the matter for hearing. After expiration of the time for filing objections and after hearing, if applicable, the court shall either decline to modify its earlier bail order or make an order under subsection (a) of this section authorizing the person's participation in a pretrial services program. In no event shall the person held on bail be ordered under this paragraph to enter a pretrial services program without that person's consent.

(d) Placement of a person in a pretrial services program shall require victim notification as required under subsection (b) of section 3 of chapter 258B.

Section 3B. (a) For any person sentenced to probation supervision who has not been sentenced to a community corrections program under section 3 of this chapter, the probation department may utilize programs offered through a community corrections program:

(1)for participation in court-ordered programming where such programming is available through the community corrections program; or

(2) upon agreement by the person so sentenced.

(b) The use of programs under subsection (a) of section 3B of this chapter shall not operate as an intermediate sanctions program as defined in section 1 of this chapter.

SECTION 6. Section 4 of said chapter 211F, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “plans,” in line 3, the following:- and pretrial services plans.

SECTION 7. Section 5 of said chapter 211F, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “commitments,” in line 10, the following words:- , reducing pretrial detention and increasing the court appearance rate.

SECTION 8. Chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 87A the following section:-

Section 87B.

(a) As used in section 87B, the following words shall have the following meanings:

“Compliance” shall mean the absence of a judicial finding of a violation of court-ordered conditions of post-disposition probation supervision.

“Compliance credits” shall mean credits that an eligible offender earns through compliance with court-ordered terms of post-disposition probation supervision. Such credits shall operate to reduce the length of post-disposition probation supervision.

“Eligible offender” shall mean an offender whose sentence includes incarceration followed by a term of probation supervision upon conviction of one or more criminal offenses and has been released to probation after serving the incarcerated sentence or incarcerated portion of the sentence, excluding any person who is under post-disposition supervision for a sex offense as defined in section 178C of chapter 6.

(b) An eligible offender shall earn compliance credits as follows:

(i) An eligible offender shall begin to accrue compliance credits on the first day of the calendar month following one year of supervision on probation.

(ii) After completing one year of supervision on probation up to and including completion of two years of supervision on probation, on the first day of each calendar month, an eligible offender shall earn 5 days of compliance credits if the eligible offender was in compliance for the prior calendar month.

(iii) After completing two years of supervision, on the first day of each calendar month, an eligible offender shall earn 10 days of compliance credits if the eligible offender was in compliance for the previous calendar month.

(c) Compliance credits shall not accrue during any calendar month in which a violation of probation is pending. Once a violation of probation hearing is held, if the court does not find a violation, compliance credits shall be awarded retroactive to the filing of the violation.

(d) If the court finds a violation of court-ordered conditions of post-disposition probation supervision, then (i) the eligible offender may not be awarded compliance credits for the time during which the violation was pending; and (ii), the court may also revoke any earned compliance credits. If the court places the eligible offender in a correctional institution upon revocation, any compliance credits previously earned by the eligible offender shall be revoked.

(e) Quarterly the Probation Service shall calculate an eligible offender’s supervision termination date, taking into consideration any earned compliance credits. Upon such calculation, the Probation Service shall inform the eligible offender of the termination date.

(f) At sentencing, the court shall notify an eligible offender that compliance with post-disposition supervision conditions shall result in earning compliance credits.

SECTION 9. Section 32H1/2 of chapter 94C of the General Laws shall apply to any sentence for an offense committed after the effective date of this act.

SECTION 10. Any offender who has been granted a parole permit prior to the effective date of this act shall not be eligible to earn compliance credits under section 130C of chapter 127 of the General Laws.

SECTION 11. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 3A of chapter 211F of the General Laws shall apply to persons charged after the effective date of this act and to persons held in jail beginning on the effective date of this act.

SECTION 12. Section 3B of chapter 211F shall apply to persons on probation supervision on or after the effective date of this act.

SECTION 13. Any offender who has started probation supervision prior to the effective date of this act shall not be eligible to earn compliance credits under section 87B of chapter 276 of the General Laws."

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #546 to H3600

Allowing for pretrial offenders to be eligible for services at Offices of Community Corrections