The bill amends the Probation and Parole Act to establish a system of graduated responses for handling technical violations by parolees and probationers. It mandates the corrections department to develop and implement this system, which will include presumptive sanctions based on the severity of violations, the individual's criminal history, and other relevant factors. The bill also introduces definitions for terms such as "absconding," "technical violation," and "validated risk and needs assessment instrument," while specifying that presumptive sanctions must be exhausted before pursuing revocation of parole or probation. Additionally, it requires ongoing training for probation and parole officers on the use of these graduated sanctions.

Furthermore, the bill outlines specific sanctions for technical violations, including temporary revocation of supervision and periods of incarceration that increase with the number of violations. For the first technical violation, a parolee or probationer may face up to fifteen days of incarceration, with escalating penalties for subsequent violations. The court or board may impose harsher sanctions for individuals with serious violent offenses if a direct relationship between the violation and the offense is established. The bill also requires the corrections department to report on the system plan to the legislature by January 1, 2026, with implementation by July 1, 2026.

Statutes affected:
introduced version: 31-21-5, 31-21-14