BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to prohibiting early release for prisoners; and amending RCW 9.94A.150 and 9.92.151.

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 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 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 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 sentence if the sentence has been reduced as provided in RCW 9.94A.160.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no person convicted of a most serious offense, as that term is defined under RCW 9.94A.030(21), after the effective date of this act is eligible for earned early release.

Sec. 2. RCW 9.92.151 and 1990 c 3 s 201 are each amended to read as follows:

The sentence of a prisoner confined in a county jail facility for a felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor conviction may be reduced by earned release credits in accordance with procedures that shall be developed and ((~~promulgated~~)) adopted by the correctional agency having jurisdiction. The earned early release time shall be for good behavior and good performance as determined by the correctional agency having jurisdiction. Any program established ((~~pursuant to~~)) under this section shall allow an offender to earn early release credits for presentence incarceration. The correctional agency shall not credit the offender with earned early release credits in advance of the offender actually earning the credits. 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 may the aggregate earned early release time exceed one-third of the total sentence.