H-3478.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2837
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1994 Regular Session
By Representatives Tate, Campbell, Ballard, Padden, Casada, Long, Chappell, Shin, Van Luven, B. Thomas, Talcott, Brough, Mielke, Roland, McMorris, L. Thomas, Sheldon, Wood, Ballasiotes, Brumsickle, Cooke, Sheahan, Chandler, Johanson and Schoesler
Read first time 01/26/94. Referred to Committee on Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to early release for convicted felons; and amending RCW 9.94A.150.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. 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)) under 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)) adopted 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. Any program established
((pursuant to)) under 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))
no 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,)) shall
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)) under subsection (1) of this section;
(3) An offender may
leave a correctional facility ((pursuant to)) under 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 or her sentence if the sentence has been reduced as provided in RCW 9.94A.160.
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