ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session

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HB 2189: coordinated reentry planning services programs.

Sponsor:  Representative Pratt, LD 8

Committee on Judiciary

Overview

Permits a county to establish a Coordinated Reentry Planning Services Program (Program).

History

The Department of Corrections (Department) is required to establish a transition program that provides eligible inmates with transition services for up to 90 days. The Department must administer the transition program and contract with private or nonprofit entities to provide eligible inmates with transition services.  Certain specified criteria must be met for an inmate to be eligible for transition services. Each contract awarded to entities that are providing transition services must train mentors and offer specified counseling and treatment (A.R.S. § 31-281).

Provisions

1. Permits a county to establish a Program to connect persons booked into a county jail with behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment providers at the earliest possible stage in the criminal justice process.  (Sec. 1)

2. Requires a Program to:

a) Allow entities to access and use a cross-system recidivism tracking database (Database) that incorporates certain specified data;

b) Allow entities to work with counties, cities, towns and superior courts to create an information exchange mechanism that includes reentry planning efforts; 

c) Allow county and community-wide collaborative efforts to be established for jail reentry planning services that include certain specified services and develop a new or extend an existing coalition with all branches of the criminal justice and court systems;

d) Establish working agreements with coalition partners in which treatment providers use the Database to record postrelease treatment engagement; and

e) Use the Database to record baseline and ongoing statistics for identified needs, referrals and future recidivism of reentry coordination participants.  (Sec. 1)

3. Requires a county that establishes a Program also to establish a committee to develop the Program's policies and procedures, including eligibility criteria, program implementation and operation.  (Sec. 1)

4. Stipulates that the committee, at a minimum, must consist of the following persons:

a) Representatives of the law enforcement agencies participating in the program;

b) A representative of the program services provider;

c) A public defender or the public defender's designee;

d) A prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting attorney's designee;

e) A presiding superior court judge or the superior court judge's designee;

f) A clerk of the court or the clerk's designee; and

g) Other stakeholders.  (Sec. 1)   

5. Establishes the Coordinated Reentry Planning Services Program Fund (Fund) to provide monies to counties that establish a Program.  (Sec. 1)

6. Requires the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission to administer the Fund.  (Sec. 1)

7. States that monies in the Fund are subject to legislative appropriation.  (Sec. 1)

8. Appropriates $8,000,000 from the general fund (GF) in fiscal year (FY) 2022 to the Fund.  (Sec. 2)

9. Appropriates $7,000,000 from the GF in FY 2023 and 2024 to the Fund.  (Sec. 2)

10. Appropriates $8,000,000 from the Fund to a county with a population of not more than 1,500,000 to establish a Program in FY 2022.

a) States that of the total appropriation, up to $1,000,000 can be used to establish a Database.  (Sec. 2)

11. Appropriates $7,000,000 from the Fund to a county with a population of not more than 1,500,000 that has established or establish a Program in FYs 2023 and 2024.  (Sec. 2)

12. Stipulates that each eligible county must receive a proportional share of the monies based on the county's population.  (Sec. 2)

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16.                   HB 2189

17. Initials JR  Page 0 Judiciary

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