SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5655

BYSenators Wojahn, Johnson, Kiskaddon and Stratton; by request of Secretary of State

Providing for the restoration of civil rights.

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

Senate Hearing Date(s):March 3, 1987; March 4, 1987

Majority Report:  That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5655 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.

      Signed by Senators Wojahn, Chairman; Stratton, Vice Chairman; Anderson, Deccio, Johnson, Kiskaddon, Kreidler, Tanner.

Senate Staff:Jean Soliz (786-7755)

                  March 5, 1987

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES & CORRECTIONS, MARCH 4, 1987

BACKGROUND:

Persons convicted of infamous crimes are deprived of their voting rights when they are incarcerated.  The 1981 Sentencing Reform Act provides for automatic restoration of civil voting rights to prisoners who have finished their terms of incarceration. Inmates who committed their crimes prior to July 1, 1984 do not benefit from the Sentencing Reform Act provisions, and must wait longer and undergo an application process in order to have their civil voting rights restored.

SUMMARY:

Persons who committed crimes before the effective date of the Sentencing Reform Act automatically have their voting rights restored upon the granting of parole, upon completion of their sentence, or upon issuance of a probationary sentence.

EFFECT OF PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE:

State prison inmates who committed their crimes prior to July 1, 1984 will have their civil rights automatically restored after they have completed the requirements of their sentences.

Fiscal Note:      none requested

Senate Committee - Testified: Secretary of State Ralph Munro; Jim Hammond, Indeterminate Sentence Review Board; Jerry Sheehan, American Civil Liberties Union