PRINTER'S NO. 2927
No. 2199 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY EVANS, CALTAGIRONE, ROEBUCK, RIEGER, BLAUM,
HAYDEN, WILLIAMS, CARN, WAMBACH, FOX, YANDRISEVITS, COLAIZZO,
STUBAN, RYBAK, BELFANTI, VEON, TIGUE, NOYE, LINTON, FARGO,
FREEMAN, GLADECK, LANGTRY, WOGAN, RAYMOND, PISTELLA, McCALL,
J. L. WRIGHT, VROON, KOSINSKI, LUCYK, KASUNIC, ITKIN,
FAIRCHILD, MAINE, GIGLIOTTI, HERSHEY, BATTISTO, HERMAN,
BISHOP, PESCI, MELIO, HAGARTY, D. F. CLARK, JOSEPHS, McVERRY,
TRELLO, BROUJOS, BUSH, LEVDANSKY, DIETTERICK AND GEIST,
DECEMBER 13, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, DECEMBER 13, 1989
AN ACT
1 Providing for motivational boot camps for certain youthful
2 offenders; providing for selection of participants; and
3 making an appropriation.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Motivational
8 Boot Camp Act.
9 Section 2. Declaration of policy.
10 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
11 (1) The Commonwealth recognizes the severe problem of
12 overcrowding in State and county prisons and understands that
13 overcrowding is a causative factor contributing to
14 insurrection and prison rioting.
15 (2) The Commonwealth also recognizes that the frequency
1 of convictions responsible for the dramatic expansion of the
2 prison population is attributable in part to the increased
3 use of drugs and alcohol.
4 (3) The Commonwealth, in wishing to salvage the
5 contributions and dedicated work which its displaced citizens
6 may someday offer, is seeking to explore alternative methods
7 of incarceration which might serve as the catalyst for
8 reducing criminal behavior.
9 Section 3. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Department." The Department of Corrections of the
14 Commonwealth.
15 "Eligible inmate." A person sentenced to a term of
16 imprisonment for any violation of the act of April 14, 1972
17 (P.L.233, No.64), known as The Controlled Substance, Drug,
18 Device and Cosmetic Act, or a person sentenced to a term of
19 imprisonment who has not reached 30 years of age, and who will
20 become eligible for release or parole within three years at the
21 time of the sentencing. Eligible inmate shall also include a
22 person who has not been convicted previously of a felony upon
23 which a term of imprisonment was imposed, and who was 16 years
24 of age or older and 21 years of age or under at the time of the
25 commission of the crime. Eligible inmate shall not include
26 persons convicted of first or second degree felonies.
27 "Motivational boot camp." A program in which eligible
28 inmates are selected by a correctional Diagnostic and
29 Classification Center to participate for a period of six months
30 at an intensive incarceration correctional facility classified
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1 for motivational boot camp programs which shall provide for
2 rigorous physical activity, intensive regimentation and
3 discipline, substance abuse rehabilitation therapy and
4 programming certified by the Department of Health, ventilation
5 therapy, continuing education, vocational training and
6 prerelease counseling.
7 "Secretary." The Secretary of Corrections of the
8 Commonwealth.
9 Section 4. Establishment of motivational boot camp program.
10 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established in the
11 department a motivational boot camp program. The secretary,
12 guided by consideration for the safety of the community and the
13 welfare of the inmate, shall promulgate rules and regulations
14 for the program. These rules and regulations shall reflect the
15 purpose of the program and shall include, but not be limited to,
16 selection criteria, inmate discipline, programming and
17 supervision, and program structure and administration. The
18 department shall also provide four weeks of intensive training
19 for all staff prior to the start of their involvement with the
20 program.
21 (b) Selection committee.--For each reception center, the
22 secretary shall appoint or cause to be appointed a motivational
23 boot camp selection committee, which shall meet on a regularly
24 scheduled basis to review all applications for the program.
25 (c) Approval.--Motivational boot camp programs may be
26 established only at intensive incarceration correctional
27 facilities classified by the secretary as motivational boot camp
28 facilities.
29 (d) Evaluation.--The department shall conduct an ongoing
30 evaluation of the program to ensure that the programmatic
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1 objectives are met. The department shall undertake studies and
2 prepare reports periodically on the impact of the program to the
3 appropriate committees of the House of Representatives and of
4 the Senate responsible for conducting and supervising
5 legislative oversight responsibility.
6 Section 5. Procedure for selection of participant in
7 motivational boot camp program.
8 (a) Application.--An eligible inmate may make an application
9 to the motivational boot camp selection committee for permission
10 to participate in the motivational boot camp program.
11 (b) Selection.--If the selection committee determines that
12 an inmate's participation in the program is consistent with the
13 safety of the community, the welfare of the applicant and the
14 rules and regulations of the department, the committee shall
15 forward the application to the secretary or his designee for
16 approval or disapproval.
17 (c) Conditions.--Applicants may not participate in the
18 motivational boot camp program unless they agree to be bound by
19 all the terms and conditions thereof and indicate their
20 agreement by signing a memorandum of the program immediately
21 below a statement reading as follows:
22 I accept the foregoing program and agree to be bound by
23 the terms and conditions thereof. I understand that my
24 participation in the program is a privilege that may be
25 revoked at any time at the sole discretion of the
26 secretary. I understand that I am also provided with the
27 right to terminate, at any time, my involvement in the
28 program. I understand that I must successfully complete
29 the entire program to obtain a certificate of earned
30 eligibility upon the completion of said program, and, in
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1 the event that I do not successfully complete said
2 program, for any reason, I will be transferred to a
3 nonintensive incarceration correctional facility to
4 continue service of my sentence.
5 (d) Privilege.--Participation in the motivational boot camp
6 program shall be a privilege. Nothing contained in this act may
7 be construed to confer upon any inmate the right to participate
8 or continue to participate therein.
9 Section 6. Report to sentencing court; probation.
10 Upon the inmate's successful completion of the program, the
11 department shall notify the sentencing court of the
12 participant's success in the program, whereupon the sentencing
13 court may issue an order modifying the disposition of the
14 sentence and place the participant on probation. If the
15 conditions of probation are violated, the court may revoke
16 probation and make such disposition as it deems necessary.
17 Section 7. Appropriation.
18 The sum of $5,000,000, or as much thereof as may be
19 necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Department of
20 Corrections for the fiscal year July 1, 1990, to June 30, 1991,
21 to carry out the provisions of this act.
22 Section 8. Effective date.
23 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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