Bill Text: NJ A6018 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Expands inmate eligibility for residential community programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-12-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A6018 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A6018-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WILLIAM W. SPEARMAN
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Expands inmate eligibility for residential community programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning access to residential community programs and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any rule or regulation to the contrary, a person incarcerated in a State correctional facility shall not be deemed ineligible to participate in a residential community program based on that person's custody status.
b. The provisions of subsection a. shall not apply to a person serving a sentence for any sex offense as defined in subsection b. of section 2 of P.L.1994, c.133 (C.2C:7-2) or any arson offense as defined in N.J.S.2C:17-1.
c. The Commissioner of Corrections shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following enactment, but the commissioner may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that an inmate in a State correctional facility who is otherwise eligible to enter into a residential community program, also referred to as a halfway house, cannot be denied access based on the inmate's custody status.
Under current regulations, an inmate in a State correctional facility must satisfy certain general eligibility criteria in order to participate in a residential community program, including being classified at "full minimum custody status" by the Institutional Classification Committee.
This bill provides that an inmate who is otherwise eligible to enter into a residential community program cannot be denied access based on the inmate's custody status. In addition, the bill preserves the requirement in the regulations that an inmate is not eligible to participate in a residential community program if the inmate is serving a sentence for a sex offense or an arson offense.
