Requires parole violators in the counties of Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence to be transferred to state correctional facilities after 10 days in a local correctional facility

BILL NUMBER:S5423

Title of bill

An act to amend the correction law, in relation to parole violators in Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence counties; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

Purpose

To establish a two year pilot program in the counties of Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence for parole violators to be transferred to a state correctional facility after 10 business days in a local correctional facility.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends the Correction Law by adding a new section 23-a which establishes that in the counties of Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence, 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 the cost of the Department of Correction 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2 provides the act shall take effect on the 120th day after it shall have become law and shall expire and be deemed repealed two years after such effective date. 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 facilities, violators of their parole should be punished.

Currently, those who violate their parole are often held at local facilities while appeals and extensions on hearing the violation are granted by the court. The defendant must appear before the court within ten business 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 duration of the sentence.

This bill will give the Courts in Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence counties the option to grant an extension up to twenty days for the defendant's stay at the local correctional facility. Otherwise, the parole violator will be transferred by the Department of Correction and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to a state facility. This bill also requires DOCCS to reimburse the local facility for the cost of the temporary detainment of the parole violator.

With overcrowding issues in local facilities, especially in Jefferson, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence Counties, at a significant cost to the localities, it is important to implement policies that will require the state to be responsible for detaining violators of the parole they set.

It is wrong for these localities to bear the 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 counties while the State Department of Correctional and Community Supervision 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 and shall expire and be deemed repealed two years after such effective date. 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.