SF 1934

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to corrections; establishing a parole board; 
  1.3             prescribing its membership, duties, and powers; 
  1.4             prescribing when an individual is eligible for parole; 
  1.5             appropriating money; proposing coding for new law as 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 244A. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [244A.01] [CORRECTIONS BOARD.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [CREATION.] There is created a corrections 
  1.10  board consisting of five full-time members; four members shall 
  1.11  be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the 
  1.12  senate.  No more than two members appointed by the governor 
  1.13  shall belong to the same political party.  An appointment to a 
  1.14  vacancy shall be made in the same manner as other appointments 
  1.15  and shall be for the unexpired term.  The fifth member shall be 
  1.16  chair and shall be an officer of the department of corrections 
  1.17  in the unclassified service and shall be appointed by the 
  1.18  commissioner of corrections to serve at the commissioner's 
  1.19  pleasure. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [QUALIFICATIONS.] A candidate for appointment to 
  1.21  the corrections board is not required to have specific academic 
  1.22  or professional attainment, but shall have knowledge or 
  1.23  experience in corrections or related fields and be selected on 
  1.24  the basis of sound judgment and the ability to consider both the 
  1.25  needs of individuals over whom the board has jurisdiction and 
  1.26  the safety of the public.  Among the members appointed by the 
  2.1   governor, at least one shall be a woman, one a man, and one a 
  2.2   member of a racial minority. 
  2.3      Subd. 3.  [TERMS OF OFFICE; REAPPOINTMENT.] Terms of 
  2.4   members of the board are six years.  A member is eligible for 
  2.5   reappointment. 
  2.6      Subd. 4.  [COMPENSATION; EXPENSES.] Each member of the 
  2.7   board other than the chair shall receive as compensation the sum 
  2.8   of $70,000 per year, payable in the same manner as other 
  2.9   employees of the state.  The chair of the board shall receive as 
  2.10  compensation the chair's salary as an officer of the department 
  2.11  of corrections, which shall not be less than the salary of the 
  2.12  other members of the board.  In addition to the compensation 
  2.13  provided in this subdivision, each member of the board shall be 
  2.14  reimbursed for expenses paid or incurred in the performance of 
  2.15  official duties in the same manner as other employees of the 
  2.16  state.  This compensation and these expenses shall be paid out 
  2.17  of the general fund in the same manner as the salaries and 
  2.18  expenses of other state officers, except that the salary and 
  2.19  expenses of the chair of the board shall be paid out of funds 
  2.20  appropriated to the commissioner of corrections. 
  2.21     Subd. 5.  [QUORUM.] (a) The board may sit in units of two 
  2.22  or three as designated by the chair under rules prescribed by 
  2.23  the board, and such a unit constitutes a quorum.  
  2.24     (b) The chair may, with the approval of the commissioner of 
  2.25  corrections, appoint employees of the department of corrections 
  2.26  to perform administrative duties as assigned by the chair. 
  2.27     Sec. 2.  [244A.02] [BOARD POWERS; LIMITATIONS.] 
  2.28     Subdivision 1.  [POWERS.] Except as provided in subdivision 
  2.29  2, the corrections board may parole an individual sentenced to 
  2.30  confinement in an adult correctional facility: 
  2.31     (1) if the individual has served three years or more on the 
  2.32  current sentence and is more than 60 years old; or 
  2.33     (2) if the individual was sentenced: 
  2.34     (i) for a drug offense, if the individual was a user at the 
  2.35  time of the offense; 
  2.36     (ii) for a crime arising out of chemical dependency; 
  3.1      (iii) for a conspiracy, if another conspirator dominated 
  3.2   the individual or was the individual's domestic partner; 
  3.3      (iv) for a crime based on consequences that were not proved 
  3.4   to be intentional; or 
  3.5      (v) for a commercial crime; or 
  3.6      (3) if there has been a profound change in the individual's 
  3.7   character and conduct. 
  3.8      Subd. 2.  [LIMITATIONS.] An individual sentenced under the 
  3.9   sentencing guidelines is not eligible for parole until the 
  3.10  individual has served one-half of his or her sentence-to-serve.  
  3.11  "Sentence-to-serve" as applied to individuals whose crimes were 
  3.12  committed before August 1, 1993, is the period of time for which 
  3.13  the individual was committed to the custody of the commissioner 
  3.14  of corrections minus good time allowed.  Sentence-to-serve as 
  3.15  applied to individuals whose crimes were committed on or after 
  3.16  August 1, 1993, is the period of time equal to two-thirds of the 
  3.17  individual's executed sentence.  Parole is not authorized if 
  3.18  proscribed by United States Code, title 42, section 13704.  
  3.19  Parole decisions may not be based on the capacity of 
  3.20  correctional institutions. 
  3.21     Subd. 3.  [LEGAL CUSTODY OF PAROLEES.] Upon being paroled 
  3.22  and released, an individual remains in the legal custody and 
  3.23  under the control of the corrections board, subject to be 
  3.24  returned at any time to a facility of the department of 
  3.25  corrections.  If the individual is returned, the legal custody 
  3.26  of the individual reverts to the commissioner of corrections.  
  3.27  The written order of the corrections board, certified by the 
  3.28  chair of the board, is sufficient to authorize a peace officer 
  3.29  or state parole or probation agent to retake and place in the 
  3.30  custody of the corrections board any parolee, but a state parole 
  3.31  or probation agent may, without order of warrant, when it 
  3.32  appears necessary to prevent escape or enforce discipline, take 
  3.33  and detain a parolee to the custody of the corrections board for 
  3.34  its action.  The written order of the commissioner of 
  3.35  corrections is sufficient for a peace officer or state parole or 
  3.36  probation agent to retake and place in actual custody an 
  4.1   individual on probation under the supervision of the 
  4.2   commissioner pursuant to section 609.135, but any state parole 
  4.3   or probation agent may, when it appears necessary to prevent 
  4.4   escape or enforce discipline, retake and detain such probationer 
  4.5   without such an order and bring a paroled individual before the 
  4.6   court for further proceedings under section 609.14.  Paroled 
  4.7   individuals, and those on probation under the supervision of the 
  4.8   commissioner of corrections pursuant to section 609.135 may be 
  4.9   placed within or without the boundaries of the state at the 
  4.10  discretion of the board or of the commissioner of corrections, 
  4.11  and the limits fixed for such individuals may be enlarged or 
  4.12  reduced according to their conduct. 
  4.13     Subd. 4.  [PAROLE HEARINGS.] In considering applications 
  4.14  for parole or final release, the board is not required to hear 
  4.15  oral argument from any attorney or other person not connected 
  4.16  with a facility of the department of corrections, but it may 
  4.17  institute inquiries by correspondence, taking testimony or 
  4.18  otherwise, as to the previous history, physical or mental 
  4.19  condition, and character of an applicant, and to that end it has 
  4.20  authority to require the attendance of the chief executive 
  4.21  officer of the relevant Minnesota correctional facility and the 
  4.22  production of the records of the facility, and to compel the 
  4.23  attendance of witnesses.  Each member of the board is authorized 
  4.24  to administer oaths to witnesses. 
  4.25     Sec. 3.  [244A.03] [CREDITS FOR PRISONERS.] 
  4.26     Each inmate shall be credited for good prison demeanor, 
  4.27  diligence in labor and study and results accomplished, and be 
  4.28  charged for derelictions, negligences, and offenses under a 
  4.29  uniform system of marks or other methods prescribed by the 
  4.30  commissioner of corrections.  Inmates shall be informed of their 
  4.31  standing under the system each month.  The commissioner of 
  4.32  corrections shall inform the corrections board of the work 
  4.33  progress, derelictions, negligences, demeanor, and future 
  4.34  program of each inmate a month before the inmate's appearance 
  4.35  before the corrections board. 
  4.36     Sec. 4.  [244A.04] [DUTY OF BOARD; FINAL DISCHARGE.] 
  5.1      The corrections board shall keep in communication with all 
  5.2   those on parole and also with their employers, and when any 
  5.3   parolee has kept the conditions of parole in a manner and for a 
  5.4   period of time that satisfies the board that the parolee is 
  5.5   rehabilitated, trustworthy, will remain at liberty without 
  5.6   violating the law, and that final release is not incompatible 
  5.7   with the welfare of society, then the board has power in its 
  5.8   discretion to grant to such individual a final discharge from 
  5.9   confinement.  If final discharge is granted, the board shall 
  5.10  issue to the individual a certificate of final discharge, and 
  5.11  shall also cause a record of the acts of the individual to be 
  5.12  made showing the date of commitment, record while in prison, the 
  5.13  date of parole, record while on parole, and its reasons for 
  5.14  determining final discharge, together with any other facts that 
  5.15  the board deems relevant.  Nothing in sections 244A.01 to 
  5.16  244A.08 impairs the power of the board of pardons to grant a 
  5.17  pardon or commutation in any case. 
