PRINTER'S NO. 2678
No. 1925 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY O'NEILL, BAKER, EVERETT, FABRIZIO, FAIRCHILD,
FLECK, GEIST, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, HELM, HENNESSEY,
M. KELLER, KOTIK, KULA, McILHATTAN, R. MILLER, MOUL, MOYER,
MURT, PETRONE, PICKETT, PRESTON, READSHAW, REICHLEY, RUBLEY,
SABATINA, SIPTROTH, STEIL, STERN, SWANGER, WATSON AND
YUDICHAK, OCTOBER 18, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, OCTOBER 18, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for
3 sentencing proceeding and place of confinement.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 9762 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania
7 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
8 § 9762. Sentencing proceeding; place of confinement.
9 [All persons sentenced to total or partial confinement for:
10 (1) maximum terms of five or more years shall be
11 committed to the Bureau of Correction for confinement;
12 (2) maximum terms of two years or more but less than
13 five years may be committed to the Bureau of Correction for
14 confinement or may be committed to a county prison within the
15 jurisdiction of the court;
16 (3) maximum terms of less than two years shall be
1 committed to a county prison within the jurisdiction of the
2 court except that as facilities become available on dates and
3 in areas designated by the Governor in proclamations
4 declaring the availability of State correctional facilities,
5 such persons may be committed to the Bureau of Correction for
6 confinement.]
7 (a) Place of confinement.--All persons convicted of a crime
8 on or after January 1, 2007, and sentenced to total confinement
9 for:
10 (1) Maximum terms of two or more years shall be
11 committed to the Department of Corrections for confinement.
12 (2) Maximum terms of less than two years shall be
13 committed to a county prison within the jurisdiction of the
14 court.
15 (b) County prison.--
16 (1) Persons sentenced to total or partial confinement by
17 a court to a maximum term of imprisonment of two or more but
18 less than five years may be committed to the county jail or
19 prison if the county prison board or other equivalent county
20 prison policymaking entity, with the written consent of the
21 county commissioners, or the equivalent governing authority
22 of the county correctional facility, or the mayor, in cities
23 of the first class, certifies that there is available
24 capacity in the county jail or prison for such sentenced
25 prisoners.
26 (2) The Department of Corrections shall develop
27 guidelines to be made available to counties for their use in
28 determining available capacity for offenders sentenced under
29 this section. The guidelines shall consider available
30 physical space and availability of programs.
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1 (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to give
2 any person or entity any legal right to compel county
3 imprisonment of any prisoner sentenced to a maximum sentence
4 of two or more but less than five years' imprisonment.
5 (4) The term of imprisonment referred to in this
6 subsection shall be in accordance with the aggregation
7 provisions of this section.
8 (c) Aggregation of consecutive sentences.--Under this
9 section, aggregation of consecutive sentences is automatic and
10 mandatory with regard to the place of confinement regardless of
11 whether the sentences were imposed on the same day or on
12 different days.
13 (d) Reimbursement.--The Department of Corrections shall
14 reimburse the counties the reasonable cost of confinement of
15 persons committed to a county prison pursuant to subsection
16 (b)(1), but the reimbursement per prisoner shall not exceed the
17 average per prisoner cost of confinement paid by the
18 Commonwealth for the confinement of prisoners in the Department
19 of Corrections.
20 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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