MADISON LEYVAS

ASSISTANT RESEARCH ANALYST

ZACK DEAN

LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST

TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

Telephone: (602) 926-3171

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

RESEARCH STAFF

TO:                  MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

                        TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

DATE:            February 17, 2020

SUBJECT:      Strike everything amendment to S.B. 1022, relating to executive clemency; recertification process

Purpose

Requires, rather than allows, the Board of Executive Clemency (Board) to adopt and apply rules for the parole eligibility recertification process.

Background

The Board has exclusive power to pass on and recommend to the Governor reprieves, commutations, paroles and pardons for all persons who have committed felony offenses before January 1, 1994. The Board has additional powers and duties to make recommendations to the Governor for the commutation of a sentence upon meeting certain requirements for all persons who committed felony offenses on or after January 1, 1994 (A.R.S. § 31-402).

The Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections (Director) is statutorily required to develop and maintain a parole eligibility classification system. The classification of each prisoner must be reviewed by the Director at least once every six months and any prisoner classified within an eligible classification must be certified as eligible for parole by the Director five months immediately before the prisoner's earliest parole eligibility. Any prisoner who was certified as eligible for parole and was denied parole yet remains in a parole-eligible classification must be recertified by the Director between one and four months after the hearing at which the prisoner was denied. The Board may prescribe that the prisoner must not be recertified for up to one year after the hearing. The Board may adopt rules for the recertification process and may apply specific rules for the certification process to a prisoner who is serving a sentence for: 1) first-degree or second-degree murder; 2) a dangerous offense that causes serious physical injury; or 3) a dangerous crime against children (A.R.S. § 41-1604.09).

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

Provisions

1. Requires, rather than allows, the Board to adopt rules for the parole eligibility recertification process.

2. Requires, rather than allows, the Board to apply specific rules for the parole eligibility recertification process to a prisoner whose sentence meets specific requirements.

3. Specifies that the parole eligibility recertification process rules adopted by the Board apply to the predecessor statutes of sentencing requirements.

4. Becomes effective on the general effective date.