OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS

Legislative Office Building, Room 5200

Hartford, CT 06106 ↓ (860) 240-0200

http: //www.cga.ct.gov/ofa

sSB-280

AN ACT REVISING THE PENALTY FOR CAPITAL FELONIES.

AMENDMENT

LCO No.: 3027

File Copy No.: 111

Senate Calendar No.: 113

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

This amendment is anticipated to cost the Department of Correction a minimum of $850, 000 for each future murder with special circumstance case, instead of the original savings of $455, 000 per future case in the underlying bill. The amendment requires that inmates convicted of this offense have continuously escorted or monitored movement and be housed separately from the general prison population. This stipulation generates additional personnel costs for the agency related to supervising and escorting the inmates. The annual cost of housing a segregated inmate in a Level 4 facility is an estimated $50, 549. The original fiscal note assumed that future inmates could be housed in general population at a Level 4 facility. The cost to house an inmate at a Level 4 facility is $30, 323 annually.

Additionally, several factors could drive the cost of each future offender higher than $850, 000. A number of circumstances could require that future murder with special circumstance inmates be housed at Northern Correctional Institute for the length of their sentence or return to Northern for a part of or remainder of their sentence. The annual cost to house an inmate at Northern is $78, 463. Any change that requires future murder with special circumstance convicts to be housed at Northern would generate significant costs for the agency.

The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.