HB 757

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to parole for adolescent offenders;
3	providing a short title; amending s. 947.16, F.S.;
4	providing definitions; providing that a child 15 years of age
5	or younger who is sentenced to life or more than 10 years in
6	prison is eligible for parole if the offender has been
7	incarcerated for a minimum period and has not previously been
8	adjudicated for certain offenses; requiring an initial
9	eligibility interview to determine whether the adolescent
10	offender has been sufficiently rehabilitated for parole;
11	providing criteria to determine sufficient rehabilitation;
12	providing eligibility for a reinterview after a specified
13	period for offenders denied parole; providing that the child
14	be incarcerated in an adolescent offender facility with a GED
15	program; providing that if the child is not granted parole by
16	a specified age, the child must be transferred from the
17	adolescent offender facility to an appropriate adult facility
18	with a GED program; providing that if the child is granted
19	parole, the adolescent offender must participate in any
20	available reentry program for 2 years; defining the term
21	"reentry program"; providing priority for certain
22	programs; providing for eligibility for an initial
23	eligibility interview for offenders in their eighth or
24	subsequent year of incarceration on the effective date of
25	the act; providing for retroactive application; providing
26	an effective date.
27
28	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30	Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Second Chance for
31	Children in Prison Act of 2009."
32	Section 2.  Paragraph (f) is added to subsection (1) of
33	section 947.16, Florida Statutes, subsections (2) through (6)
34	are renumbered as subsections (4) through (8), respectively, and
35	new subsections (2) and (3) are added to that section, to read:
36	947.16  Eligibility for parole; initial parole interviews;
37	powers and duties of commission; adolescent offender
38	eligibility.--
39	(1)  Every person who has been convicted of a felony or who
40	has been convicted of one or more misdemeanors and whose
41	sentence or cumulative sentences total 12 months or more, who is
42	confined in execution of the judgment of the court, and whose
43	record during confinement or while under supervision is good,
44	shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be eligible for
45	interview for parole consideration of her or his cumulative
46	sentence structure as follows:
47	(f)1.  As used in this paragraph and subsections (2) and
48	(3), the term:
49	a.  "Adolescent offender" means an offender who was 15
50	years of age or younger at the time the criminal act was
51	committed and was sentenced to life, or to a single or
52	cumulative term of imprisonment of 10 years or more, and has
53	served 8 years of the sentence.
54	b.  "Current offense" means one or more crimes committed by
55	the adolescent offender within a 1-month period of time or for
56	which sentences run concurrent to each other.
57	2.  An adolescent offender may be eligible for parole as
58	provided in this paragraph. An adolescent offender is ineligible
59	under this paragraph if she or he, before the current offense,
60	pled nolo contendere to or was convicted of any violation of:
61	a.  Section 782.04, entitled "Murder";
62	b.  Section 784.041, entitled "Felony battery; domestic
63	battery by strangulation";
64	c.  Section 784.045, entitled "Aggravated battery";
65	d.  Section 784.07, entitled "Assault or battery of law
66	enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical care
67	providers, public transit employees or agents, or other
68	specified officers; reclassification of offenses; minimum
69	sentences";
70	e.  Section 784.08, entitled "Assault or battery on persons
71	65 years of age or older; reclassification of offenses; minimum
72	sentence";
73	f.  Section 790.07, entitled "Persons engaged in criminal
74	offense, having weapons";
75	g.  Section 794.011, entitled "Sexual battery";
76	h.  Section 827.03, entitled "Abuse, aggravated abuse, and
77	neglect of a child; penalties"; or
78	i.  Section 828.12, entitled "Cruelty to animals."
79	3.  Before an adolescent offender may be granted parole
80	under this paragraph, she or he must have an initial eligibility
81	interview to determine whether she or he has been sufficiently
82	rehabilitated while in the custody of the department to justify
83	granting parole. The initial eligibility interview will occur in
84	the eighth year of incarceration. In order to determine if the
85	adolescent offender has been sufficiently rehabilitated, she or
86	he must have successfully completed the General Educational
87	Development (GED) program and have received no disciplinary
88	reports for a period of at least 2 years. The hearing examiner
89	must also consider whether:
90	a.  The adolescent offender was a principal to the criminal
91	offense or an accomplice to the offense, a relatively minor
92	participant in the criminal offense, or acted under extreme
93	duress or domination of another person.
94	b.  The adolescent offender has shown remorse for the
95	criminal offense.
96	c.  The adolescent offender's age, maturity, and
97	psychological development at the time of the offense affected
98	her or his behavior.
99	d.  The adolescent offender, while in the custody of the
100	department, has aided inmates suffering from catastrophic or
101	terminal medical, mental, or physical conditions or has
102	prevented risk or injury to staff, citizens, or other inmates.
103	e.  The adolescent offender has successfully completed
104	educational and self-rehabilitation programs.
105	f.  The adolescent offender was a victim of sexual,
106	physical, or emotional abuse.
107	g.  The wishes of the victim or the opinions of the
108	victim's next of kin have been taken into serious consideration.
109	4.  An adolescent offender who is not granted parole under
110	this paragraph after an initial eligibility interview shall be
111	eligible for a reinterview 2 years after the date of the denial
112	of the grant of parole and every 2 years thereafter.
113	(2)  Except as otherwise provided in chapter 958, an
114	adolescent offender must be serving the sentence in a facility
115	designated for adolescent offenders that has a General
116	Educational Development (GED) program. The adolescent offender
117	shall receive priority in GED program placement. If an
118	adolescent offender has not been granted parole by the time she
119	or he reaches 25 years of age, the adolescent offender must be
120	transferred from the adolescent offender facility to an
121	appropriate adult facility that has a General Educational
122	Development (GED) program.
123	(3)  If the adolescent offender is granted parole, the
124	adolescent offender must participate in any available reentry
125	program for 2 years. As used in this subsection, the term
126	"reentry program" means a program that promotes effective
127	reintegration of offenders back into communities upon release
128	and provides one or more of the following: vocational training,
129	placement services, transitional housing, mentoring, or drug
130	rehabilitation. Priority shall be given to those reentry
131	programs that are residential, highly structured, self-reliant,
132	and therapeutic communities.
133	Section 3.  An adolescent offender, as defined in s.
134	947.16(1)(f), Florida Statutes, as created by this act, in his
135	or her eighth or subsequent year of incarceration on the
136	effective date of this act must receive an initial eligibility
137	interview as provided in s. 947.16(1)(f)3., Florida Statutes, as
138	created by this act, if he or she is otherwise eligible.
139	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law
140	and shall apply retroactively.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.