Read first time 01/29/09.   Referred to Committee on Human Services.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing the department of corrections to rely upon jail certification in the calculation of release dates for offenders; amending RCW 9.94A.728; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 9.94A.728 and 2008 c 231 s 34 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. The department may approve a jail certification from a correctional agency that calculates earned release time based on the actual amount of confinement time served by the offender before sentencing when an erroneous calculation of confinement time served by the offender before sentencing appears on the judgment and sentence. 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.533 (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.
     (a) 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, and before July 1, 2003, the aggregate earned release time may not exceed fifteen percent of the sentence. 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, 2003, the aggregate earned release time may not exceed ten percent of the sentence.
     (b)(i) In the case of an offender who qualifies under (b)(ii) of this subsection, the aggregate earned release time may not exceed fifty percent of the sentence.
     (ii) An offender is qualified to earn up to fifty percent of aggregate earned release time under this subsection (1)(b) if he or she:
     (A) Is classified in one of the two lowest risk categories under (b)(iii) of this subsection;
     (B) Is not confined pursuant to a sentence for:
     (I) A sex offense;
     (II) A violent offense;
     (III) A crime against persons as defined in RCW 9.94A.411;
     (IV) A felony that is domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020;
     (V) A violation of RCW 9A.52.025 (residential burglary);
     (VI) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.401 by manufacture or delivery or possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine; or
     (VII) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.406 (delivery of a controlled substance to a minor);      (C) Has no prior conviction for:
     (I) A sex offense;
     (II) A violent offense;
     (III) A crime against persons as defined in RCW 9.94A.411;
     (IV) A felony that is domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020;
     (V) A violation of RCW 9A.52.025 (residential burglary);
     (VI) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.401 by manufacture or delivery or possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine; or
     (VII) A violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.406 (delivery of a controlled substance to a minor);
     (D) Participates in programming or activities as directed by the offender's individual reentry plan as provided under RCW 72.09.270 to the extent that such programming or activities are made available by the department; and
     (E) Has not committed a new felony after July 22, 2007, while under community custody.
     (iii) For purposes of determining an offender's eligibility under this subsection (1)(b), the department shall perform a risk assessment of every offender committed to a correctional facility operated by the department who has no current or prior conviction for a sex offense, a violent offense, a crime against persons as defined in RCW 9.94A.411, a felony that is domestic violence as defined in RCW 10.99.020, a violation of RCW 9A.52.025 (residential burglary), a violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.401 by manufacture or delivery or possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, or a violation of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to violate, RCW 69.50.406 (delivery of a controlled substance to a minor). The department must classify each assessed offender in one of four risk categories between highest and lowest risk.
     (iv) The department shall recalculate the earned release time and reschedule the expected release dates for each qualified offender under this subsection (1)(b).
     (v) This subsection (1)(b) applies retroactively to eligible offenders serving terms of total confinement in a state correctional facility as of July 1, 2003.
     (vi) This subsection (1)(b) does not apply to offenders convicted after July 1, 2010.
     (c) 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, 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, may become eligible, in accordance with a program developed by the department, for transfer to community custody in lieu of earned release time pursuant to subsection (1) of this section;
     (b) 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 custody terms eligible for release to community custody in lieu of earned release shall provide an approved residence and living arrangement prior to release to the community;
     (c) The department may deny transfer to community custody 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;
     (d) If the department denies transfer to community custody in lieu of earned early release pursuant to (c) of this subsection, the department may transfer an offender to partial confinement in lieu of earned early release up to three months. The three months in partial confinement is in addition to that portion of the offender's term of confinement that may be served in partial confinement as provided in this section;
     (e) An offender serving a term of confinement imposed under RCW 9.94A.670(5)(a) is not eligible for earned release credits under 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)(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 offender's term of confinement may be served in partial confinement designed to aid the offender in finding work and reestablishing himself or herself in the community. This is in addition to that period of earned early release time that may be exchanged for partial confinement pursuant to subsection (2)(d) of this section;
     (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;
     (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; and
     (10) 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. 2   This act takes effect August 1, 2009.