Substitute Senate Bill No. 927
          Substitute Senate Bill No. 927

              PUBLIC ACT NO. 95-255

AN ACT CONCERNING TRUTH IN SENTENCING.


    Section 1. Subsection  (b)  of section 54-125a
of  the  general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the
following is substituted in lieu thereof:
    (b) (1) No  person  convicted  of  any  of the
following  offenses, which  was  committed  on  or
after July 1,  1981,  shall be eligible for parole
under  subsection (a)  of  this  section:  Capital
felony,  as defined  in  section  53a-54b,  felony
murder,  as  defined  in  section  53a-54c,  arson
murder, as defined  in section 53a-54d, murder, as
defined  in  section   53a-54a,   or  any  offense
committed with a  firearm,  as  defined in section
53a-3, in or  on,  or  within  one  thousand  five
hundred feet of,  the  real  property comprising a
public or private  elementary or secondary school.
(2) A PERSON  CONVICTED  OF AN OFFENSE, OTHER THAN
AN OFFENSE SPECIFIED  IN  SUBDIVISION  (1) OF THIS
SUBSECTION,  WHERE  THE   UNDERLYING   FACTS   AND
CIRCUMSTANCES  OF THE  OFFENSE  INVOLVE  THE  USE,
ATTEMPTED USE OR  THREATENED USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE
AGAINST ANOTHER PERSON  SHALL  BE  INELIGIBLE  FOR
PAROLE UNDER SUBSECTION  (a) OF THIS SECTION UNTIL
SUCH PERSON HAS  SERVED  NOT LESS THAN EIGHTY-FIVE
PER CENT OF  THE DEFINITE SENTENCE IMPOSED. (3) No
person convicted of  any  other  offense for which
there is a  mandatory  minimum  sentence which may
not be suspended  or reduced by the court shall be
eligible for parole  under  subsection (a) of this
section  until  such   person   has   served  such
mandatory minimum sentence  or  fifty  per cent of
the  definite  sentence   imposed,   whichever  is
greater.
    Sec.  2.  Section   54-125a   of  the  general
statutes is amended  by  adding  subsection (c) as
follows:
    (NEW) (c) The Board of Parole shall, not later
than July 1, 1996, adopt regulations in accordance
with chapter 54  to ensure that a person convicted
of an offense  described  in  subdivision  (2)  of
subsection (b) of  this section is not released on
parole until such  person  has  served eighty-five
per cent of  the  definite sentence imposed by the
court. Such regulations  shall  include guidelines
and  procedures for  classifying  a  person  as  a
violent  offender  that   are  not  limited  to  a
consideration of the  elements  of  the offense or
offenses for which such person was convicted.
    Sec. 3. This  act  shall  take  effect July 1,
1995, except that section 1 shall take effect July
1, 1996.