PRINTER'S NO. 764
No. 678 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY JAMES, CALTAGIRONE, MYERS, THOMAS, YOUNGBLOOD,
CREIGHTON, PRESTON, JOSEPHS, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, COHEN,
FABRIZIO, W. KELLER, KIRKLAND, WILLIAMS AND BASTIAN,
MARCH 9, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 9, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 6, 1941 (P.L.861, No.323), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act to create a uniform and exclusive system
3 for the administration of parole in this Commonwealth;
4 providing state probation services; establishing the
5 'Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole'; conferring and
6 defining its jurisdiction, duties, powers and functions;
7 including the supervision of persons placed upon probation
8 and parole in certain designated cases; providing for the
9 method of appointment of its members; regulating the
10 appointment, removal and discharge of its officers, clerks
11 and employes; dividing the Commonwealth into administrative
12 districts for purposes of probation and parole; fixing the
13 salaries of members of the board and of certain other
14 officers and employes thereof; making violations of certain
15 provisions of this act misdemeanors; providing penalties
16 therefor; and for other cognate purposes, and making an
17 appropriation," further providing for a system of earned
18 time.
19 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
20 hereby enacts as follows:
21 Section 1. Section 21 of the act of August 6, 1941 (P.L.861,
22 No.323), referred to as the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and
23 Parole Law, amended December 21, 1998 (P.L.1077, No.143), is
24 amended to read:
25 Section 21. (a) The board is hereby authorized to release
1 on parole any convict confined in any penal institution of this
2 Commonwealth as to whom power to parole is herein granted to the
3 board, except convicts condemned to death or serving life
4 imprisonment, whenever in its opinion the best interests of the
5 convict justify or require his being paroled and it does not
6 appear that the interests of the Commonwealth will be injured
7 thereby. Parole shall be subject in every instance to the
8 Commonwealth's right to immediately retake and hold in custody
9 without further proceedings any parolee charged after his parole
10 with an additional offense until a determination can be made
11 whether to continue his parole status. [The] Except as provided
12 in subsection (a.1), the power to parole herein granted to the
13 Board of Parole may not be exercised in the board's discretion
14 at any time before, but only after, the expiration of the
15 minimum term of imprisonment fixed by the court in its sentence
16 or by the Pardon Board in a sentence which has been reduced by
17 commutation.
18 (a.1) The board may exercise its power to parole a person
19 before the expiration of the minimum term of imprisonment fixed
20 by the court in its sentence or the Pardon Board in a sentence
21 which has been reduced by commutation by reducing the sentence
22 by applying earned time awarded under section 34.2.
23 (b) The board may not release a person on parole unless the
24 person achieves a negative result within forty-five days prior
25 to the date of release in a screening test approved by the
26 Department of Health for the detection of the presence of
27 controlled substances or designer drugs under the act of April
28 14, 1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as "The Controlled Substance,
29 Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act." The cost of these pre-parole
30 drug screening tests for inmates subject to the parole release
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1 jurisdiction of the board, whether confined in a State or local
2 correctional facility, shall be paid by the board. The board
3 shall establish rules and regulations for the payment of these
4 costs and may limit the types and cost of these screening tests
5 that would be subject to payment by the board. The board shall
6 establish, as a condition of continued parole for a parolee who,
7 as an inmate, tested positive for the presence of a controlled
8 substance or a designer drug or who was paroled from a sentence
9 arising from a conviction under "The Controlled Substance, Drug,
10 Device and Cosmetic Act," or from a drug-related crime, the
11 parolee's achievement of negative results in such screening
12 tests randomly applied. The random screening tests shall be
13 performed at the discretion of the board, and the parolee
14 undergoing the tests shall be responsible for the costs of the
15 tests. The funds collected for the tests shall be applied
16 against the contract for such testing between the board and a
17 testing laboratory approved by the Department of Health.
18 (b.1) The board may not release a person who is serving a
19 sentence for a crime of violence as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. §
20 9714(g) (relating to sentences for second and subsequent
21 offenses) on parole unless the person has received instruction
22 from the Department of Corrections on the impact of crime on
23 victims and the community.
24 (c) The board shall have the power during the period for
25 which a person shall have been sentenced to recommit one paroled
26 for violation of the terms and conditions of his parole and from
27 time to time to reparole and recommit in the same manner and
28 with the same procedure as in the case of an original parole or
29 recommitment, if, in the judgment of the board, there is a
30 reasonable probability that the convict will be benefited by
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1 again according him liberty and it does not appear that the
2 interests of the Commonwealth will be injured thereby.
3 (d) When the board releases a parolee from a State or local
4 correctional facility, the board shall provide written notice to
5 the probation department located in the county where the
6 sentencing order was imposed of the release and new address of
7 the parolee.
8 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
9 Section 34.2. (a) On or after the effective date of this
10 section and except as provided in subsection (b), earned time
11 shall be applied to an inmate as follows:
12 (1) Earned time shall be awarded to inmates at the rate of
13 three months per year served who have made an active effort to
14 participate in approved institutional programs, including
15 attempting to participate in a program offered by the prison or
16 jail. Earned time shall be awarded, on a prorated basis, for
17 each complete calendar month spent without being charged with an
18 infraction of the guidelines or regulations issued under
19 paragraph (2). No earned time shall be awarded for time served
20 prior to the effective date of this section.
21 (2) The Secretary of Corrections shall issue guidelines or
22 regulations prescribing the participation for which and the
23 procedures by which earned time may be awarded, withheld or
24 revoked.
25 (3) An inmate charged with an infraction of the guidelines
26 or regulations issued under paragraph (2) shall receive written
27 notice and an explanation of the charge and an opportunity for a
28 hearing.
29 (4) Earned time that has been granted may be revoked for
30 subsequent infractions in accordance with the guidelines or
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1 regulations issued under paragraph (2).
2 (b) An inmate who has been returned to prison by the
3 Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole for violations of
4 parole shall not be eligible for earned time during service of
5 the balance of the inmate's original term of imprisonment, but
6 shall be eligible for earned time during service of any new
7 sentence imposed as a result of the violations of parole.
8 (c) For purposes of this section, the term "inmate" shall
9 mean an individual serving a sentence of imprisonment with a
10 maximum term of two years or more. The term shall not include an
11 individual who meets any of the following:
12 (1) Is subject to a sentence the calculation of which
13 includes an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon as
14 defined pursuant to law or the sentencing guidelines promulgated
15 by the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.
16 (2) Has been convicted of a personal injury crime as defined
17 in section 103 of the act of November 24, 1998 (P.L.882,
18 No.111), known as the "Crime Victims Act," or an attempt or
19 conspiracy to commit such a crime.
20 (3) Has been convicted of violating 18 Pa.C.S. § 4302
21 (relating to incest), 5901 (relating to open lewdness), 6312
22 (relating to sexual abuse of children), 6318 (relating to
23 unlawful contact with minor) or 6320 (relating to sexual
24 exploitation of children) or Ch. 76 Subch. C (relating to
25 Internet child pornography).
26 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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