WSR 14-01-020
PROPOSED RULES
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
[Filed December 9, 2013, 8:02 a.m.]
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 13-21-107.
Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: Earned release/good time for offenders.
Hearing Location(s): Edna Lucille Goodrich (ELG) Building, 7345 Linderson Way S.W., Room 1034, Tumwater, WA 98501, on February 4, 2014, at 1:00 p.m.
Date of Intended Adoption: February 4, 2014.
Submit Written Comments to: John Nispel, P.O. Box 41114, Olympia, WA 98504-1114, e-mail john.nispel@doc.wa.gov, fax (360) 664-2009, by January 27, 2014.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact John Nispel by January 27, 2014, TTY 711 [or] (360) 725-8365.
Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: To correct/update references to the department of corrections (DOC) policy.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: To accurately reflect DOC policy in the rule.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 72.09.130 and 72.01.090.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 72.09.130.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Name of Proponent: Dell-Autumn Witten, governmental.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Dell-Autumn Witten, DOC HQ, (360) 725-8831.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. No impact outside DOC.
A cost-benefit analysis is not required under RCW 34.05.328. No impact outside DOC.
December 9, 2013
Bernard Warner
Secretary
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 11-11-018, filed 5/9/11, effective 6/9/11)
WAC 137-30-030 Eligibility.
(1) ERT. The following offenders may receive ERT:
(a) Offenders convicted of a serious violent offense or a class A felony sex offense, committed after June 30, 1990, and before July 1, 2003, the ERT may not exceed fifteen percent of their sentence.
(b) Offenders convicted of a serious violent offense, or a class A felony sex offense, committed after June 30, 2003, the ERT may not exceed ten percent of their sentence.
(c) Regardless of the date of offense or the date of sentencing, offenders convicted before July 2, 2010, who are classified as moderate or low risk, may earn ERT up to fifty percent of their sentence: Provided, That they have not been convicted of or have a prior conviction of a:
(i) Sex offense;
(ii) Violent offense;
(iii) Crime against a person, including identity theft in the first or second degree, committed on or after June 7, 2006;
(iv) Felony domestic violence;
(v) Residential burglary;
(vi) Violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.401 by manufacture of, delivery of, or possession with intent to deliver, methamphetamine;
(vii) Violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.406 (delivery of a controlled substance to a minor);
(viii) Gross misdemeanor stalking;
(ix) Violation of a domestic violence court order, including gross misdemeanors; or
(x) Any felony committed while under community supervision.
(d) Offenders may earn ERT up to one-third of the sentence in all other cases not identified in this section.
(e) An offender who has transferred from one sentence within a cause number to the next sentence, or from one cause number to the next cause number, may lose ERT associated with the previous sentence or cause. ERT may be taken on a consecutive sentence that is not yet being served.
(f) Offenders found guilty of infractions 557 or 810 (WAC 137-25-030) will lose available ERT and privileges as outlined by ((DOC Policy 320.150 - Disciplinary Sanctions)) department policy and will lose their fifty percent eligibility. Offenders found guilty of infraction 813, related to employment or programming while in work release, will also lose available ERT and privileges.
(2) Good conduct time.
(a) All offenders will be eligible for good conduct time, except:
(i) Offenders sentenced to death or life without parole; ((and))
(ii) Offenders serving the mandatory or flat time enhancement portion of their sentences;
(iii) Community custody violators sanctioned by the department on or after May 2, 2012; and
(iv) Offenders sanctioned to community custody prison return or community custody inmate termination.
(b) Good conduct time will be applicable to all class A, B, and C felonies, except that: (((i))) Indeterminate offenders cannot earn good conduct time if their minimum term has expired and they have not been paroled or transferred to a consecutive sentence. (((ii))) Any good conduct time earned or denied will be addressed to the correct sentence after the parole/transfer date is determined.
(c) Offenders may ((fail to earn)) lose earned and future good conduct time if found guilty of serious infractions listed in WAC 137-25-030 and sanctioned per ((DOC Policy 320.150 Disciplinary Sanctions)) department policy.
(d) A sentence reduction based on good conduct time will be established for each offender and computed on a pro rata basis for every thirty-day period served, as allowed by the offender's crime category.
(e) The following offenders may lose their good conduct time if found guilty of a serious infraction:
(i) Indeterminate offenders whose time has not been adopted by the indeterminate sentence review board (ISRB); and
(ii) Determinate offenders.
The amount of time lost will be determined by the disciplinary hearing officer/community hearing officer/ISRB.
(3) Earned time.
(a) Offenders who participate in approved programs, including work and school, are eligible for earned time for each calendar month as follows:
(i) Earned time eligible under ten percent rule - One and eleven one-hundredth days;
(ii) Earned time eligible under fifteen percent rule - One and seventy-six one-hundredth days;
(iii) Earned time eligible under thirty-three percent rule - Five days;
(iv) Earned time eligible under fifty percent rule - Ten days.
(b) An offender who disagrees with the risk assessment results has the right to appeal to the superintendent of the facility where the decision was made within forty-eight hours of notification ((per DOC Policy 320.400 Risk Assessment Process)).
(c) Offenders are not eligible for earned time if:
(i) They are serving an indeterminate sentence and:
(A) The cause has been extended to the maximum term by the ISRB; or
(B) The ISRB has previously denied future earned time.
(ii) They are not involved in mandatory programming as determined through the classification process and consistent with their custody facility plan. This includes refusing a mandatory work/school/program assignment or being terminated from a mandatory work/school/program assignment for documented negative or substandard performance. An offender who is on a waiting list and then refuses a program assignment will lose earned time for the month in which she or he refused.
• Offenders previously determined qualified to receive fifty percent earned time will participate in programming or activities targeted in the custody facility plan. The offender will not be penalized if programs and activities are not available.
(iii) They refuse any transfer, excluding work release. No earned time, at the appropriate earned time percentage as allowed by crime category, will be granted for each calendar month the offender refuses assignment.
(iv) They serve twenty days or more in one calendar month in administrative segregation/intensive management status or disciplinary segregation. Loss of earned time will be calculated as allowed per crime category. The offender is not eligible to begin earning earned time until the superintendent approves placement in general population. Offenders who are approved for transfer to general population and are scheduled for release to the community within sixty days will not lose earned time unless found guilty of infraction 557 or 810, or of an infraction 813 related to employment or programming while in work release. For other than negative behavior, offenders ((on)) in administrative segregation((/intensive management status)) will continue to earn earned time at the rate allowed by crime category, provided they maintain positive behavior throughout the placement.
(v) They are serving the mandatory ((minimum)) or flat time portion of their sentence, except indeterminate offenders sentenced for crimes committed before July 1, 1984.
(vi) At a classification hearing where earned time will be addressed, the offender will receive a written record of his/her earned time at least twenty-four hours prior to the scheduled classification review if earned time is not earned. Action taken by the committee is final and cannot be appealed.
(vii) Earned time not earned as a result of infraction 557 or 810, or of an infraction 813 related to employment or programming while in work release, cannot be restored.
(viii) Offenders will receive a written record of all earned time denials.
(4) Offenders are not eligible for fifty percent earned time if the offender's risk management level is changed to high risk violent or high risk nonviolent; high risk violent or high risk nonviolent offenders may earn up to one-third of the sentence.