A day after Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced a $32 million package to combat prison crowding and curb recidivism, the governor's nephew sponsored legislation to put many of those proposals in action.
Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson on Thursday filed Senate Bill 472 to follow through on the governor's multipronged proposal to improve state prisons as well as parole practices.
The Little Rock Republican, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called his 30-page bill the Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2015.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, is the co-sponsor. Among other things, it gives law enforcement officers expanded power over parolees, mandates that parolees and state prisoners seek Medicaid coverage before their release, and makes changes to the state's Parole Board.
Any certified law enforcement officer, whether a police officer or sheriff's deputy, would have the power to search, without a warrant, the person, home and vehicle of probationers and parolees. Parole and probation officers already have that right.
Before starting probation or parole, an offender would be required to waive his right to a search requiring a warrant. Though law enforcement officials would need to conduct searches "in a reasonable manner," they are not required to have an "articulable suspicion" that the parolee or probationer is breaking the law.
Hutchinson said giving law enforcement officers the same search powers enjoyed by parole officers will help curb criminal behavior.
"Parole officers are too often confined to their office because they have such a big caseload, it's very difficult for them to go out and supervise," Hutchinson said. "This will put enforcement powers in the hands of the people actually on the streets and encountering the parole and probation population."
Fellow Judiciary Committee member Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said the governor's proposal, as well as Hutchinson's legislation, is a sound, big-picture approach.
But she said she will fight to change the expanded search powers given to police for parolees. She said an increase in searches without warrants by law enforcement officers in her Little Rock district could alienate the community from law enforcement.
"I think just because you're on parole, you don't give up your Fourth Amendment rights [to protection from a search without a warrant]," Elliott said. "The bill [wants to change criminals' behavior]. You're not changing behavior of people by constantly being on top of them and treating them in an infantile way."
Medicaid coverage
The legislation also seeks to give those on parole greater access to health care.
As soon as 120 days before their parole from prison, prisoners would be screened to see if they qualify for Medicaid coverage. Department of Community Correction officials would apply for coverage for those who qualify.
If SB472 becomes law, any parolee or probationer enrolled in Medicaid will be referred to a mental-health provider, substance-abuse treatment provider, or both, according to the bill.
The state's parole agency has been signing up eligible parolees for Medicaid for a few months. Hutchinson said a key component to the governor's prison-overhaul package will be broadening access to Medicaid funding to pay for treatment that could prevent an offender from returning to prison.
Hutchinson called the prospective law a "sea change" for combating factors that lead to crime.
"The vast majority of our crimes committed are either drug-related or due to some mental illness," Hutchinson said. "Yet we have never sought treatment for them within our standard [parole and probation] system. Some courts have, but the system has not."
Elliott lauded Gov. Hutchinson's plan to invest in re-entry centers as well as provide access to post-incarceration treatment services through Medicaid funding.
"This is a systemic approach and it's something we've not done. That's what I like," Elliott said. "This notion of punishment and not redemption is simply not working for us."
Parole Board changes
The bill also addresses concerns from some legislators over the past year that the state's current Parole Board needs changes.
In an attempt to make the seven-member board "more professional," Hutchinson's bill requires board members to take no other employment, save for a part-time position with "limited" time commitments that must be approved by the board's chairman.
It also gives the governor power to remove a member of the board if the chairman tells the governor that a member has been "derelict" in duties or no longer meets certain eligibility requirements.
The bill also sets processes and standards for the creation and operation of new alternative sentencing courts, such as drug or veterans courts, and establishes the process by which the state can contract with private and faith-based groups to provide parole and probation rehabilitation services.
It also creates a Legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force, which will have up to 14 members, some appointed by the governor, speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate president pro tempore.
The task force will meet at least quarterly to track different performance measures and compile reports detailing successes and shortfalls of new programs as well as track the amount of money saved by utilizing these programs.
In addition to Shepherd, Hutchinson said, the bill was drafted in consultation with various state agency officials, Parole Board Chairman John Felts and a policy adviser from the governor's office, Kelly Eichler.
The governor's office spokesman was not available for comment by deadline Thursday afternoon.
A section on 02/20/2015