CONTENTS:

Requires the Parole Board, at the request of the victim of a specified offense or certain other persons, to hold a full board hearing, permits the victim of such an offense, the victim’s representative, and the victim’s immediate family and the prisoner’s counsel or another designated person to testify at that hearing, and permits the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee to inspect Department of Youth Services facilities

State Fiscal Highlights

STATE FUND	FY 2005	FY 2006	FUTURE YEARS
General Revenue Fund (GRF)
Revenues	- 0 -	- 0 -	- 0 -
Expenditures	Potential minimal increase	Potential minimal increase	Potential minimal annual increase

Note: The state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. For example, FY 2005 is July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005.

· Parole Board hearings. As of this writing, although the number of additional full board hearings that might take place as a result of the bill is uncertain, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has stated that any associated increase in the Parole Board’s operating costs, to the degree that there was in fact a discernible cost increase, will not exceed minimal annually. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, minimal means less than $100,000 per year for the state.

· Victim notification. As of this writing, it appears unlikely the victim notification requirement in the case of an inmate being considered for parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder will generate any noticeable increase in the workload and annual operating costs of the Adult Parole Authority’s Office of Victim Services.

· Correctional Institution Inspection Committee (CIIC). The bill permits CIIC to inspect Department of Youth Services (DYS) facilities, which at this point includes eight juvenile correctional facilities and one private facility. According to CIIC, the permissive nature of this authority should allow it to perform inspections when staff is available, and, at this time, no additional staff would appear to be necessary to perform DYS inspection-related tasks.

Local Fiscal Highlights

LOCAL GOVERNMENT		FY 2005	FY 2006	FUTURE YEARS
Counties
Revenues	- 0 -		- 0 -	- 0 -
Expenditures	Potential negligible increase		Potential negligible increase	Potential negligible annual increase

Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.

· County criminal justice systems. The bill requires the prosecutor notify certain victims of the services offered by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Office of Victim Services. Under current law and practice, county criminal justice systems, largely if not entirely through victim assistance units affiliated with a county prosecutor’s office, already notify and assist victims of crime. Thus, as county criminal justice systems already have victim assistance units in place, it seems unlikely that this additional victim notification requirement will noticeably increase the workloads of such units or their annual operating costs.

Detailed Fiscal Analysis

Overview of the bill

For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, the bill most notably:

· Requires the prosecutor notify certain victims of the services offered by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Office of Victim Services.

· Requires the Office of Victim Services, in the case of an inmate being considered for parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder, provide certain information to certain persons.

· Requires the Parole Board, at the request of certain persons in the case of an inmate being considered for parole or re-parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder, hold a full board hearing.

· Permits the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee (CIIC) to inspect Department of Youth Services facilities.

State fiscal effects: Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC)

The Adult Parole Authority (APA), a largely GRF-funded bureau within the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Division of Parole and Community Services, is responsible for the release and supervision of adult felony inmates returning to local communities from prison, as well as assisting courts of common pleas with sentencing and supervision duties for felony offenders. It is comprised of the Parole Board and Field Services.

Since the mid-1980s, the Parole Board has permitted victims of prisoners incarcerated in a DRC correctional institution to register with the Victim Notification Section of the Office of Victim Services. Registered victims are then notified prior to any release consideration. At this time, a victim or the victim’s representative may either write the Parole Board or personally voice their concerns in an interview with a Parole Board staff member.

As noted above, the bill will: (1) require the Office of Victim Services, in the case of an inmate being considered for parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder, provide certain information to certain persons, and (2) require the Parole Board, at the request of certain persons in the case of an inmate being considered for parole or re-parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder, hold a full board hearing.

Victim notification. As of this writing, it appears unlikely the victim notification requirement in the case of an inmate being considered for parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder will generate any noticeable increase in the workload and annual operating costs of the Office of Victim Services.

Board hearings. Currently, the Parole Board has discretion on whether to hold a full board hearing in the case of an inmate being considered for parole or re-parole who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to aggravated murder or murder. Thus, as the bill requires the Parole Board to hold a full board hearing at the request of certain persons under these circumstances, the number of full board hearings held by the Parole Board annually might increase. As of this writing, although the number of additional full board hearings that might take place as a result of this provision is uncertain, DRC has stated that any associated increase in the Parole Board’s operating costs, to the degree that there was in fact a discernible cost increase, will not exceed minimal annually. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, minimal means less than $100,000 per year for the state.

State fiscal effects: Correctional Institution Inspection Committee (CIIC)

The bill: (1) permits CIIC to inspect Department of Youth Services (DYS) facilities, which at this point includes eight juvenile correctional facilities and one private facility, and (2) if CIIC conducts such inspections during a biennium, requires the Committee prepare a report of its findings for submission to the succeeding General Assembly. According to CIIC, the permissive nature of this authority should allow it to perform inspections when staff is available, and, at this time, no additional staff would appear to be necessary to perform DYS inspection-related tasks.

Local fiscal effects: county criminal justice systems

The bill requires the prosecutor notify certain victims of the services offered by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Office of Victim Services. Under current law and practice, county criminal justice systems, largely if not entirely through victim assistance units affiliated with a county prosecutor’s office, already notify and assist victims of crime. Thus, as county criminal justice systems already have victim assistance units in place, it seems unlikely that this additional victim notification requirement will noticeably increase the workloads of such units or their annual operating costs.

LSC fiscal staff: Laura A. Potts, Budget Analyst

HB0375SP.doc/lb

BILL:	Am. Sub. H.B. 375			DATE:	December 14, 2004
STATUS:	As Passed by the Senate			SPONSOR:	Rep. Kilbane
LOCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED:		No —	Minimal cost