CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.House Bill 1267
Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 1267
By Representative Roberts-Burke
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to community punishment;
3 providing legislative intent to replace regular
4 community supervision programs with a continuum
5 of community punishment sanctions that are
6 appropriate to the individual offender, the
7 needs of the victim, and the needs of the
8 community; providing legislative intent to
9 remove all statutory and case law limitations,
10 other than questions of constitutionality, that
11 have been barriers to an effective system of
12 community punishment and victim services;
13 providing legislative intent to authorize
14 enhanced community punishment sentences with
15 greatly expanded conditions that can be
16 administratively imposed; requiring the
17 Department of Corrections to provide, by
18 January 1, 1998, a plan to reorganize its
19 Office of Community Corrections into an
20 organizational unit focusing on community
21 punishment and victim services under an
22 assistant secretary, in accordance with the
23 intent of the act; providing an effective date.
24
25 WHEREAS, the Criminal Justice Standards Committee of
26 the American Bar Association, comprised of prosecutors,
27 defense lawyers, professors, and judges, in "Standards for
28 Criminal Justice Sentencing," 1994, recommends use of "a broad
29 array of criminal sanctions," and
30 WHEREAS, the Florida Corrections Commission, in its
31 November 1995 Annual Report, observes that there is now a
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1 window of opportunity in this state to review existing
2 policies, reevaluate alternative policies, and address issues
3 that have gone unattended because of the need to address the
4 demand for prison beds, and that this opportunity includes the
5 development and expanded use of community punishment to divert
6 appropriate offenders "from the more costly and less effective
7 prison commitment," and
8 WHEREAS, Department of Corrections records show that a
9 substantial majority of offenders who are not sentenced to
10 prison are placed on regular probation and that as of June 30,
11 1996, more than 98,400 offenders, mostly property and drug
12 offenders, were on regular probation, compared to the
13 approximately 64,000 offenders who were incarcerated in
14 Department of Corrections secure facilities and the
15 approximately 14,465 offenders who were on community control,
16 and
17 WHEREAS, these figures reflect a system that most
18 heavily relies on just two sentencing options, probation and
19 prison, while Department of Corrections statistics demonstrate
20 seriously increased caseloads of probation officers, resulting
21 in an average caseload per probation officer for standard
22 probation of 134 to 1, and
23 WHEREAS, according to the Task Force for the Review of
24 Criminal Justice and Corrections Systems, the caseloads of
25 probation officers have grown to levels that preclude
26 effective supervision, redirection, and reintegration of
27 offenders into the community, and
28 WHEREAS, research has shown that a continuum of
29 immediate community sanctions can be a cost-effective method
30 of increasing the swiftness and certainty of punishment for
31 designated offenders and can deter them from committing more
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1 crimes, and many have proposed this as a means to better
2 bridge the gap between prison and probation, and
3 WHEREAS, a continuum of immediate community sanctions
4 enables a judge to design an appropriate punishment for each
5 offender, with the flexibility to impose new and increased
6 sanctions when necessary, and its deterrence value for
7 potential peer group offenders is heightened by its visibility
8 within the community, NOW, THEREFORE,
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. COMMUNITY PUNISHMENT AND VICTIM
13 SERVICES.--It is the intent of the Legislature to develop
14 legislation for consideration during the 1998 Regular Session
15 that would substantially revise the state's laws relating to
16 community supervision programs administered by the Department
17 of Corrections by:
18 (1) Significantly expanding the available community
19 punishment sentence options and placing community punishment
20 sentences within the total discretion of the sentencing judge
21 and the community punishment officer, although the jury is
22 authorized to recommend a community punishment sentence to the
23 sentencing judge. The sentencing judge shall have sole
24 discretion over victim restitution issues.
25 (2)(a) Removing all statutory law, case law, and other
26 limitations, other than questions of constitutionality, that
27 have acted as barriers to effective systems of community
28 punishment and victim services. No offender sentenced to a
29 term of community punishment may be released from community
30 punishment until any required restitution has been satisfied.
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1 (b) When sentencing an offender for a felony offense,
2 if the sentencing judge does not impose a state prison
3 sentence or imposes a split sentence, community punishment
4 sentences are authorized as follows:
5 1. For a life felony or a felony of the first degree
6 punishable by life imprisonment, by a term of community
7 punishment for up to and including life.
8 2. For a felony of the first degree, by a term of
9 community punishment not exceeding 60 years.
10 3. For a felony of the second degree, by a term of
11 community punishment not exceeding 30 years.
12 4. For a felony of the third degree, by a term of
13 community punishment not exceeding 10 years.
14 (c) When sentencing an offender for a misdemeanor
15 offense, community punishment sentences are authorized as
16 follows:
17 1. For a misdemeanor of the first degree, for a term
18 of community punishment not exceeding 2 years.
19 2. For a misdemeanor of the second degree, for a term
20 of community punishment not exceeding 1 year.
21 (3) Suspending adjudication for the duration of the
22 community punishment sentence, but authorizing the sentencing
23 judge to administratively impose adjudication at any time
24 during the period of the community punishment sentence, upon a
25 preponderance of evidence that the offender has committed a
26 substantial violation of the community punishment sentence or
27 a new criminal offense.
