Substitute Senate Bill No. 568
Substitute Senate Bill No. 568
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-234
AN ACT CONCERNING THE BOARD OF PAROLE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-124a of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) There shall be a Board of Parole which, on
and after July 1, [1994] 1998, shall consist of
[thirteen] FIFTEEN members, including a chairman
AND TWO VICE-CHAIRMEN who shall be appointed by
the Governor with the advice and consent of either
house of the General Assembly. The chairman AND
VICE-CHAIRMEN shall be qualified by training,
experience or education in law, criminal justice,
parole matters or other related fields for the
consideration of the matters before [him] THEM and
the other members shall be qualified by training
and experience for the consideration of matters
before them. In the appointment of the members,
the Governor shall endeavor to reflect the racial
diversity of the state.
(b) The term of the chairman AND THE TERM OF
EACH VICE-CHAIRMAN of the board shall be
coterminous with the term of the Governor or until
a successor is chosen, whichever is later. The
terms of all members, except the chairman, shall
expire on July 1, 1994, and on or after July 1,
1994, members shall be appointed in accordance
with subsection (a) of this section as follows:
Six members shall be appointed for a term of two
years; and six members shall be appointed for a
term of four years. Thereafter, all members shall
serve for terms of four years. Any vacancy in the
membership of the board shall be filled for the
unexpired portion of the term by the Governor.
(c) The chairman AND VICE-CHAIRMEN shall
devote [his] THEIR entire time to the performance
of [his] THEIR duties hereunder and shall be
compensated therefor in such amount as the
Commissioner of Administrative Services
determines, subject to the provisions of section
4-40. The other members of said board shall
receive one hundred ten dollars for each day spent
in the performance of their duties and shall be
reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of such duties. The chairman or, in
his absence or inability to act, a member
designated by him to serve temporarily as
chairman, shall be present at all meetings of said
board and participate in all decisions thereof.
(d) Said chairman shall be the executive and
administrative head of said board and shall have
the authority and responsibility for (1) directing
and supervising all administrative affairs of the
board, (2) preparing the budget and annual
operation plan in consultation with the board, (3)
assigning staff to parole panels, regions and
supervision offices, (4) organizing parole hearing
calendars to facilitate the timely and efficient
processing of cases, (5) implementing a uniform
case filing and processing system, (6)
establishing policy in all areas of parole
including, but not limited to, decision making,
release criteria and supervision standards, (7)
establishing specialized parole units as deemed
necessary, (8) entering into contracts, in
consultation with the board, with service
providers, community programs and consultants for
the proper function of parole and community
supervision, (9) creating programs for staff and
board member development, training and education,
(10) establishing, developing and maintaining
noninstitutional, community-based service
programs, [and] (11) consulting with the
Department of Correction on shared issues
including, but not limited to, prison
overcrowding, AND (12) SIGNING AND ISSUING
SUBPOENAS TO COMPEL THE ATTENDANCE AND TESTIMONY
OF WITNESSES AT PAROLE PROCEEDINGS. ANY SUCH
SUBPOENA SHALL BE ENFORCEABLE TO THE SAME EXTENT
AS SUBPOENAS ISSUED PURSUANT TO SECTION 52-143.
(e) The chairman shall have the authority and
responsibility for assigning members to panels,
each to be composed of two members and the
chairman or a member designated to serve
temporarily as chairman, for each correctional
institution. Such panels shall be the paroling
authority for the institutions to which they are
assigned and not less than two members shall be
present at each parole hearing.
(f) In the event of the temporary inability of
any member other than the chairman to perform his
or her duties, the Governor, at the request of the
board, may appoint a qualified person to serve as
a temporary member during such period of
inability.
(g) The Board of Parole shall: (1) Adopt an
annual budget and plan of operation, (2) adopt
such rules as deemed necessary for the internal
affairs of the board, (3) develop policy for and
administer the operation of the Interstate Parole
Compact, and (4) submit an annual report to the
Governor and General Assembly.
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 53a-28 of
the general statutes is repealed and the following
is substituted in lieu thereof:
(b) Except as provided in section 53a-46a,
when a person is convicted of an offense, the
court shall impose one of the following sentences:
(1) A term of imprisonment; or (2) a sentence
authorized by section 18-65a or 18-73; or (3) a
fine; or (4) a term of imprisonment and a fine; or
(5) a term of imprisonment, with the execution of
such sentence of imprisonment suspended, entirely
or after a period set by the court, and a period
of probation or a period of conditional discharge;
or (6) a term of imprisonment, with the execution
of such sentence of imprisonment suspended,
entirely or after a period set by the court, and a
fine and a period of probation or a period of
conditional discharge; or (7) a fine and a
sentence authorized by section 18-65a or 18-73; or
(8) a sentence of unconditional discharge; OR (9)
A TERM OF IMPRISONMENT AND A PERIOD OF SPECIAL
PAROLE AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 3 OF THIS ACT.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (a) Any person convicted of a
crime committed on or after October 1, 1998, who
received a definite sentence of more than two
years followed by a period of special parole
shall, at the expiration of the maximum term or
terms of imprisonment imposed by the court, be
transferred from the custody of the Commissioner
of Correction to the jurisdiction of the Chairman
of the Board of Parole or, if such person has
previously been released on parole pursuant to
subsection (a) of section 54-125a or section
54-131a of the general statutes, remain under the
jurisdiction of said chairman until the expiration
of the period of special parole imposed by the
court.
(b) Any person sentenced to a period of
special parole shall be subject to such rules and
conditions as may be established by the Board of
Parole or its chairman pursuant to section 54-126
of the general statutes.
(c) The period of special parole shall be not
less than one year nor more than ten years except
that such period shall be not less than ten years
nor more than thirty-five years for a person
convicted of a violation of subdivision (2) of
section 53-21, section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-70b,
53a-71, 53a-72a or 53a-72b of the general statutes
or sentenced as a persistent dangerous felony
offender pursuant to subsection (f) of section
53a-40 of the general statutes or as a persistent
serious felony offender pursuant to subsection (g)
of section 53a-40 of the general statutes.
Sec. 4. Section 54-128 of the general statutes
is repealed and the following is substituted in
lieu thereof:
(a) Any paroled convict or inmate who has been
returned to the custody of the Commissioner of
Correction or any institution of the Department of
Correction for violation of his parole may be
retained in the institution from which he was
paroled for a period equal to the unexpired
portion of the term of his sentence at the date of
the request or order for his return less any
commutation or diminution of his sentence earned
except that the Board of Parole may, in its
discretion, determine that he shall forfeit any or
all of such earned time, or may be again paroled
by said board.
(b) Each parolee or inmate, subject to the
provisions of section 18-7, shall be subject to
loss of all or any portion of time earned.
(c) ANY PERSON WHO, DURING THE SERVICE OF A
PERIOD OF SPECIAL PAROLE IMPOSED IN ACCORDANCE
WITH SUBDIVISION (9) OF SECTION 53a-28, AS AMENDED
BY SECTION 2 OF THIS ACT, HAS BEEN RETURNED TO THE
CUSTODY OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION OR ANY
INSTITUTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION FOR
VIOLATION OF HIS PAROLE, MAY BE RETAINED IN THE
INSTITUTION FROM WHICH HE WAS PAROLED FOR A PERIOD
EQUAL TO THE UNEXPIRED PORTION OF THE PERIOD OF
SPECIAL PAROLE. THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE TERM OF
INCARCERATION AND TERM OF SPECIAL PAROLE COMBINED
SHALL NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF
INCARCERATION AUTHORIZED FOR THE OFFENSE FOR WHICH
THE PERSON WAS CONVICTED.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect July 1,
1998, except that sections 2 to 4, inclusive,
shall take effect October 1, 1998.
Approved June 8, 1998