[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to the department of corrections' authority to require offenders eligible for release to community custody status in lieu of earned release to propose a release plan that complies with the department's program for placing offenders in the community in lieu of early release; amending RCW 9.94A.728; creating new sections; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature has determined in RCW 9.94A.728(2) that the department of corrections may transfer offenders to community custody status in lieu of earned release time in accordance with a program developed by the department of corrections. It is the legislature's intent, in response to: In re: Capello 106 Wn.App. 576 (2001), to clarify the law to reflect that the secretary of the department has, and has had since enactment of the community placement act of 1988, the authority to require all offenders, eligible for release to community custody status in lieu of earned release, to provide a release plan that includes an approved residence and living arrangement prior to any transfer to the community.

Sec. 2. RCW 9.94A.728 and 2000 c 28 s 28 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 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 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 release credits in advance of the offender actually earning the 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, the administrator of a county jail facility shall certify to the department the amount of time spent in custody at the facility and the amount of earned release time. An offender who has been convicted of a felony committed after July 23, 1995, that involves any applicable deadly weapon enhancements under RCW 9.94A.510 (3) or (4), or both, shall not receive any good time credits or earned release time for that portion of his or her sentence that results from any deadly weapon enhancements. 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 release time may not exceed fifteen percent of the sentence. In no other case shall the aggregate earned release time exceed one-third of the total sentence;

(2)(a) A person convicted of a sex offense or an offense categorized as a serious violent offense, assault in the second degree, vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, assault of a child in the second degree, any crime against persons where it is determined in accordance with RCW 9.94A.602 that the offender 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, committed before July 1, 2000, may become eligible, in accordance with a program developed by the department, for transfer to community custody status in lieu of earned release time pursuant to subsection (1) of this section;

(b) A person convicted of a sex offense, a violent offense, any crime against persons under RCW 9.94A.411(2), or a felony offense under chapter 69.50 or 69.52 RCW, committed on or after July 1, 2000, may become eligible, in accordance with a program developed by the department, for transfer to community custody status in lieu of earned release time pursuant to subsection (1) of this section;

(c) The department shall, as a part of its program for release to the community in lieu of earned release, require the offender to propose a release plan that includes an approved residence and living arrangement. All offenders with community placement or community custody terms eligible for release to community custody status in lieu of earned release shall provide an approved residence and living arrangement prior to release to the community;

(d) The department may deny transfer to community custody status in lieu of earned release time pursuant to subsection (1) of this section if the department determines an offender's release plan, including proposed residence location and living arrangements, may violate the conditions of the sentence or conditions of supervision, place the offender at risk to violate the conditions of the sentence, place the offender at risk to reoffend, or present a risk to victim safety or community safety. The department's authority under this section is independent of any court-ordered condition of sentence or statutory provision regarding conditions for community custody or community placement;

(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)(a) The secretary may authorize an extraordinary medical placement for an offender when all of the following conditions exist:

(i) The offender has a medical condition that is serious enough to require costly care or treatment;

(ii) The offender poses a low risk to the community because he or she is physically incapacitated due to age or the medical condition; and

(iii) Granting the extraordinary medical placement will result in a cost savings to the state.

(b) An offender sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole is not eligible for an extraordinary medical placement.

(c) The secretary shall require electronic monitoring for all offenders in extraordinary medical placement unless the electronic monitoring equipment interferes with the function of the offender's medical equipment or results in the loss of funding for the offender's medical care. The secretary shall specify who shall provide the monitoring services and the terms under which the monitoring shall be performed.

(d) The secretary may revoke an extraordinary medical placement under this subsection at any time.

(5) 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;

(6) 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 himself or herself in the community;

(7) The governor may pardon any offender;

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

(9) An offender may leave a correctional facility prior to completion of his or her sentence if the sentence has been reduced as provided in RCW 9.94A.870.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, an offender sentenced for a felony crime listed in RCW 9.94A.540 as subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of total confinement shall not be released from total confinement before the completion of the listed mandatory minimum sentence for that felony crime of conviction unless allowed under RCW 9.94A.540, however persistent offenders are not eligible for extraordinary medical placement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act applies to all offenders with community placement or community custody terms currently incarcerated either before, on, or after the effective date of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. 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 takes effect immediately.