28 (4) Giving the community punishment officer the
29 authority and total discretion to administratively increase or
30 decrease all community punishment terms and conditions and the
31 length of the community punishment sentence within the
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1 authorized timeframe, with notification to the offender and
2 the written approval of the sentencing judge.
3 (5) Requiring that community punishment conditions be
4 imposed in the following priority context:
5 (a) Satisfaction to the victim.
6 (b) Complete cessation of the offender's criminal
7 behavior.
8 (c) Satisfaction to the community.
9 (6) Authorizing the sentencing court, together with
10 the community punishment officer, to fashion any community
11 punishment sentence rationally related to the offense
12 committed and the identified problems of the individual
13 offender, within the community punishment priority context. In
14 addition to traditional standard conditions of community
15 supervision under current law, conditions of community
16 punishment may include, but are not limited to:
17 (a)1. Before the offender leaves the courtroom, a
18 letter of apology prepared for each victim, with the
19 offender's photo attached.
20 2. A public apology, which may include the offender's
21 making a written public apology published in a newspaper
22 widely distributed in the community.
23 (b)1. Child support payments to children of deceased
24 or disabled victims.
25 2. If the offender has fathered children out of
26 wedlock and paternity has not been legally established, a
27 paternity suit brought by the offender against himself.
28 3. Child support, if the offender is not supporting
29 his or her children.
30 4. Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) treatment as a
31 condition of community punishment if not medically or
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1 otherwise contraindicated for dead-beat parent offenders who
2 become the parent of another child.
3 (c)1. Erection and maintenance of a marker or monument
4 for victims.
5 2. Placement of a marker which describes the terms and
6 conditions of a relevant court order on the offender's
7 property.
8 (d) Any appropriate number of community service hours,
9 to be performed at a monthly or weekly rate.
10 (e) Attendance at community punishment court.
11 (f)1. Surveillance community punishment, with
12 electronic monitoring or mandatory curfew and frequent
13 substance abuse screening.
14 2. Surveillance by mobile intervention supervision
15 teams, or other innovative supervision methods.
16 (g) Specialized coerced-abstinence community
17 punishment with a secure residential substance abuse treatment
18 component.
19 (h) Intensive therapeutic judicial supervision.
20 (i) Placement of the offender in a local boot camp,
21 local work camp, local substance abuse or mental health
22 treatment facility, or department-operated community
23 punishment restitution center or work facility.
24 (j) Requirement that the offender attend and complete
25 any appropriate program, including, but not limited to,
26 batterers' intervention, Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine
27 Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, literacy or other education,
28 parenting, life skills, and employment training.
29 Section 2. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS
30 REORGANIZATION.--
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1 (1) No later than January 1, 1998, the Department of
2 Corrections must provide a plan to reorganize its current
3 Office of Community Corrections into an organizational unit
4 that focuses on community punishment and victim services,
5 under the direction of an assistant secretary. The plan shall
6 include a mission statement for the new unit. The mission
7 statement must focus on public safety, with the objective of
8 establishing a community punishment program that is viewed
9 within the community as trustworthy and credible, economical,
10 safe, and restorative of a sense of community justice. The new
11 unit's structure must be designed to optimize its mission in
12 the most cost-effective manner, with the following premises:
13 (a) This state needs swift and sure community
14 punishment options that work.
15 (b) Some offenders can become productive citizens
16 instead of wards of the state.
17 (c) The effective administration of community
18 punishment and victim services is cost-effective and restores
19 a sense of justice to the community.
20 (2) As part of its plan, the department shall:
21 (a) Provide recommendations regarding a community
22 punishment continuum, including a continuum of sanctions for
23 community punishment violations.
24 (b) Include recommendations regarding specialized
25 sanctions, including facilities, for offenders who are placed
26 into specialized coerced-abstinence community punishment.
27 (c) Provide recommendations regarding community
28 punishment supervision fees.
29 (d) Include recommendations for working with local
30 public safety groups.
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1 (e) Include a methodology for keeping each community
2 informed about its community punishment program, including
3 restitution amounts paid, community hours served, property
4 returned, and offender successes and failures.
5 (f) Provide documentation of staffing patterns and
6 requirements and other budget needs.
7 (g) Address the feasibility of transferring all
8 programs dealing with victims from the Department of Legal
9 Affairs to the Department of Corrections.
10 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
11 law.
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13 *****************************************
14 HOUSE SUMMARY
15
Provides legislative intent to replace regular community
16 supervision programs with a continuum of community
punishment sanctions that are appropriate to the
17 individual offender, the needs of the victim, and the
needs of the community. Provides legislative intent to
18 remove all statutory and case law limitations, other than
questions of constitutionality, that have been barriers
19 to an effective system of community punishment and victim
services. Provides legislative intent to authorize
20 enhanced community punishment sentences with greatly
expanded conditions that can be administratively imposed.
21 Requires the Department of Corrections to provide, by
January 1, 1998, a plan to reorganize its Office of
22 Community Corrections into an organizational unit
focusing on community punishment and victim services
23 under an assistant secretary, in accordance with the
intent of the act.
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