H-3808.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2889
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1994 Regular Session
By Representatives Forner, Sheahan, Ballasiotes, Sehlin, Padden, Cooke, Brough, Tate, Fuhrman, L. Thomas, Foreman, Chandler, Schmidt, Backlund, B. Thomas, Brumsickle, Talcott and Reams
Read first time 01/28/94. Referred to Committee on Corrections.
AN ACT Relating to eliminating early release for incarcerated offenders; 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 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
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 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 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 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))) (2)
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))) (3)
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))) (4)
The governor may pardon any offender; and
(((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))) (5) 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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