H-0979

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 all too often young offenders who enter the prison system learn more about how to be criminals than about how to be productive, contributing citizens. The legislature further finds that many young persons have difficulty in society because they have not developed sufficient self-discipline to work toward a goal. Further, young offenders frequently lack systematic work habits, the concept of teamwork for a common goal, and the ability to deal with authority figures. The legislature intends that young persons who enter the state prison system for the first time will have the opportunity to live and work in an environment that will enhance their personal development and promote self-discipline, thereby making them more effective participants in society. Therefore, the legislature establishes a ninety-day boot camp as a pilot program within the corrections system that can serve as a model to local corrections programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout sections 3 through 8 of this act.

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

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

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The secretary shall establish by January 31, 1992, a pilot boot camp program located within the corrections system. It shall serve as the entrance step to one selected honor camp where the offender shall complete his or her term of incarceration. The program shall be for a minimum of ninety days, and include training patterned after the training received in a United States military boot camp. The program shall provide intensive basic physical and mental training and work, drug treatment, and rehabilitation for young first-time offenders between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. The boot camp program shall be located in a self-contained unit either within the honor camp where only graduates of the program are serving or in a location where the participants will not have contact with other prisoners. The department shall run the program with squads of ten 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 boot camp program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. When the court recommends an offender for the boot camp pilot program, the secretary of the department shall assign that offender to the program within seven days of placement in the system. The secretary shall first determine that the offender is eligible for the program, and that there is room for the offender in the program.

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 suffers from any mental or physical problems which could endanger his or her health, or drastically affect his or her performance in the pilot program.

If the secretary determines that the offender can benefit from additional training, the secretary may extend the offender's stay in the program from ninety to one hundred twenty 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 will not earn any good time credits for the time spent in the program. The secretary shall remove the participant to another facility.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department shall provide an aftercare component for monitoring the offender through the balance of his or her sentence, reinforcing the lessons of the boot camp, 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 pilot program participants after their release from the program. An outcome evaluation study shall be submitted to the legislature December 1, 1995, which shall include a comparison of criminal activity and employment placement records of offenders completing the boot camp pilot program with the criminal activity and employment records of offenders completing other honor camp programs and other commitment time. The pilot program is to be reviewed during the 1996 legislative session to determine its future course.

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