1922-S

AN ACT Relating to creation of a work ethic boot camp; adding new sections to chapter 72.09 RCW; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that high crime rates and a heightened sense of vulnerability have led to increased public pressure on criminal justice officials to increase offender punishment and remove the most dangerous criminals from our streets. As a result, we are facing an unprecedented growth in the corrections populations and consequent overcrowding of prisons and local jails. Skyrocketing correctional costs and intolerably high rates of recidivism by released prisoners, or offenders on community supervision or probation, have become issues of major public concern. Our corrections institutions have become a high cost system that has little to do with deterring crime. Attention must be directed towards implementing a long-range corrections strategy that focuses on inmate responsibility through intensive work ethic training that has as its goals, the establishment of character-building work ethics, measurable work habits and experience, real-world job and vocational training, direct experience for the inmate in managing and organizing his or her life, and the opportunity and responsibility to pay back to society and the victims of his or her criminal acts.

The legislature finds that many offenders lack basic life skills and have been largely unaffected by traditional correctional philosophies and programs. The opportunity for offenders to learn the structure and values necessary to be productive, working, and contributing members of society need to be fully emphasized and successfully taught in our corrections institutions. In addition, many first-time offenders who enter the prison system learn more about how to be criminals than the important qualities, values, and skills needed to successfully adapt to a life without crime.

The legislature finds that the concept of a work ethic boot camp that requires the offender to complete an appropriate and balanced combination of highly structured and goal-oriented work programs such as correctional industries based work camps and/or class I and class II work projects, drug rehabilitation, and intensive life management work ethic training, can successfully reduce offender recidivism and lower the overall cost of incarceration.

The legislature further finds that longitudinal data on recidivism rates for offenders who are assigned to a work ethic boot camp needs to be maintained and analyzed. This data will provide a method for assessing whether the work ethic boot camp is meeting its overall goals and can further enable program modifications to be periodically implemented. To the extent possible, the data collected should be shared with the appropriate university-based policy institutes to further assist in the analysis of the progress of this innovative incarceration option.

It is the purpose and intent of sections 1 through 6 of this act to implement a regimented work ethic boot camp that is designed to directly address the high rate of recidivism, reduce upwardly spiraling prison costs, preserve scarce and high cost prison space for our most deserving dangerous offenders, and provide judges with a tough and sound alternative to traditional incarceration without compromising public safety.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1 through 6 of this act.

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

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

(3) "Work ethic boot camp" means a measured results-oriented alternative incarceration program designed to reduce recidivism and lower the cost of corrections by requiring offenders to complete a comprehensive array of real-world job and vocational experiences, character-building work ethics training, life management skills development, drug rehabilitation, literacy training, and basic adult education. The objectives of the program are to deter offenders from committing additional crimes by requiring them to experience the sobering realities of prison life and simultaneously complete an intense range of character and skill building challenges.

(4) "Incarceration program" means the work ethic boot camp.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The department of corrections shall establish one work ethic boot camp. The secretary shall locate the incarceration program within an already existing department compound or facility, or in a facility that is scheduled to come on line within the initial implementation date outlined in this section. The facility selected for an incarceration program shall appropriately accommodate the logistical and cost-effective objectives contained in sections 1 through 6 of this act without increasing the risk of jeopardizing public safety. The department shall be ready to assign inmates to the incarceration program one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this act. The department shall develop all aspects of the incarceration program including, but not limited to, program standards, conduct standards, educational components, special offender incentives, drug rehabilitation program parameters, individual and team work goals, and the successful completion of the incarceration program granted to the offender based on successful attendance, participation, and performance as defined by the secretary.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Offenders shall be recommended for consideration to participate in the incarceration program upon the time of their sentencing by the sentencing judge. The court shall send a copy of the offender's sentence to the department within five working days of sentencing. The department shall arrange to take custody of the offender within its established customary time frame after the documents have been provided to the department by the court. The department shall then be responsible for determining if the offender is eligible for the incarceration program based on the following criteria:

(a) The offender is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight years.

(b) The offender has no known physical or mental impairments that would prevent his or her ability to perform the challenging physical and mental activities associated with this program.

(c) The offender is not convicted of any sex offenses or violent offenses and has been determined by the department not to be at risk for committing such offenses, based on his or her prior criminal history.

(d) The offender agrees to and signs the terms and conditions of the program designated by the secretary.

The department shall develop written incarceration program offender eligibility criteria and make the information available to the appropriate sentencing courts.

(2) The secretary shall prescribe the form and content of the agreement to be signed by the eligible offender before entering the incarceration program.

(3) On successful completion of the incarceration program the secretary shall allow the supervised placement of the inmate pursuant to subsection (7) of this section.

(4) The department may place inmates eligible for the work ethic camp incarceration program in program beds that have not been utilized by the court. The secretary shall ensure that court-referred inmates receive priority placement in the program.

(5) An inmate who fails to complete the incarceration program, who is administratively terminated from the incarceration program, or who otherwise violates any conditions of supervision, as defined by the department, shall be reclassified to serve the unexpired term of his or her sentence as ordered by the sentencing court.

(6) An inmate who is sentenced or transferred to the incarceration program shall serve the minimal number of days as defined by the department to be considered a successful graduate of the incarceration program.

(7) On successful completion of the incarceration program, an inmate may be placed, and remain until the expiration of the sentence imposed in a department work release program or in a department community supervisory program which may initially include electronic monitoring followed by appropriate levels of supervision as ordered by the court or as defined by the department. The inmate remains eligible for all types of available release mechanisms for which the offender can qualify and shall accrue earned early release credits until the expirations of his or her sentence.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The department work ethic program facility shall employ one hundred percent of all inmates. The employment options available for inmates shall include meaningful work opportunities that provide the offender with real-world skills that help the offender find employment when he or she successfully completes the incarceration program. The department shall include in the incarceration program, without limitation, class I, class II, and class IV correctional programs. No more than thirty-five percent of the total inmate population in the facility shall be employed in class III correctional industries programs in the first year and thereafter ten percent less per year until a maximum of ten percent of the inmates are working in this employment class. In addition, work options shall also include department-supervised work crews as defined by the department. These work crews shall have the ability to work on public roads conducting litter control, minor emergency repair or other minor tasks that do not negatively impact employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities contracted through the operation of sheltered workshops as defined in RCW 82.04.385, or have a negative impact on the local labor market or local business community as assessed by the department correctional industries advisory board of directors. The department shall establish, to the extent possible, work ethic work programs that will positively impact our natural environment such as, but not limited to, recycling programs and minor environmental cleanup programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The incarceration program established in sections 1 through 6 of this act shall be considered a pilot alternative incarceration program and remain in effect until July 1, 1998. The department and the office of financial management shall monitor and analyze the effectiveness of the incarceration program and complete a final outcome evaluation study by January 15, 1998. Based on the findings of this final outcome evaluation study, the legislature may extend the program. The study shall include: The recidivism rates of successful program graduates, analysis of the overall program costs, the ability to maintain public safety, and any other pertinent data established by the department. The department may recommend termination of the incarceration program if the secretary finds that the program is not meeting and will not meet the established recidivism and cost goals of the program.

The department of corrections shall seek the availability of federal funds for the planning, implementation, evaluation, and training of staff for boot camp, substance abuse, and offender education programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 72.09 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1993.