Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
 1   State of Arkansas                    As Engrossed:       S4/8/21
 2   93rd General Assembly                        A Bill
 3   Regular Session, 2021                                                             SENATE BILL 591
 4
 5   By: Senator G. Leding
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 7                                     For An Act To Be Entitled
 8                  AN ACT CONCERNING THE SENTENCING OF A PERSON WHO
 9                  COMMITTED AN OFFENSE BEFORE HE OR SHE TURNED TWENTY-
10                  ONE YEARS OF AGE; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
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12
13                                                 Subtitle
14                           CONCERNING THE SENTENCING OF A PERSON WHO
15                           COMMITTED AN OFFENSE BEFORE HE OR SHE
16                           TURNED TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE.
17
18
19   BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
20
21          SECTION 1.       Arkansas Code  5-4-108 is amended to read as follows:
22          5-4-108.      Sentencing for person who committed an offense when he or she
23   was less than 18 21 years of age.
24          A defendant shall not be sentenced to death or life imprisonment
25   without the possibility of parole for an offense if the defendant was less
26   than eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of age at the time the offense was
27   committed.
28
29          SECTION 2.       Arkansas Code  16-93-613(c), concerning parole eligibility
30   for Class Y, Class A, and Class B felonies, is amended to read as follows:
31          (c)    Except as provided for under  16-93-621, for an offense committed
32   before, on, or after March 20, 2017 the effective date of this act, a person
33   who was a minor less than twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of
34   committing an offense listed under subsection (a) of this section is eligible
35   for release on parole under this section.
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     *BPG447*                                                                    04-08-2021 10:11:16 BPG447
     As Engrossed:    S4/8/21                                                     SB591
 1        SECTION 3.        Arkansas Code  16-93-614(d), concerning parole eligibility
 2   for offenses committed after January 1, 1994, is amended to read as follows:
 3        (d)   Except as provided for under  16-93-621, for an offense committed
 4   before, on, or after March 20, 2017 the effective date of this act, a person
 5   who was a minor less than twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of
 6   committing an offense listed under subsection (c) of this section is eligible
 7   for release on parole under this section.
 8
 9        SECTION 4.        Arkansas Code  16-93-618(f), concerning parole eligibility
10   for certain Class Y felony offenses and certain methamphetamine offenses and
11   the serving of seventy percent (70%) of a person's sentence, is amended to
12   read as follows:
13        (f)   Except as provided for under  16-93-621, for an offense committed
14   before, on, or after March 20, 2017 the effective date of this act, a person
15   who was a minor less than twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of
16   committing an offense listed under subsection (a) of this section is eligible
17   for release on parole under this section.
18
19        SECTION 5.        Arkansas Code  16-93-621 is amended to read as follows:
20        16-93-621. Parole eligibility  A person who was a minor less than
21   twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of committing an offense that was
22   committed before, on, or after March 20, 2017 the effective date of this act.
23        (a)(1)     A minor person less than twenty-one (21) years of age who was
24   convicted and sentenced to the Department of Correction or Division of
25   Correction for an offense committed before he or she was eighteen (18)
26   twenty-one (21) years of age and in which the death of another person did not
27   occur is eligible for release on parole no later than after twenty (20) years
28   of incarceration, including any applicable sentencing enhancements, and
29   including an instance in which multiple sentences are to be served
30   consecutively or concurrently, unless by law the minor person less than
31   twenty-one (21) years of age is eligible for earlier parole eligibility.
32                 (2)(A)    A minor person less than twenty-one (21) years of age
33   who was convicted and sentenced to the department or the division for an
34   offense committed before he or she was eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of
35   age, in which the death of another person occurred, and that was committed
36   before, on, or after March 20, 2017, the effective date of this act is
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     As Engrossed:       S4/8/21                                                    SB591
 1   eligible for release on parole no later than after twenty-five (25) years of
 2   incarceration if he or she was convicted of murder in the first degree,  5-
 3   10-102, or no later than after thirty (30) years of incarceration if he or
 4   she was convicted of capital murder,  5-10-101, including any applicable
 5   sentencing enhancements, unless by law the minor person less than twenty-one
 6   (21) years of age is eligible for earlier parole eligibility.
