CHAPTER 323*
CONNECTICUT CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, NIANTIC

      Sec. 18-65. (Formerly Sec. 17-360). Persons confined in institution. Persons over sixteen years of age who have been committed by any court of criminal jurisdiction to the Commissioner of Correction may be confined in the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic.

      (1949 Rev., S. 2742; 1959, P.A. 28, S. 201; 1961, P.A. 580, S. 4; 1967, P.A. 152, S. 20; 555, S. 74; 1969, P.A. 301; 1972, P.A. 28, S. 1; 127, S. 33; P.A. 75-633, S. 1.)

      History: 1959 act deleted requirement for commitment by sheriff or police officer; 1961 act added women sentenced to jails and deleted stipulation that expenses be paid as for commitments to other penal institutions; 1967 acts changed "committed ... to said institution" to "committed ... to the commissioner of correction"; and "drug using" to "illicit traffic or possession of controlled drugs" and omitted requirement that a woman accompany committing officer but see Sec. 17-381; Sec. 17-360 transferred to Sec. 18-65 in 1968; 1969 act replaced Connecticut State Farm for Women with Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, replaced duration of "commitment, including the time spent on parole," with duration of "confinement", added provision re computation of served sentence and stated that parole violator is subject to Sec. 54-128; 1972 acts removed "unmarried girls between ... sixteen and twenty-one years ... in manifest danger of falling into habits of vice or ... leading vicious lives and who are convicted thereof ..." from confinement provision; P.A. 75-633 replaced "women" with "persons", made confinement optional rather than mandatory and deleted provisions describing specific offenders to whom provisions are applicable, limiting term of confinement and describing computation of time served.

      Cited. 115 C. 596.

      Prior to 1972 amendment, circuit court could commit wayward girls for indeterminate three years, section 54-1a did not limit its jurisdiction hereunder. Holding that imposition of up to three year terms for criminal convictions was unconstitutional as discriminatory affected only that part of section relating to commitments for crime. 159 C. 150.

      On habeas corpus petition, sentence of three years under this statute for violation of section 53-174 imposed by circuit court modified to term permitted under said section as term imposed exceeded statutory punishment for breach of peace and the jurisdiction of circuit court. 28 CS 9. Commitment of plaintiff by circuit court for possible three years maximum sentence is invalid only as to that portion which exceeded one year limit of court's jurisdiction. Id., 424. The court may not fix the term of a commitment to Niantic Correctional Institution. 31 CS 350.

      Cited. 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 206.

      Sec. 18-65a. Confinement of young and teenage women. Any female person between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years who is convicted in the Superior Court for an offense for which she may be punished by imprisonment for a shorter period than life or any female child transferred to the regular docket of said court under section 46b-127, may, if it appears to the trial court that such person is amenable to reformatory methods, be sentenced to a definite term of imprisonment in the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic or to the Commissioner of Correction for placement in any institution available to said commissioner; provided in no event shall any sentence under this section be for a term longer than the maximum term of imprisonment for the offense committed, nor shall such term be for more than five years. The judge at the time of imposing any sentence to imprisonment in said institution or to the custody of said commissioner for placement in any institution available to him, may order suspension of such sentence after any specified number of months and may place such person on probation for the unexpired portion of the sentence.

      (P.A. 75-633, S. 2; P.A. 76-194, S. 1; 76-436, S. 191, 681; P.A. 77-452, S. 10, 72; P.A. 79-631, S. 104, 111; P.A. 80-442, S. 3, 28; P.A. 95-225, S. 41.)

      History: P.A. 76-194 made provisions applicable to female children transferred to superior court jurisdiction under Sec. 17-60a or 17-60b; P.A. 76-436 replaced "court of criminal jurisdiction" with "superior court" and specified applicability to female children transferred to the regular docket, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 77-452 clarified applicability to female children by combining wording found in 1976 acts; prior to 1979 act section references were changed to reflect transfer to title 46b; P.A. 79-631 deleted reference to "subsection (a)" of Sec. 46b-127; P.A. 80-442 required "definite", rather than "indefinite", sentences in all cases, effective July 1, 1981; P.A. 95-225 deleted reference to the transfer of a female child to the regular docket under "section 46b-126", reflecting the elimination of the transfer provisions in Sec. 46b-126 by the same public act.

