BILL NUMBER:  S5774

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to certain persons
sentenced to parole supervision


 PURPOSE :

This bill would allow the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS),
subject to the approval of the sentencing court when necessary, to
provide an appropriate 90-day drug treatment program for offenders
sentenced to receive that treatment, but whose medical needs cannot be
met at the Willard Drug Treatment Campus (Willard), and would also
make a technical change to the statute to remove a provision that is
no longer applicable.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill would amend Correction Law § 2(20) to provide
procedures for placement of parolees sentenced to a drug treatment
campus into an alternative treatment site, and would make a technical
correction to the statute.

Section 2 of the bill would establish an immediate effective date.
              

 EXISTING LAW :

Criminal Procedure Law § 410.91 and Correction Law § 2(20) provide
that when an eligible offender receives a parole supervision sentence,
such person shall first be transferred to a drug treatment campus
operated by DOCS to receive an intensive 90-day drug treatment
program. Upon successful completion of that program, the offender is
to be released into the community to continue under supervision by the
Division of Parole.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new proposal.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :

DOCS operates Willard, in Seneca County, as a drug treatment campus
for offenders who receive a parole supervision sentence, as well as
for certain parole violators. Willard, like all of the institutions
operated by DOCS, has a health services rating and a mental health
services rating. It is crucial that each inmate be placed in an
institution that has the capability of delivering the requisite level
of medical services actually needed. Thus, for example, an inmate who
is identified as a level 1, which means that he or she has the highest
level of mental health needs, could not be sent to a facility that is
only rated as a level 2. In terms of mental health services, Willard
is rated as a level 2 facility. Therefore, an inmate who is rated as a
level I could not have his or her mental health needs met at Willard.

Furthermore, in terms of health services, physicians make
individualized assessments as to whether an inmate, from a medical
perspective, could safely participate in the rigorous program that is
part of the Willard regime. If a court sentences a defendant to a
parole supervision sentence, but a physician decides that he or she
could not safely participate in the Willard program, then DOCS must
arrange for an alternative placement.

In all cases involving medical or mental health needs that cannot be
met at Willard, DOCS' practice has been to transfer such inmates to a
correctional facility where their needs could be adequately addressed,
while also providing them with an alternative 90-day drug treatment
program. DOCS also sends written notice to the sentencing court in
each case advising of the need for this alternative placement. At the
successful conclusion of the alternative drug treatment program, the
inmate is released into the . community to continue under parole
supervision.

A number of inmates who were placed in these alternative programs have
filed writs of habeas corpus seeking immediate release. They contend
that DOCS lacks the statutory authorization to place anyone who has
received a parole supervision sentence at any institution other than
Willard. One judge has agreed with these contentions and has granted
all such writs, essentially finding that DOCS has no authority to make
these alternative placements.

As a result, even though the sentencing court has imposed a parole
supervision sentence that required the inmate to successfully
participate in a 90-day drug treatment program, and even though DOCS
has notified the sentencing court of the alternative placement, the
habeas corpus judge has been ordering the immediate release into the
community of these offenders even though they have not completed the
alternative 90day drug treatment program at the alternative facility.

This bill would grant DOCS the authority to make these alternative
placements, so that the intent of the sentencing court's order may be
fulfilled. It will allow DOCS to provide the court-imposed 90-day drug
treatment even to those inmates whose health and mental health needs
cannot be met at Willard.

Consistent with a comparable change to Penal Law Section 60.04(7) that
the Legislature recently enacted as a part of Chapter 56 of the laws
of 2009, this bill would set up a formal process whereby individuals
whose medical or mental health needs could not be met at a drug
treatment campus would be provided with a written notification
describing the alternative drug treatment program being proposed and
advising them that they may object in writing to such placement. If an
individual then objects, DOCS will notify the sentencing court and
submit to it the proposed alternative placement proposal, which shall
then be forwarded by the court to the appropriate prosecutor and
defense attorney. The court will then conduct a proceeding to include
the prosecutor, the defense attorney and the individual and then
modify its sentencing order accordingly.

Finally, the sentence being deleted was only applicable in 1995 to
certain predicate drug offenders who were sentenced prior to October
1, 1995. This was set forth in Section 45 of Chapter 3 of the Laws of
1995 and is no longer applicable.

 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill would take effect immediately.