 7                         (B)     Subdivision (a)(2)(A) of this section applies
 8   retroactively to a minor a person less than twenty-one (21) years of age
 9   whose offense was committed before he or she was eighteen (18) twenty-one
10   (21) years of age, including minors persons less than twenty-one (21) years
11   of age serving sentences of life, regardless of the original sentences that
12   were imposed.
13                 (3)    Credit for meritorious good time shall not be applied to
14   calculations of time served under this subsection for minors a person less
15   than twenty-one (21) years of age convicted and sentenced for capital murder,
16    5-10-101(c), or when a life sentence is imposed for murder in the first
17   degree,  5-10-102.
18                 (4)    The calculation of the time periods under this subsection
19   shall include any applicable sentence enhancements to which the minor person
20   less than twenty-one (21) years of age was sentenced that accompany the
21   sentence for the underlying offense.
22        (b)(1)     The Parole Board shall ensure that a hearing to consider the
23   parole eligibility of a person who was a minor less than twenty-one (21)
24   years of age at the time of the offense that was committed before, on, or
25   after March 20, 2017, the effective date of this act takes into account how a
26   minor offender an offender less than twenty-one (21) years of age is
27   different from an adult offender and provides a person who was a minor less
28   than twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of the offense that was
29   committed before, on, or after March 20, 2017, the effective date of this act
30   with a meaningful opportunity to be released on parole based on demonstrated
31   maturity and rehabilitation.
32                 (2)    During a parole eligibility hearing involving a person who
33   was a minor less than twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of the offense
34   that was committed before, on, or after March 20, 2017, the effective date of
35   this act the board shall take into consideration in addition to other factors
36   required by law to be considered by the board:
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     As Engrossed:    S4/8/21                                                    SB591
 1                      (A)     The diminished culpability of minors persons less than
 2   twenty (21) years of age as compared to that of adults;
 3                      (B)     The hallmark features of youth;
 4                      (C)     Subsequent growth and increased maturity of the person
 5   during incarceration;
 6                      (D)     Age of the person at the time of the offense;
 7                      (E)     Immaturity of the person at the time of the offense;
 8                      (F)     The extent of the person's role in the offense and
 9   whether and to what extent an adult was involved in the offense;
10                      (G)     The person's family and community circumstances at the
11   time of the offense, including any history of abuse, trauma, and involvement
12   in the child welfare system;
13                      (H)     The person's participation in available rehabilitative
14   and educational programs while in prison, if those programs have been made
15   available, or use of self-study for self-improvement;
16                      (I)     The results of comprehensive mental health evaluations
17   conducted by an adolescent mental health professional licensed in the state
18   at the time of sentencing and at the time the person becomes eligible for
19   parole under this section; and
20                      (J)     Other factors the board deems relevant.
21              (3)    A person eligible for parole under this section may have an
22   attorney present to represent him or her at the parole eligibility hearing.
23        (c)(1)(A)    The board shall notify a victim of the crime before the
24   board reviews parole eligibility under this section for an inmate convicted
25   of the crime and provide information regarding victim input meetings, as well
26   as state and national victim resource information.
27                      (B)     If the victim is incapacitated or deceased, the notice
28   under subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section shall be given to the victim's
29   family.
30                      (C)     If the victim is less than eighteen (18) years of age,
31   the notice under subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section shall be given to the
32   victim's parent or guardian.
33              (2)    Victim notification under this subsection shall include:
34                      (A)     The location, date, and time of parole review; and
35                      (B)     The name and phone number of the individual to contact
36   for additional information.
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     As Engrossed:   S4/8/21                                       SB591
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                                 5            04-08-2021 10:11:16 BPG447
Statutes affected: 
Old version SB591 V2 - 4-8-2021 10:11 AM: 5-4-108, 16-93-613(c), 16-93-614(d), 16-93-618(f)
SB 591: 5-4-108, 16-93-613(c), 16-93-614(d), 16-93-618(f)