FINAL BILL REPORT

                   SB 5283

                          C 165 L 97

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Clarifying deductions from offender funds other than wages and gratuities.

Sponsors:  Senators Hargrove and Long.

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

House Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections

Background:  As a result of legislation passed in 1995, the Department of Corrections began deducting 35 percent of funds received by inmates from sources outside the institution, effective May 20, 1996.

The deductions include 20 percent for costs of incarceration; 10 percent for mandatory savings to be distributed to offenders upon release; and 5 percent for crime victims compensation.

These deductions are currently the subject of a class action lawsuit in federal district court, where the inmates are challenging the deductions as a violation of their constitutional and federal rights.  On December 31, 1996, a United States magistrate judge issued his report and recommendations to the federal court regarding the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.  The court adopted the report and recommendations in an order issued on April 9, 1997.

The report recommended dismissing nearly all of the inmates' claims.  The magistrate judge, however, identified two issues that may warrant further court review, one of which relates to the possibility that the mandatory deductions may constitute double jeopardy in rare cases.

The report identified a hypothetical situation where an individual inmate may be required to incur "a grossly disproportionate share of the costs of incarceration" if he or she received a large enough amount of outside funds where the 20 percent deductions would exceed the state's actual costs of incarcerating the inmate.

Summary:  The amount of money deducted from inmate funds received from outside sources may not exceed the Department of Corrections' total cost of incarceration for the inmate incurred during the inmate's minimum or actual term of confinement, whichever is longer.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 46 0

House     93 3

Effective:  July 27, 1997