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Monroe lawmaker continues to
press for DOC reforms
After two unsuccessful
attempts to persuade the House Speaker and governor to hold public
hearings and vote on House Republican legislation to address the state
Department of Corrections’ (DOC) failing felon supervision system,
Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, today received a hearing on
House Bill 2393.
This is Pearson’s third attempt to fix the systemic flaws in the
governor’s public safety policy. House Bill 2393 would address concerns
raised about DOC community correction officer staffing ratios,
supervision and accountability for felons out of prison on community
supervision and sentencing for parole violations.
“If the Legislature doesn’t do anything else this session, it had better
tackle critical public safety issues surrounding felon supervision and
the abysmal failure of the Department of Corrections to manage felons it
is tossing into our communities,” Pearson said. “Right now there aren’t
any expectations that a felon will comply with the terms of his or her
release. It equates to rolling the dice with public safety.”
The highly publicized deaths of three police officers in the last year,
along with repeated unanswered requests for information from DOC,
prompted Pearson to introduce three bills this year. All except House
Bill 2393 were sidelined by majority Democrats in the House of
Representatives.
“I have been sincere and tried to move my solutions to public safety
forward,” Pearson said. Yet, inaction by DOC Secretary Harold Clarke has
stymied Pearson’s efforts to pass laws that add accountability and
transparency and address the fatal deficiencies of the felon community
supervision program.
“It took almost two months and three bills to get a hearing on my
critical public safety measure, but we’ve had plenty of time to hear and
pass several pieces of legislation that are arguably of little value to
communities. It’s all worthless if people don’t feel safe,” Pearson
said. “I guess my third bill was the charm. I just hope the majority
party doesn’t squash this opportunity to protect families before
felons.”
House Bill 2393 would:
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Increase penalties for
violating conditions of release from 60 days in jail to being sent
back to prison for up to the remainder of the original sentence.
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Require the DOC to
perform unannounced, random inspections of offender’s homes to find
drugs, guns or other evidence of criminal activity.
- Currently the DOC can do this, but is not doing so. This is
frustrating to community corrections officers.
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Require the DOC to
develop a performance review every time an offender on community
custody is convicted of a new crime. A report would be submitted to
the governor and the Legislature annually.
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Require the DOC to
perform a study to determine whether it has the capacity to
adequately supervise all offenders who are serving their sentence in
community custody.
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