BILL NUMBER: S1379

SPONSOR: BAILEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to significant program-
matic accomplishment for limited credit time allowances for certain
inmates

 
PURPOSE:

To allow inmates who obtain a college degree to earn limited credit time
allowance.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Correction Law § 803-b(1) (c) (ii) Section 2 provides
an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:
              

Current law provides that an inmate who "participates in no less than
two years of college programming" may receive limited credit time allow-
ance (LCTA) permitting him or her to go before the parole board six
months before the expiration of his or her minimum sentence.  Although
DOCCS previously allowed LCTA credit for inmates paying for their own
college correspondence courses, a few years ago they changed their
interpretation of the law to only allow LCTA for inmates who attend an
in-house college program in one of the few prisons that have such a
program. Accordingly DOCCS does not grant LCTA to inmates who obtain AA
or BA degrees through accredited correspondence programs. This change in
policy was especially disheartening for inmates whose families had been
paying for years for correspondence classes from colleges on the DOCCS
approved list of accredited colleges: DOCCS has defended their new
interpretation by pointing to the State Education Department's (SED)
definition of hours per week required to constitute a college class but
this rationale falls short of the fact that it is the same SED that
accredits the colleges that also provide credit bearing classes by
correspondence.

This bill recognizes the achievement of those inmates who, much like
state employees obtaining degrees through Empire State College, work
jobs assigned to them during the day and complete their college work at
night and on weekends. Obtaining an AA degree or a BA degree is a
significant achievement in prison and should be recognized and rewarded
with LCTA eligibility whether the inmate attended one of the college
Programs in prison or paid for his or her own correspondence courses
with an outside accredited institution. Until college is provided in all
prisons to all interested inmates, there is no reason to penalize
inmates who are unable to attend one of the few in-house programs now in
operation.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-2018: Referred to Crime

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:


Will save the state money by expanding the number of inmates who are
eligible for early parole release.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.