      See Sec. 18-73 re confinement of male children and youths.

      Cited. 195 C. 303.

      Sec. 18-66. Penalty for escape. Section 18-66 is repealed.

      (February, 1965, P.A. 556, S. 2; P.A. 73-639, S. 15.)

      Sec. 18-67. Detention and return of escaped inmate. Any woman who has escaped from the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, may, whether the limit of her original sentence has expired or not, be arrested and detained without warrant, by any officer authorized to serve criminal process, for a reasonable time, to enable the warden of said institution, or a person authorized in writing by the warden of said institution and provided with the mittimus by which such woman was committed, or with a certified copy thereof, to take such woman for the purpose of returning her to said institution, but, during such detention, she shall not be committed to a community correctional center, and the officer arresting her shall be paid by the state a reasonable compensation for her arrest and keeping. Any woman lawfully committed to said institution who escapes therefrom or from any keeper or officer having her in charge or from her place of work while engaged in working outside the walls of said institution shall be returned to said institution when arrested and may be disciplined in such manner as the Commissioner of Correction may determine. The provisions of sections 54-126 to 54-129, inclusive, relating to the arrest and return of paroled inmates shall apply to the arrest and return of escaped inmates and the provisions of chapter 963 shall apply to such inmates as have escaped and become fugitives from justice.

      (February, 1965, P.A. 556, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 152, S. 21; 1969, P.A. 297; P.A. 87-282, S. 8.)

      History: 1967 act substituted references to Secs. 54-126 to 54-129 for reference to Sec. 17-362; 1969 act replaced jails with community correctional centers; P.A. 87-282 substituted "warden" for "superintendent".

      Sec. 18-68. Transfers within institution's limits. The warden of the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, may transfer any person committed to said institution to any facility within its limits in accordance with her judgment.

      (1967, P.A. 152, S. 18; P.A. 87-282, S. 9.)

      History: P.A. 87-282 substituted "warden" for "superintendent".

      Sec. 18-69. Placement of children born to inmates of institution. The warden of the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, subject to the approval of the commissioner, shall establish regulations in cooperation with the Department of Children and Families for the placing of children born to inmates of the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, in order that an infant shall not be maintained at said institution beyond the planning period for placement which is not to exceed sixty calendar days. In any instance where the mother of the infant objects in writing to the warden of said institution as to such placement, the Department of Children and Families shall provide for an administrative review of the placement action.

      (1967, P.A. 152, S. 19; 1971, P.A. 398, S. 1; P.A. 75-420, S. 4, 6; P.A. 77-614, S. 521, 610; P.A. 82-43, S. 6; P.A. 87-282, S. 10; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2.)

      History: 1971 act replaced Connecticut State Farm for Women with Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, limited planning period for placement to 60 days and added provision re administrative review of placement action; P.A. 75-420 replaced welfare department with department of social services; P.A. 77-614 replaced social services department with department of human resources, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 82-43 transferred duties formerly held by human resources department to department of children and youth services; P.A. 87-282 substituted "warden" for "superintendent"; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993.

      Sec. 18-69a. Placement of children born to detained women. The warden of the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, subject to the same conditions as provided in section 18-69, shall establish regulations in cooperation with the Department of Children and Families for the placing of children born to women who are being detained at the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic, awaiting disposition of pending charges, or have been committed to the Commissioner of Correction for a term of one year or less, in order that an infant may be placed directly from the facility where such infant was delivered.

      (1971, P.A. 398, S. 2; P.A. 75-420, S. 4, 6; P.A. 77-614, S. 521, 610; P.A. 82-43, S. 7; P.A. 87-282, S. 11; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2.)

      History: P.A. 75-420 replaced welfare department with department of social services; P.A. 77-614 replaced social services department with department of human resources, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 82-43 replaced "child welfare services" of human resources department with department of children and youth services; P.A. 87-282 substituted "warden" for "superintendent"; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993.

      Sec. 18-69b. Rehabilitative programs for incarcerated women. The Department of Correction shall establish rehabilitative programs, including, but not limited to, substance abuse, academic and vocational education services and work-release and job training, for women incarcerated at the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Niantic.

      (P.A. 87-407, S. 1, 2.)