Florida Senate - 2018                             CS for SB 1206
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Brandes
       
       
       
       
       
       591-02129-18                                          20181206c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to state inmates; amending s. 945.091,
    3         F.S.; authorizing the Department of Corrections to
    4         extend the limits of confinement to allow an inmate
    5         that may not otherwise qualify for work release to be
    6         released on electronic monitoring; requiring the
    7         department to administer a risk assessment tool to
    8         determine an inmate’s appropriateness for release on
    9         electronic monitoring; authorizing the department to
   10         extend the limits of confinement to allow an inmate to
   11         participate in supervised community release, subject
   12         to certain requirements, as prescribed by the
   13         department by rule; requiring the department to
   14         administer a risk assessment tool to determine an
   15         inmate’s appropriateness for release on electronic
   16         monitoring; authorizing the department to terminate an
   17         inmate’s participation under certain circumstances;
   18         authorizing a law enforcement or a probation officer
   19         to arrest such an inmate without warrant in accordance
   20         with specified authority; requiring the law
   21         enforcement or probation officer to report alleged
   22         violations to a correctional officer for disposition
   23         of disciplinary charges as prescribed by the
   24         department by rule; providing that participating
   25         inmates remain eligible to earn or lose gain-time;
   26         providing that such inmates may not be counted in the
   27         population of the prison system and that their
   28         approved community-based housing location may not be
   29         counted in the capacity figures for the prison system;
   30         creating s. 948.33, F.S.; authorizing a prisoner in a
   31         state prison who has an unserved violation of
   32         probation or an unserved violation of community
   33         control warrant to file a notice of unserved warrant
   34         in the circuit court where the warrant was issued and
   35         to serve notice on the state attorney; requiring the
   36         circuit court to schedule a status hearing within a
   37         certain timeframe after receiving notice; specifying
   38         procedures and requirements for the status hearing;
   39         providing for prosecution of the violation; requiring
   40         that if the court enters an order, it send the order
   41         to the county sheriff; providing an effective date.
   42          
   43  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   44  
   45         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
   46  945.091, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (d) is
   47  added to that subsection, to read:
   48         945.091 Extension of the limits of confinement; restitution
   49  by employed inmates.—
   50         (1) The department may adopt rules permitting the extension
   51  of the limits of the place of confinement of an inmate as to
   52  whom there is reasonable cause to believe that the inmate will
   53  honor his or her trust by authorizing the inmate, under
   54  prescribed conditions and following investigation and approval
   55  by the secretary, or the secretary’s designee, who shall
   56  maintain a written record of such action, to leave the confines
   57  of that place unaccompanied by a custodial agent for a
   58  prescribed period of time to:
   59         (b) Work at paid employment, participate in an education or
   60  a training program, or voluntarily serve a public or nonprofit
   61  agency or faith-based service group in the community, while
   62  continuing as an inmate of the institution or facility in which
   63  the inmate is confined, except during the hours of his or her
   64  employment, education, training, or service and traveling
   65  thereto and therefrom. An inmate may travel to and from his or
   66  her place of employment, education, or training only by means of
   67  walking, bicycling, or using public transportation or
   68  transportation that is provided by a family member or employer.
   69  Contingent upon specific appropriations, the department may
   70  transport an inmate in a state-owned vehicle if the inmate is
   71  unable to obtain other means of travel to his or her place of
   72  employment, education, or training.
   73         1. An inmate may participate in paid employment only during
   74  the last 36 months of his or her confinement, unless sooner
   75  requested by the Florida Commission on Offender Review or the
   76  Control Release Authority.
   77         2. An inmate who may not otherwise be approved for release
   78  under this paragraph due to a higher custody level or other risk
   79  factor may be released and placed on an electronic monitoring
   80  device. The department must administer a risk assessment tool to
   81  appropriately determine such inmate’s ability to be released
   82  with electronic monitoring for work, educational, or training
   83  purposes.
   84         32. While working at paid employment and residing in the
   85  facility, an inmate may apply for placement at a contracted
   86  substance abuse transition housing program. The transition
   87  assistance specialist shall inform the inmate of program
   88  availability and assess the inmate’s need and suitability for
   89  transition housing assistance. If an inmate is approved for
   90  placement, the specialist shall assist the inmate. If an inmate
   91  requests and is approved for placement in a contracted faith
   92  based substance abuse transition housing program, the specialist
   93  must consult with the chaplain before such placement. The
   94  department shall ensure that an inmate’s faith orientation, or
   95  lack thereof, will not be considered in determining admission to
   96  a faith-based program and that the program does not attempt to
   97  convert an inmate toward a particular faith or religious
   98  preference.
   99         (d) Participate in supervised community release as
  100  prescribed by the department by rule. The inmate’s participation
  101  may begin 90 days before his or her provisional or tentative
  102  release date. Such supervised community release must include
  103  electronic monitoring and community control as defined in s.
  104  948.001. The department must administer a risk assessment tool
  105  to appropriately determine an inmate’s ability to be released
  106  pursuant to this paragraph.
  107         1.If a participating inmate fails to comply with the
  108  conditions prescribed by the department by rule for supervised
  109  community release, the department may terminate the inmate’s
  110  supervised community release and return him or her to the same
  111  or another institution designated by the department. A law
  112  enforcement officer or a probation officer may arrest the inmate
  113  without a warrant in accordance with s. 948.06, if there are
  114  reasonable grounds to believe he or she has violated the terms
  115  and conditions of supervised community release. The law
  116  enforcement officer or probation officer must report the
  117  inmate’s alleged violations to a correctional officer for
  118  disposition of disciplinary charges as prescribed by the
  119  department by rule.
  120         2.Inmates participating in supervised community release
  121  under this paragraph remain eligible to earn or lose gain-time
  122  as prescribed by law and department rule, but may not be counted
  123  in the population of the prison system, and the inmate’s
  124  approved community-based housing location may not be counted in
  125  the capacity figures for the prison system.
  126         Section 2. Section 948.33, Florida Statutes, is created to
  127  read:
  128         948.33Prosecution for violation of probation and community
  129  control arrest warrants of state prisoners.—A prisoner in a
  130  state prison in this state who has an unserved violation of
  131  probation or an unserved violation of community control warrant
  132  for his or her arrest may file a state prisoner’s notice of
  133  unserved warrant in the circuit court of the judicial circuit in
  134  which the unserved warrant was issued. The prisoner must also
  135  serve notice on the state attorney of that circuit. The circuit
  136  court shall schedule the notice for a status hearing within 90
  137  days after receipt of the notice. The state prisoner may not be
  138  transported to the status hearing. At the status hearing, the
  139  state attorney shall inform the court as to whether there is an
  140  unserved violation of probation warrant or an unserved violation
  141  of community control warrant for the arrest of the state
  142  prisoner. If a warrant for either violation exists, the court
  143  must enter an order within 30 days after the status hearing for
  144  the transport of the state prisoner to the county jail of the
  145  county that issued the warrant for prosecution of the violation,
  146  and the court shall send the order to the county sheriff for
  147  execution.
  148         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2018.