BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to the department of corrections; adding new sections to chapter 72.09 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that many first-time criminal offenders who enter the prison system learn more how to commit additional crimes than to lead disciplined, law-abiding lives.

The legislature further finds that many offenders are in trouble because they are not self-controlled enough to ultimately achieve worthwhile goals. These offenders frequently lack systematic work habits, respect for the person and property of others, and the ability to deal with authority figures.

The legislature intends that offenders who enter the state prison system for the first time have the opportunity to live and work in an environment that will promote self-discipline, respect, personal accountability, and a sound work ethic with the purpose of making them more likely to become productive, contributing citizens in society. Therefore, the legislature establishes a pilot one hundred twenty-day boot camp program within the corrections system that can serve as a model to local corrections programs. This boot camp program shall provide adequate time for evaluation of offenders, keep first-time offenders from exposure to long-term inmates, ease state-wide prison crowding, and provide offenders with structures and resources for maintaining long-term positive lifestyle changes.

For the purposes of this section, "first-time offender" means a person who is committed to the department of corrections for the first time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply to sections 2 through 8 of this act.

(1) "Department" means the department of corrections.

(2) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of corrections.

(3) "First-time offender" means a person who is committed to the department of corrections for the first time.

(4) "Program" means the pilot boot camp program created under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The secretary shall establish by January 31, 1994, a pilot boot camp program located within the corrections system. The program must serve as the entrance step to one selected honor camp where the offender shall complete his or her term of incarceration upon successful completion of the program. The program must be for a minimum of one hundred twenty days, and include training patterned after the training received in a United States military boot camp or other state's criminal offender boot camp program.

The program must provide intensive physical training and work projects, strict dress and appearance codes, GED and computer education, alcohol and drug treatment and rehabilitation, preemployment and prerelease training, and family-parenting training for first-time offenders. The boot camp program must be located in a self-contained unit either within an honor camp where only offenders who have successfully graduated from the program are serving or in a location where the participants may not have contact with other prisoners. The department shall run the program and determine a minimum and a maximum size of the total program based on the availability of housing, staff, and demand.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. In addition to the terms of a sentence remanding a first-time offender to a state correctional facility, the court may recommend that the person enter the program if adequate space is available. The sentencing court has the discretion to extend the total time served in the program up to one hundred eighty days.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If the court recommends an offender for the program, the secretary shall determine if the offender is eligible for the program, that there is room for the offender in the program, and assign that offender to the program within twenty-one days of placement in the system. The secretary may consider and grant individual petitions from first-time offenders that the court did not refer for admission to the program on a space-available basis.

The secretary shall determine eligibility based on whether the offender has a desire to enter the program and intent to comply with the strict requirements imposed in the program, and whether the offender has a disability that could endanger his or her health or substantially affect his or her ability to perform in the program.

If the secretary determines that the offender would benefit from additional training, the secretary may extend the offender's stay in the program up to one hundred eighty days.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A participant who fails to work diligently and productively at the program or who fails to obey the established rules of behavior may be expelled from the program and may not earn good time credits for the time spent in the program. The secretary shall remove the participant to another facility.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. After an offender is released from the program, the department shall provide an aftercare component for monitoring the offender through the balance of his or her sentence, reinforcing the lessons of the program, and assisting with his or her release into the community.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The department shall keep records and monitor criminal activity and employment placement of the program participants after their release from the program. An outcome evaluation study must be submitted to the legislature December 1, 1996, which must include a comparison of criminal activity and employment placement records of offenders completing the program with the criminal activity and employment records of offenders completing other honor camp programs and other commitment time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 2 through 8 of this act are each added to chapter 72.09 RCW.