BILL NUMBER:S5423

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the correction law, in relation to
parole violators in Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence counties;
and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration
thereof

PURPOSE:  To establish a two year pilot program in the counties of
Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence for parole violators to be
transferred to a state correctional facility after 10 business days in
a local correctional facility.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Correction Law by adding a new section 23-a which
establishes that in the counties of Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint
Lawrence, after a period of ten business days in a local correctional
facility those individuals in violation of their parole be heard by
the court and either transferred to a state facility at the cost of
the Department of Correction and Community Supervision, granted an
extension by the local court, or released by the local court.

Section 2 provides the act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
shall have become law and shall expire and be deemed repealed two
years after such effective date. Effective immediately, the addition,
amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
              

implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be
made on or before such date.

JUSTIFICATION:  When prisoners are released on parole from state
facilities, violators of their parole should be punished.

Currently, those who violate their parole are often held at local
facilities while appeals and extensions on hearing the violation are
granted by the court. The defendant must appear before the court
within ten business days of the court's notice to appear. The time the
violator spends in the local correctional facility is credited to
their sentence and sometimes lasts the duration of the sentence.

This bill will give the Courts in Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint
Lawrence counties the option to grant an extension up to twenty days
for the defendant's stay at the local correctional facility.
Otherwise, the parole violator will be transferred by the Department
of Correction and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to a state facility.
This bill also requires DOCCS to reimburse the local facility for the
cost of the temporary detainment of the parole violator.

With overcrowding issues in local facilities, especially in Jefferson,
Oswego, and Saint Lawrence Counties, at a significant cost to the
localities, it is important to implement policies that will require
the state to be responsible for detaining violators of the parole they
set.

It is wrong for these localities to bear the cost of detaining the
state's prisoners who have been released on parole.

HISTORY:  New bill.


FISCAL IMPACT:  Significant cost savings will be realized by the
counties while the State Department of Correctional and Community
Supervision will take on additional costs. Overall, more efficiency
and cost savings will be realized as it is generally more expensive to
house prisoners at county correctional facilities than at state
facilities.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
shall have become Law and shall expire and be deemed repealed two
years after such effective date. Effective immediately, the addition,
amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be
made on or before such date.