As no JRI oversight committee was mandated by Louisiana's JRI bills, CJI will help the state establish oversight.
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While on site in September, CJI met with staff from the Governor’s office for a general introduction to Phase II implementation work and to discuss plans for a JRI oversight committee. As Louisiana’s JRI package did not establish an oversight committee, the Governor plans to set one up through executive order. CJI met with his staff to review a draft executive order, and offer advice on the make-up and responsibilities of the committee.
In December, Louisiana's Governor issued an Executive Order creating a JRI oversight group. CJI has been working with the Governor's office to encourage the creation of this group for a while, so was excited to see this announcement become public. The group's first meeting will likely be in early February.
In January 2018, the Governor nominated people to be members of the Council. CJI worked with DOC and the Governor’s office to prepare for the first Council meeting, which will take place in February. CJI prepared an agenda and a presentation giving an overview of what JRI implementation looks like. CJI will travel to Baton Rouge in February to help facilitate the meeting.
In February 2018, CJI worked with DOC and the Governor’s office to prepare for the first Council meeting, which took place in mid-February. CJI opened the meeting with a presentation to the Council about what JRI implementation looks like, and lessons Louisiana can learn from other states (see attached presentation “Intro to Phase II”). CJI will continue to be involved in the planning and preparation of future meetings, as both the Governor’s office and DOC have asked CJI for help staffing the Council.
In preparation for the next Oversight Council meeting in May, this April CJI worked with Nicole and Leslie to prepare an agenda and materials for the Council to consider. Topics covered at this meeting will include an update on implementation from DOC, an update on the legislation this session that will impact JRI, and discussion regarding the DOC reinvestment RFP.
In an effort to get to know Council members better, this month CJI and Nicole visited the courtroom of Judge Knight, one of the members of the Council. Judge Knight runs a reentry court and invited CJI and Nicole to sit in on court one morning.
The 2nd JRI Oversight Council meeting took place in early May. The meeting was well attended and included more conversation among council members than the first meeting. The meeting was primarily a mix of presentations and implementation updates with opportunities for council members to ask questions.
The next Council meeting will be in late June.
The fourth JRI Oversight Council meeting took place in August 2018. In July, in preparation for that meeting, CJI worked with staff from DOC and the Governor’s office to prepare an agenda and materials for the meeting. CJI also prepared materials for a presentation to the Council about the JRI Performance Metric report.
The fifth JRI Oversight Council meeting was slated to take place in December, but due to Council members’ schedules, was rescheduled for January 2019. The agenda for the meeting has not been set yet, but will likely cover: the announcement of DOC grant award winners and the work they will do; updates on implementation from stakeholders; the application for BJA subaward funding; and the December Oversight Council report.
CJI worked with the Oversight Council staff to finalize the Oversight Council report, which was submitted to the Governor in January 2019. The fifth JRI Oversight Council meeting took place on January 25th, 2019. CJI helped the Oversight Council staff prepare an agenda for this meeting, and created an overview of the Oversight Council report to be reviewed and discussed in the meeting. The agenda for that meeting included discussions on: the announcement of DOC grant award winners and the work they do; an update on the use of the other reinvestment monies; the application for BJA subaward funding; the December Oversight Council report; and an update from P&P.
Over the past several months, the Governor’s office has been leading negotiations over changes to the JRI legislation in response to concerns from District Attorneys and judges. This has resulted in SB 389. The bill is still pending before the Legislature (scheduled for floor debate in the House on 5/15 after passing the Senate 4/25), but assuming it is not amended on the floor it will do the following:
• Ensures unpaid restitution can be converted to a civil judgement
• Allows judges to rescind “earned compliance credits”
• Allows judges to extend probation up to two years to complete conditions
• Clarifies that probation cannot be revoked or extended based solely upon the defendant’s inability to pay fines, fees, or restitution
• Allows incarceration to be used as a response to the lowest-level violations (the JRI legislation previously eliminated the use of incarceration for these violations.)
• Eliminates the credit probationers were receiving (as a result of JRI) for time served in the community (“street time credit”)
• Allows a full revocation of probation for a 4th or subsequent technical violation
• Expands the definition of absconding (previously was limited just to those who left the state without prior approval)
CJI is also tracking other potentially likely-to-pass legislation that will delay the effective dates another year for the fines & fees portion of the JRI legislation, as well as a delay in the effective dates for the administrative parole provisions. (In both cases, it seems likely that the legislature will revisit these issues next session, and may make further modifications to those portions of the law before they go into effect.)
SB 389 passed the legislature in May and was signed by the Governor on June 1st. It does the following:
• Ensures unpaid restitution can be converted to a civil judgement
• Allows judges to rescind “earned compliance credits”
• Allows judges to expend probation up to two years to complete conditions
• Clarifies that probation cannot be revoked or extended based solely upon the defendant’s inability to pay fines, fees, or restitution
• Allows incarceration to be used as a response to the lowest-level violations (the JRI legislation previously eliminated the use of incarceration for these violations.)
• Eliminates the credit probationers were receiving (as a result of JRI) for time served in the community (“street time credit”)
• Allows a full revocation of probation for a 4th or subsequent technical violation
• Expands the definition of absconding (previously was limited just to those who left the state without prior approval)
Apart from SB 389, there are a few other JRI related bills that passed the legislature this session: a delay of the implementation of the fines and fees portion of the JRI legislation until August 1, 2019, and a delay of implementing the administrative parole provisions until case plans are in place for each incarcerated individual (which isn’t mandatory until 2021).
There were also a few big criminal justice (although not exactly JRI related) wins this session. Two big efforts advocates have been working on – granting former felons the right to vote and requiring a unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases – passed the legislature this past week.
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