| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Parole Commission; amending s. |
| 3 | 947.01, F.S.; deleting an obsolete provision; revising the |
| 4 | number of commission members; amending s. 947.02, F.S.; |
| 5 | requiring the commission's membership to reflect at all |
| 6 | times the diversity of the population of this state; |
| 7 | amending s. 947.13, F.S.; requiring the commission to |
| 8 | provide transition assistance to eligible offenders; |
| 9 | providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Section 947.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to |
| 14 | read: |
| 15 | 947.01 Parole Commission; creation; number of members.--A |
| 16 | Parole Commission is created to consist of five six members who |
| 17 | are residents of the state. Effective July 1, 1996, the |
| 18 | membership of the commission shall be three members. |
| 19 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 947.02, Florida |
| 20 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 21 | 947.02 Parole Commission; members, appointment.-- |
| 22 | (1) Except as provided in s. 947.021, the members of the |
| 23 | Parole Commission shall be appointed by the Governor and Cabinet |
| 24 | from a list of eligible applicants submitted by a parole |
| 25 | qualifications committee. The appointments of members of the |
| 26 | commission shall be certified to the Senate by the Governor and |
| 27 | Cabinet for confirmation, and the membership of the commission |
| 28 | shall at all times reflect the diversity of the population of |
| 29 | this state include representation from minority persons as |
| 30 | defined in s. 288.703. |
| 31 | Section 3. Paragraph (i) is added to subsection (1) of |
| 32 | section 947.13, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 33 | 947.13 Powers and duties of commission.-- |
| 34 | (1) The commission shall have the powers and perform the |
| 35 | duties of: |
| 36 | (i) Providing transition assistance to eligible offenders |
| 37 | under the commission's purview within appropriated funds in |
| 38 | order to support the goals of reducing recidivism and promoting |
| 39 | successful reentry of offenders into society. |
| 40 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |