Assembly Bill No. 574–Committee on Judiciary

 

March 26, 2001

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Judiciary

 

SUMMARY—Makes changes to provisions concerning programs of treatment for abuse of alcohol or drugs for certain offenders and clarifies that eligibility for parole from consecutive sentences is based upon longest sentence. (BDR 16‑1327)

 

FISCAL NOTE:    Effect on Local Government: No.

                                 Effect on the State: No.

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to offenders; providing for the continuation of certain programs of treatment for the abuse of alcohol or drugs for certain offenders; revising certain provisions concerning such programs of treatment; clarifying that eligibility for parole from consecutive sentences is based upon the sentence with the longest period before the prisoner is eligible for parole; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1    Section 1. NRS 209.4314 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2    209.4314  1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, if an

1-3  advisory board has been created pursuant to NRS 209.4316 in the judicial

1-4  district in which an offender was sentenced to imprisonment, the director

1-5  shall, after consulting with the division, refer the offender to the advisory

1-6  board if the director believes that the offender would participate

1-7  successfully in and benefit from a program of treatment and:

1-8    (a) The offender has:

1-9       (1) Established a position of employment in the community, or a

1-10  judge in the judicial district to which the offender would be assigned

1-11  pursuant to NRS 213.500 will assist the offender to establish a position of

1-12  employment in the community; and

1-13      (2) Demonstrated an ability to pay for all or part of the costs of his

1-14  participation in a program of treatment, including, without limitation, costs

1-15  for room and board, and to meet any existing obligation for restitution to

1-16  any victim of his crime, or a judge in the judicial district to which the

1-17  offender would be assigned will assist the offender to ensure that the

1-18  offender has the ability to pay for such costs and to meet such obligations;

1-19  and

2-1    (b) The offender:

2-2       (1) Is within 2 years of his probable release from prison as

2-3  determined by the director; or

2-4       (2) Is imprisoned as a result of having had his parole [or probation]

2-5  revoked on or after July 1, 1998, for a reason other than for committing a

2-6  crime while on parole . [or probation.]

2-7    2.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, if the director is

2-8  notified by an advisory board pursuant to NRS 209.4316 that an offender

2-9  should be assigned to the custody of the division to be assigned to

2-10  participate in a program of treatment, the director shall assign the offender

2-11  to the custody of the division to be assigned to participate in a program of

2-12  treatment for a minimum of 1 year, but not longer than the remainder of his

2-13  sentence.

2-14    3.  The director shall adopt, by regulation, standards providing which

2-15  offenders are eligible to be assigned to the custody of the division pursuant

2-16  to this section. The standards must be approved by the board and reviewed

2-17  by the interim finance committee. The standards adopted by the director

2-18  must provide that an offender who:

2-19    (a) Has recently committed a serious infraction of the rules of an

2-20  institution or facility of the department;

2-21    (b) Has not performed the duties assigned to him in a faithful and

2-22  orderly manner;

2-23    (c) Has ever been convicted of:

2-24      (1) Any crime involving the use or threatened use of force or violence

2-25  against the victim that is punishable as a gross misdemeanor or felony; or

2-26      (2) A sexual offense;

2-27    (d) Has previously been four times convicted in this state or elsewhere,

2-28  of [more than one felony in this state or] any offense [in another state that

2-29  would be a felony if committed in this state, unless each felony or] that

2-30  under the laws of the situs of the offense or of this state would amount to

2-31  a felony, unless an offense which the offender has been convicted of arose

2-32  out of the same act, transaction or occurrence[;] as another offense, in

2-33  which case the convictions for those offenses shall be deemed to

2-34  constitute a single conviction for the purposes of this paragraph;

2-35    (e) Has escaped or attempted to escape from any jail or correctional

2-36  institution for adults; or

2-37    (f) Has not made an effort in good faith to participate in or to complete

2-38  any educational or vocational program or any program of treatment, as

2-39  ordered by the director,

2-40  is not eligible for assignment to the custody of the division pursuant to this

2-41  section to be assigned to participate in a program of treatment.

2-42    4.  The director shall adopt regulations requiring offenders who are

2-43  assigned to the custody of the division pursuant to this section to reimburse

2-44  a court, the division and the department for any costs incurred pursuant to

2-45  NRS 209.4311 to 209.4317, inclusive, and 213.500. The regulations must

2-46  be approved by the board and reviewed by the interim finance committee.

2-47    5.  A court to which an offender has been assigned pursuant to NRS

2-48  213.500 may return the offender to the custody of the department at any

2-49  time.

3-1    6.  If an offender assigned to the custody of the division pursuant to this

3-2  section violates any of the terms or conditions imposed by a court to which

3-3  the offender has been assigned pursuant to NRS 213.500 and is returned to

3-4  the custody of the department, the offender forfeits all or part of the credits

3-5  for good behavior earned by him before he was returned to the custody of

3-6  the department, as determined by the director. The director may provide for

3-7  a forfeiture of credits pursuant to this subsection only after proof of the

3-8  violation and notice to the offender, and may restore credits forfeited for

3-9  such reasons as he considers proper. The decision of the director regarding

3-10  such a forfeiture is final.

3-11    7.  The assignment of an offender to the custody of the division

3-12  pursuant to this section shall be deemed:

3-13    (a) A continuation of his imprisonment and not a release on parole; and

3-14    (b) For the purposes of NRS 209.341, an assignment to a facility of the

3-15  department,

3-16  except that the offender is not entitled to obtain any benefits or to

3-17  participate in any programs provided to offenders in the custody of the

3-18  department.

3-19    8.  An offender does not have a right to be assigned to the custody of

3-20  the division pursuant to this section, or to remain in that custody after such

3-21  an assignment, and it is not intended that the provisions of NRS 209.4311

3-22  to 209.4317, inclusive, or 213.500 create any right or interest in liberty or

3-23  property or establish a basis for any cause of action against the State of

3-24  Nevada, its political subdivisions, agencies, boards, commissions,

3-25  departments, officers or employees.

3-26    9.  The director shall not assign more than 150 offenders to the custody

3-27  of the division pursuant to this section to be assigned to participate in a

3-28  program of treatment during each biennium.

3-29    Sec. 2.  NRS 213.1213 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-30    213.1213  If a prisoner is sentenced pursuant to NRS 176.035 to serve

3-31  two or more concurrent or consecutive sentences, whether or not the

3-32  sentences are identical in length or other characteristics, eligibility for

3-33  parole from any of the concurrent or consecutive sentences must be based

3-34  on the sentence which requires the longest period before the prisoner is

3-35  eligible for parole.

3-36    Sec. 3.  Section 14 of chapter 552, Statutes of Nevada 1999, at page

3-37  2883, is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-38    Sec. 14.  1.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 1999.

3-39    2.  Sections 1 to 10, inclusive, of this act expire by limitation on

3-40  [June 30, 2001.] June 30, 2003.

 

3-41  H