HOUSE BILL NO. 1439 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON.
3002H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 217.690, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to fees paid by offenders.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 217.690, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as section 217.690, to read as follows: 217.690. 1. All releases or paroles shall issue upon order of the parole board, duly 2 adopted. 3 2. Before ordering the parole of any offender, the parole board shall conduct a 4 validated risk and needs assessment and evaluate the case under the rules governing parole 5 that are promulgated by the parole board. The parole board shall then have the offender 6 appear before a hearing panel and shall conduct a personal interview with him or her, unless 7 waived by the offender, or if the guidelines indicate the offender may be paroled without need 8 for an interview. The guidelines and rules shall not allow for the waiver of a hearing if a 9 victim requests a hearing. The appearance or presence may occur by means of a 10 videoconference at the discretion of the parole board. A parole may be ordered for the best 11 interest of society when there is a reasonable probability, based on the risk assessment and 12 indicators of release readiness, that the person can be supervised under parole supervision and 13 successfully reintegrated into the community, not as an award of clemency; it shall not be 14 considered a reduction of sentence or a pardon. Every offender while on parole shall remain 15 in the legal custody of the department but shall be subject to the orders of the parole board. 16 3. The division of probation and parole has discretionary authority to require the 17 payment of a fee, not to exceed sixty dollars per month, from every offender placed under
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1439 2
18 division supervision on probation, parole, or conditional release, to waive all or part of any 19 fee, to sanction offenders for willful nonpayment of fees, and to contract with a private entity 20 for fee collections services. No such fee shall be levied or accrue for the first sixty days 21 the offender is on probation, parole, or conditional release. All fees collected shall be 22 deposited in the inmate fund established in section 217.430. Fees collected may be used to 23 pay the costs of contracted collections services. The fees collected may otherwise be used to 24 provide community corrections and intervention services for offenders. Such services include 25 substance abuse assessment and treatment, mental health assessment and treatment, electronic 26 monitoring services, residential facilities services, employment placement services, and other 27 offender community corrections or intervention services designated by the division of 28 probation and parole to assist offenders to successfully complete probation, parole, or 29 conditional release. The division of probation and parole shall adopt rules not inconsistent 30 with law, in accordance with section 217.040, with respect to sanctioning offenders and with 31 respect to establishing, waiving, collecting, and using fees. 32 4. The parole board shall adopt rules not inconsistent with law, in accordance with 33 section 217.040, with respect to the eligibility of offenders for parole, the conduct of parole 34 hearings or conditions to be imposed upon paroled offenders. Whenever an order for parole 35 is issued it shall recite the conditions of such parole. 36 5. When considering parole for an offender with consecutive sentences, the minimum 37 term for eligibility for parole shall be calculated by adding the minimum terms for parole 38 eligibility for each of the consecutive sentences, except the minimum term for parole 39 eligibility shall not exceed the minimum term for parole eligibility for an ordinary life 40 sentence. 41 6. Any offender sentenced to a term of imprisonment amounting to fifteen years or 42 more or multiple terms of imprisonment that, taken together, amount to fifteen or more years 43 who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the commission of the offense or offenses 44 may be eligible for parole after serving fifteen years of incarceration, regardless of whether 45 the case is final for the purposes of appeal, and may be eligible for reconsideration hearings in 46 accordance with regulations promulgated by the parole board. 47 7. The provisions of subsection 6 of this section shall not apply to an offender found 48 guilty of capital murder, murder in the first degree or murder in the second degree, when 49 murder in the second degree is committed pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of 50 section 565.021, who was under eighteen years of age when the offender committed the 51 offense or offenses who may be found ineligible for parole or whose parole eligibility may be 52 controlled by section 558.047 or 565.033. 53 8. Any offender under a sentence for first degree murder who has been denied release 54 on parole after a parole hearing shall not be eligible for another parole hearing until at least HB 1439 3
55 three years from the month of the parole denial; however, this subsection shall not prevent a 56 release pursuant to subsection 4 of section 558.011. 57 9. A victim who has requested an opportunity to be heard shall receive notice that the 58 parole board is conducting an assessment of the offender's risk and readiness for release and 59 that the victim's input will be particularly helpful when it pertains to safety concerns and 60 specific protective measures that may be beneficial to the victim should the offender be 61 granted release. 62 10. Parole hearings shall, at a minimum, contain the following procedures: 63 (1) The victim or person representing the victim who attends a hearing may be 64 accompanied by one other person; 65 (2) The victim or person representing the victim who attends a hearing shall have the 66 option of giving testimony in the presence of the inmate or to the hearing panel without the 67 inmate being present; 68 (3) The victim or person representing the victim may call or write the parole board 69 rather than attend the hearing; 70 (4) The victim or person representing the victim may have a personal meeting with a 71 parole board member at the parole board's central office; 72 (5) The judge, prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney and a representative of the 73 local law enforcement agency investigating the crime shall be allowed to attend the hearing or 74 provide information to the hearing panel in regard to the parole consideration; and 75 (6) The parole board shall evaluate information listed in the juvenile sex offender 76 registry pursuant to section 211.425, provided the offender is between the ages of seventeen 77 and twenty-one, as it impacts the safety of the community. 78 11. The parole board shall notify any person of the results of a parole eligibility 79 hearing if the person indicates to the parole board a desire to be notified. 80 12. The parole board may, at its discretion, require any offender seeking parole to 81 meet certain conditions during the term of that parole so long as said conditions are not illegal 82 or impossible for the offender to perform. These conditions may include an amount of 83 restitution to the state for the cost of that offender's incarceration. 84 13. Special parole conditions shall be responsive to the assessed risk and needs of the 85 offender or the need for extraordinary supervision, such as electronic monitoring. The parole 86 board shall adopt rules to minimize the conditions placed on low-risk cases, to frontload 87 conditions upon release, and to require the modification and reduction of conditions based on 88 the person's continuing stability in the community. Parole board rules shall permit parole 89 conditions to be modified by parole officers with review and approval by supervisors. 90 14. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require the release of an 91 offender on parole nor to reduce the sentence of an offender heretofore committed. HB 1439 4
92 15. Beginning January 1, 2001, the parole board shall not order a parole unless the 93 offender has obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent, or unless the parole board is 94 satisfied that the offender, while committed to the custody of the department, has made an 95 honest good-faith effort to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent; provided that the 96 director may waive this requirement by certifying in writing to the parole board that the 97 offender has actively participated in mandatory education programs or is academically unable 98 to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent. 99 16. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is 100 created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies 101 with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. 102 This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the 103 general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to 104 disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of 105 rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2005, shall be invalid 106 and void. ✔
Statutes affected: