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:
128 948.33 Prosecution 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.