  5.18     Sec. 5.  [244A.05] [SUPERVISION BY COMMISSIONER OF 
  5.19  CORRECTIONS; AGENTS.] 
  5.20     Subdivision 1.  [PAROLE SUPERVISION.] The commissioner of 
  5.21  corrections shall exercise supervision over individuals released 
  5.22  on parole or probation pursuant to sections 244A.01 to 244A.08.  
  5.23  The responsibilities and powers granted to the commissioner of 
  5.24  corrections under sections 241.26, 242.10, 242.19, 242.46, 
  5.25  243.05, and 244.05, shall be exercised with regard to an 
  5.26  individual paroled by the board under sections 244A.01 to 
  5.27  244A.08. 
  5.28     Subd. 2.  [AGENTS.] For the purposes of subdivisions 1 and 
  5.29  2, and sections 609.115 and 609.135, subdivision 1, the 
  5.30  commissioner shall appoint state agents who shall be in the 
  5.31  classified service of the state civil service.  The commissioner 
  5.32  may also appoint suitable persons in any part of the state or 
  5.33  enter into agreements with individuals and public or private 
  5.34  agencies, for the same purposes, and pay the costs incurred 
  5.35  under the agreements.  Parole agents shall reside in the various 
  5.36  districts of the state in which they are employed.  Every agent 
  6.1   shall perform the duties the commissioner prescribes on behalf 
  6.2   of or in the supervision of individuals released on parole or 
  6.3   probation.  In addition, every agent or person shall act under 
  6.4   the orders of the corrections board or the commissioner in the 
  6.5   supervision of individuals conditionally released.  Agents shall 
  6.6   provide assistance to conditionally released individuals in 
  6.7   obtaining employment, and shall conduct relevant investigations 
  6.8   and studies of individuals under supervision upon the request of 
  6.9   the commissioner or the board.  Regional supervisors may also 
  6.10  supervise state parole or probation agents as directed by the 
  6.11  commissioner of corrections.  This duty shall not interfere with 
  6.12  the supervisor's responsibility under the County Probation Act, 
  6.13  Laws 1959, chapter 698. 
  6.14     Subd. 3.  [ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES.] The commissioner of 
  6.15  corrections shall provide the board with all other personnel, 
  6.16  supplies, equipment, office space, and other administrative 
  6.17  services necessary and incident to the discharge of the 
  6.18  functions of the board. 
  6.19     Sec. 6.  [244A.06] [DEPUTIZATION OF OUT-OF-STATE AGENTS.] 
  6.20     Subdivision 1.  [OUT-OF-STATE DEPUTIES.] The corrections 
  6.21  board may deputize a person regularly employed by another state 
  6.22  to act as an agent of this state in effecting the return of an 
  6.23  individual who has violated the terms and conditions of parole 
  6.24  or probation granted by this state.  In any matter relating to 
  6.25  the return of an individual, an agent so deputized has the 
  6.26  powers of a police officer of this state. 
  6.27     Subd. 2.  [IN WRITING.] A deputization pursuant to 
  6.28  subdivision 1 shall be in writing and a person so authorized to 
  6.29  act as an agent of this state shall carry formal evidence of the 
  6.30  deputization and shall produce the same upon demand. 
  6.31     Subd. 3.  [SHARING COSTS.] Subject to the approval of the 
  6.32  commissioner of finance, the corrections board may enter into 
  6.33  contracts with similar officials of another state for the 
  6.34  purpose of sharing an equitable portion of the cost of effecting 
  6.35  the return of an individual who has violated the terms and 
  6.36  conditions of parole or probation granted by this state. 
  7.1      Sec. 7.  [244A.07] [RULES GOVERNING PAROLES.] 
  7.2      Subdivision 1.  [RULES.] The corrections board has power to 
  7.3   make, amend, and publish rules governing the granting of paroles 
  7.4   and final discharges and the procedure relating thereto, and the 
  7.5   conditions of parole and the conduct and employment of 
  7.6   individuals on parole, and other matters touching the exercise 
  7.7   of the powers and duties conferred upon the board by sections 
  7.8   244A.01 to 244A.08. 
  7.9      Subd. 2.  [PROSPECTIVE EFFECT.] Any new rule or policy 
  7.10  adopted by the board that has the effect of postponing 
  7.11  eligibility for parole has prospective effect only and applies 
  7.12  only with respect to individuals committing offenses after the 
  7.13  effective date of the new rule or policy. 
  7.14     Sec. 8.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  7.15     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  7.16  commissioner of corrections to be used to implement sections 
  7.17  244A.01 to 244A.08.  This appropriation is available until June 
  7.18  30, 2003. 
  7.19     Sec. 9.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  7.20     Sections 244A.01 to 244A.07 are effective the day following 
  7.21  final enactment.