SENATE BILL REPORT

                   HB 1646

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

         Human Services & Corrections, March 26, 1997

                  Ways & Means, April 7, 1997

Title:  An act relating to the indeterminate sentence review board.

Brief Description:  Extending the existence of the indeterminate sentence review board.

Sponsors:  Representatives Quall, Ballasiotes, Dickerson and Sullivan.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Human Services & Corrections:  3/26/97 [DP-WM].

Ways & Means:  4/7/97 [DPA].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES & CORRECTIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass and be referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

  Signed by Senators Long, Chair; Zarelli, Vice Chair; Franklin, Hargrove, Kohl, Schow and Stevens.

Staff:  Andrea McNamara (786-7483)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.

  Signed by Senators West, Chair; Bauer, Brown, Fraser, Kohl, Long, Loveland, Rossi, Schow, Sheldon, Snyder, Spanel, Swecker and Thibaudeau.

Staff:  Bryon Moore (786-7726)

Background:   The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB) is scheduled, under current law, to sunset on June 30, 1998.

The ISRB consists of a three-member citizen board acting as a quasi-judicial body over the population of offenders who committed their crimes before the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) was enacted in 1984.  The board's functions relate to parole, and include deciding when a pre-SRA offender is fit for release, managing the offender's parole status by setting appropriate parole conditions and imposing sanctions for parole violations. 

ISRB members are prohibited under current law from engaging in any other business or profession or from holding any public office.

Governor Lowry was required, under the terms of the existing law, to recommend to the 1997 Legislature alternatives for carrying out the duties of the board. The Office of Financial Management convened a workgroup of stakeholders over the 1996 interim to study possible alternatives. 

The work group concluded, with the exception of the participating defense attorneys, that retaining the board remains the best option to satisfy public safety concerns and legal constraints.

Summary of Amended Bill:  The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board sunset date is extended from June 30, 1998, to June 30, 2008.

Recommendations regarding alternatives for carrying out the duties of the board must be presented by the Governor to the Legislature in 2007.

ISRB members and employees are authorized to engage in other business or professions or hold public office only after the prior approval of the Executive Ethics Board based on specified statutory criteria.

Amended Bill Compared to Original Bill:  Clarifying language is added that specific statutory criteria be used by the Executive Ethics Board in determining whether to allow outside employment by Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board members and employees.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  The continuation of the ISRB is the best available alternative to manage the remaining 750 incarcerated offenders under its jurisdiction and the 450 who are currently out on parole and under the board's jurisdiction.  These are among the most serious and high risk offenders in the system.  The ISRB system best protects public safety because it allows a panel of experts to review each offender individually before release.  All of the alternatives examined by the work group had serious legal, operational, or fiscal drawbacks.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Representative Dave Quall, prime sponsor; Lorraine Lee, Governor's Policy Office (pro); Kit Bail, Chair of Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (pro).