BILL NUMBER:S3697

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the correction law, in relation to
parole violators

PURPOSE:  To require parole violators to be transferred to a state
correctional facility after 10 business days in a local correctional
facility.

SUMMARY:

Section 1 amends the Correction Law by adding a new section 23-a in
order that, except for in cities with a population over one million,
after a period of ten business days in a local correctional facility
those individuals in violation of their parole be heard by the court and
either transferred to a state facility at a cost of the Department of
Correctional and Community Supervision, granted an extension by the
local court, or released by the local court.

Section 2 provides the act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
shall have become law; provided however, that effective immediately, the
addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
for the implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized
to be made on or before such date.

JUSTIFICATION:  When prisoners are released on parole from state facili-
              

ties, violators of their parole should be punished.

Currently, those who violate their parole are often held at local facil-
ities while appeals and extensions on hearing the violation are granted
by the court. The defendant must appear before the court within 10 busi-
ness days of the court's notice to appear. The time the violator spends
in the local correctional facility is credited to their sentence and
sometimes lasts the sentence's duration.

This bill will give the Court the option to grant an extension up to 20
days for the defendant's stay at the local correctional facility.
Otherwise, the parole violator will be transferred by Department of
Correctional and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to a state facility.
This bill also requires DOCS to reimburse the local facility for the
cost of the temporary detainment of the parole violator.

With overcrowding issues in local facilities at significant cost to the
localities, it's important to implement policies that will require the
state to be responsible for detaining violators of the pa role they set.

It is wrong for the localities to berthed cost of detaining the state's
prisoners who have been released on parole.

HISTORY: New bill.

FISCAL IMPACT:  Significant cost savings will be realized by the coun-
ties while the State Department of Correctional and Community Super-
vision will take on additional costs. Overall, more efficiency and cost
savings will be realized as it is generally more expensive to house
prisoners at county correctional facilities than at state facilities.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
shall have become law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before
such date.