5686-S

AN ACT Relating to early release and specialized training for criminal offenders; and amending RCW 9.94A.132, 9.94A.150, and 72.09.130.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 9.94A.132 and 1994 sp.s. c 7 s 533 are each amended to read as follows:

The department is authorized to determine whether any person subject to the confines of a correctional facility would substantially benefit from successful participation in: (1) Literacy and other basic skills training, (2) employment skills training, or (3) ((~~educational efforts to identify and control sources of anger~~)) life skills training and, upon a determination that the person would, may require such successful participation and completion as a condition for eligibility to obtain early release from the confines of a correctional facility. The department shall coordinate educational programs among its facilities to ensure successful participation and completion by offenders.

The department shall adopt rules and procedures to administer this section.

Sec. 2. RCW 9.94A.150 and 1992 c 145 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

No person serving a sentence imposed pursuant to this chapter and committed to the custody of the department shall leave the confines of the correctional facility or be released prior to the expiration of the sentence except as follows:

(1) Except as otherwise provided for in subsection (2) of this section, the term of the sentence of an offender committed to a correctional facility operated by the department, may be reduced by earned early release time in accordance with procedures that shall be developed and promulgated by the correctional agency having jurisdiction in which the offender is confined. The earned early release time shall be for good behavior and good performance, as determined by the correctional agency having jurisdiction. The correctional agency shall not credit the offender with earned early release credits in advance of the offender actually earning the credits. The department shall establish a policy whereby refusal by an offender to work will result in loss of earned early release credits. Any program established pursuant to this section shall allow an offender to earn early release credits for presentence incarceration. If an offender is transferred from a county jail to the department of corrections, the county jail facility shall certify to the department the amount of time spent in custody at the facility and the amount of earned early release time. In the case of an offender convicted of a serious violent offense or a sex offense that is a class A felony committed on or after July 1, 1990, the aggregate earned early release time may not exceed fifteen percent of the sentence. In no other case shall the aggregate earned early release time exceed one-third of the total sentence;

(2) A person convicted of a sex offense or an offense categorized as a serious violent offense, assault in the second degree, assault of a child in the second degree, any crime against a person where it is determined in accordance with RCW 9.94A.125 that the defendant or an accomplice was armed with a deadly weapon at the time of commission, or any felony offense under chapter 69.50 or 69.52 RCW may become eligible, in accordance with a program developed by the department, for transfer to community custody status in lieu of earned early release time pursuant to subsection (1) of this section;

(3) An offender may leave a correctional facility pursuant to an authorized furlough or leave of absence. In addition, offenders may leave a correctional facility when in the custody of a corrections officer or officers;

(4) The governor, upon recommendation from the clemency and pardons board, may grant an extraordinary release for reasons of serious health problems, senility, advanced age, extraordinary meritorious acts, or other extraordinary circumstances;

(5) No more than the final six months of the sentence may be served in partial confinement designed to aid the offender in finding work and reestablishing him or herself in the community;

(6) The governor may pardon any offender;

(7) The department of corrections may release an offender from confinement any time within ten days before a release date calculated under this section; and

(8) An offender may leave a correctional facility prior to completion of his sentence if the sentence has been reduced as provided in RCW 9.94A.160.

Sec. 3. RCW 72.09.130 and 1981 c 136 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall adopt a system providing incentives for good conduct and disincentives for poor conduct. The system may include increases or decreases in the degree of liberty granted the inmate within the programs operated by the department and recommended increases or decreases in the number of earned early release days that an inmate can earn for good conduct and good performance. Earned early release days shall be recommended by the department as a form of tangible reward for accomplishment. The system shall be fair, measurable, and understandable to offenders, staff, and the public. The department shall establish a policy whereby refusal by an offender to work will result in a loss of earned early release credits. At least once in each twelve-month period, the department shall inform the offender in writing as to his or her conduct and performance. This written evaluation shall include reasons for awarding or not awarding recommended earned early release days for good conduct and good performance. The term "good performance" as used in this section means successfully performing a work, work training, or educational task to levels of expectation as specified in writing by the department. The term "good conduct" as used in this section refers to compliance with department rules.

Within one year after July 1, 1981, the department shall adopt, and provide a written description of, the system. The department shall provide a copy of this description to each offender in its custody.