PRINTER'S NO. 1978
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1253
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, HUGHES AND COSTA, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
AN ACT
Amending Title 61 (Prisons and Parole) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in Pennsylvania Board of Probation and
Parole, further providing for parole power.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 6137(a), (e) and (k) of Title 61 of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
§ 6137. Parole power.
(a) General criteria for parole.--
(1) The board may parole subject to consideration of
guidelines established under 42 Pa.C.S. § 2154.5 (relating to
adoption of guidelines for parole) and may release on parole
any inmate to whom the power to parole is granted to the
board by this chapter, except an inmate condemned to death or
serving life imprisonment, whenever in its opinion:
(i) The best interests of the inmate justify or
require that the inmate be paroled.
(ii) It does not appear that the interests of the
Commonwealth will be injured by the inmate's parole.
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(1.1) The board shall provide expedited review of every
case where the department has reported that the inmate being
considered for parole:
(i) has a serious or terminal illness;
(ii) is receiving treatment or hospice care; and
(iii) presents a minimal risk of reoffending, based
on the department's standardized needs and risk
assessment of the inmate.
(1.2) Government agencies shall assist the board and the
department in developing a plan to house and treat any inmate
the department has identified as suffering from a serious or
terminal illness.
(1.3) Nothing in paragraphs (1.1) or (1.2) shall be
construed to entitle any inmate to be paroled or to establish
a presumption that an inmate is entitled to be paroled.
(2) Parole shall be subject in every instance to the
Commonwealth's right to immediately retake and hold in
custody without further proceedings any parolee charged after
his parole with an additional offense until a determination
can be made whether to continue his parole status.
(3) The power to parole granted under this section to
the board may not be exercised in the board's discretion at
any time before, but only after, the expiration of the
minimum term of imprisonment fixed by the court in its
sentence or by the Board of Pardons in a sentence which has
been reduced by commutation.
(3.1) (i) Following the expiration of the inmate's
minimum term of imprisonment, if the primary reason for
not paroling the inmate is the inmate's inability to
access and complete prescribed programming within the
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correctional institution, the board may release the
inmate on parole with the condition that the inmate
complete the prescribed programming while on parole.
(ii) This paragraph shall not apply to offenders who
are currently serving a term of imprisonment for a crime
of violence as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9714 (relating to
sentences for second and subsequent offenses) or for a
crime requiring registration under 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 97
Subch. H (relating to registration of sexual offenders).
(iii) For those inmates to whom subparagraph (ii) is
applicable, the board may release the inmate on parole if
the inmate is subject to another jurisdiction's detainer,
warrant or equivalent writ.
(iv) The board may waive the requirements of
subparagraph (ii) for any inmate identified by the
department as:
(A) having a serious or terminal illness;
(B) receiving treatment or hospice care; and
(C) presenting a minimal risk of reoffending,
based on the department's standardized needs and risk
assessment of the inmate.
(4) Unless the inmate has served at least one year in a
community corrections center or community corrections
facility, the board shall not act upon an application of an
inmate who is granted clemency by the Governor, is subject to
parole supervision and:
(i) whose term of imprisonment was commuted from
life to life on parole;
(ii) who was serving a term of imprisonment for a
crime of violence; or
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(iii) who is serving a sentence under 42 Pa.C.S. §
9712 (relating to sentences for offenses committed with
firearms).
(5) Upon parole, a parolee subject to paragraph (4)
shall:
(i) be subject to weekly supervision for the first
six months of parole; and
(ii) have any violations of a condition of parole
immediately made known to the Board of Pardons. This
subparagraph shall apply to all parolees under
supervision by other jurisdictions under Subchapter B of
Chapter 71 (relating to interstate compact for the
supervision of adult offenders).
* * *
(e) Drug screening tests.--
(1) The board may not release a person on parole unless
the person achieves a negative result within 45 days prior to
the date of release in a screening test approved by the
Department of Health for the detection of the presence of
controlled substances or designer drugs under the act of
April 14, 1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as The Controlled
Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act.
(2) The cost of these preparole drug screening tests for
inmates subject to the parole release jurisdiction of the
board, whether confined in a correctional institution or
county prison, shall be paid by the board. The board shall
establish rules and regulations for the payment of these
costs and may limit the types and cost of these screening
tests that would be subject to payment by the board.
(3) (i) The board shall establish, as a condition of
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continued parole for a parolee who, as an inmate, tested
positive for the presence of a controlled substance or a
designer drug or who was paroled from a sentence arising
from a conviction under The Controlled Substance, Drug,
Device and Cosmetic Act or from a drug-related crime, the
parolee's achievement of negative results in such
screening tests randomly applied.
(ii) The random screening tests shall be performed
at the discretion of the board, and the parolee
undergoing the tests shall be responsible for the costs
of the tests.
(iii) The funds collected for the tests shall be
applied against the contract for such testing.
(4) For a parolee who was not paroled from a sentence
arising from a conviction under The Controlled Substance,
Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act or from a drug-related crime,
the board may establish, as a condition of parole, that the
parolee achieve negative results in screening tests randomly
conducted. The parolee shall be responsible for testing
costs.
(5) The board may waive the requirements of this
subsection for any inmate identified by the department as:
(i) having a serious or terminal illness;
(ii) receiving treatment or hospice care; and
(iii) presenting a minimal risk of reoffending,
based on the department's standardized needs and risk
assessment of the inmate.
* * *
(k) Definitions.--The following words and phrases shall have
the meanings given to them in this subsection unless the context
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clearly indicates otherwise:
"Crime of violence." As defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9714(g)
(relating to sentences for second and subsequent offenses).
"Eligible offender." As defined in section 4503 (relating to
definitions).
"Government agency." A Commonwealth agency, any political
subdivision, or municipal or other local authority, or any
officer or agency of a political subdivision or local authority.
"Hospice." A special concept of care designed to provide
comfort and support to a patient with a terminal illness that
addresses all symptoms of a disease, with special emphasis on
controlling pain and discomfort, and the emotional, social and
spiritual impact of the disease on the patient.
"Serious illness." A disease process or injury, including
chronic illness, whether due to a physical or cognitive
impairment or mental condition, that requires care and treatment
over a long period of time, is usually not cured and has
progressed to the degree that the inmate meets Department of
Aging criteria for nursing facility clinical eligibility. The
disease process or injury may have existed before incarceration.
"Terminal illness." An incurable, irreversible medical
condition in an advanced state that will, in the opinion of the
attending physician to a reasonable degree of medical certainty,
result in death regardless of the continued application of life-
sustaining treatment and has progressed to the degree that the
inmate meets Department of Aging criteria for nursing facility
clinical eligibility.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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