COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS REVISIONS                                                  S.B. 1139 (S-1):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 1139 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Sponsor:  Senator Tonya Schuitmaker

Committee:  Judiciary

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Community Corrections Act to do the following:

-- Rename the Office of Community Alternatives in the Department of Corrections (DOC) as the "Office of Community Corrections", and rename the State Community Corrections Board as the "State Community Corrections Advisory Board".

-- Provide that the Office would consist of an administrator and staff appointed by the DOC Director, rather than consisting of the Board and an executive director, and staff appointed by the executive director.

-- Require the Board to conduct activities necessary to advise the DOC Director on community corrections, rather than to act as the policy-making body for the Office.

-- Revise the duties and responsibilities of the Board.

-- Require that program standards adopted by the Board reflect evidence-based practices and that program eligibility include moderate- to high-risk offenders.

-- Require the Office to give community corrections advisory boards information required to develop comprehensive plans and programming; and otherwise revise the duties and responsibilities of the Office.

-- Revise the membership of local and regional community corrections advisory boards.

-- Revise requirements for a local or regional advisory board's comprehensive corrections plan.

-- Establish new requirements for a community corrections program.

The bill would require a community corrections program to do all of the following:

-- Provide appropriate sanctions and services as sentencing options, including incarceration, community supervision, and programming services for eligible offenders.

-- Provide improved local services for individuals involved in the criminal justice system with the goal of reducing the occurrence of repeat criminal offenses that result in a term of incarceration or detention in jail or prison.

-- Ensure the use of evidence-based practices to protect public safety and rehabilitate the offender.

-- Promote local control and management of community corrections programs.

-- Enhance, increase, and support the State and county partnership in the management of offenders.

The Act defines "community corrections program" as a program that is operated by or contracted for by a city, county, or group of counties, or is operated by a nonprofit service agency, and is an alternative to incarceration in a state correctional facility. The bill would delete the reference to an alternative to incarceration in a State correctional facility, and would refer instead to a program that offers sanctions, services, or both, instead of incarceration in prison, that are locally operated and span a continuum of programming options from pretrial through postadjudication.

MCL 791.402 et al.                                                   Legislative Analyst:  Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government, as it would update the statute to reflect current operating practices. The most recent modifications to sentencing guidelines were made in 2002 and at that time the Community Corrections Act was not revised completely to reflect all of the policy changes.

Date Completed:  12-11-14                                                  Fiscal Analyst:  John Maxwell

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.