SB 1608
Initials NM Page 1 Caucus & COW
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-sixth Legislature
First Regular Session
Senate: MAPS DP 7-0-0-0 | 3
rd
Read DPA 27-3-0-0
House: MAPS DPA/SE 8-7-0-0
SB 1608: transition program fund; living expenses
S/E: transitional service grants; housing; appropriation
Sponsor: Senator Kern, LD 27
Caucus & COW
Summary of the Strike-Everything Amendment to SB 1608
Overview
Creates a grants program under the administration of the Department of Corrections (DOC) for
nonprofits that provide inmates with post-incarceration transitional services. Establishes the
Transitional Housing Fund to provide for said grants and appropriates $10,000,000 from the
Transition Program Fund to the Transitional Housing Fund.
History
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 31-281, DOC contracts with private entities to provide a Transition Program
for eligible inmates. The Transition Program allows inmates the opportunity to be released from
prison 90 days prior to their release date. Participants reside in homes or halfway houses across
Arizona and receive counseling and case management services.
The Transition Program is funded by the Transition Program Fund. Any monies which the
Transition Program, by virtue of its early release of inmates, saves DOC is transferred to the
Transition Program Fund to pay for the vendor costs of the program. The fund additionally
receives 5% of non-DUI inmate wages. It is estimated that in FY 2023 the Transitional Program
Fund will have a year-end balance of $10,102,600 (A.R.S. §§ 31-284; 31-254; 31-285; JLBC
Baseline Budget FY2024, DOC).
Provisions
1. Instructs DOC to establish a program to provide grants to nonprofit organizations that support
inmates by helping prepare them for release and transition back into the community (Grants
Program). (Sec. 2)
2. Outlines that a nonprofit organization must, to qualify for a Grants Program grant:
a) Have mentored at least 3,000 inmates while they were in prison for at least a two-year
period;
b) Use the grant monies for individuals that were mentored, for at least three months, by the
nonprofit organization while they were in prison; and
c) Demonstrate that it can provide individuals being released from prison specified kinds and
degrees of housing, behavioral health services, government-issued documents and
employment assistance. (Sec. 2)
3. Establishes the Transitional Housing Fund, under the administration of DOC, whose monies
are to be distributed for Grants Program grants. (Sec. 2)
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note SB 1608
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4. Stipulates that monies in the Transitional Housing Fund are continuously appropriated and
exempt from lapsing. (Sec. 2)
5. Directs, by August 31 of each year, DOC to submit a report to designated members of the
legislative and executive branches with specified information regarding the Grants Program.
(Sec. 2)
6. Transfers on June 30 of each year, from the Transition Program Fund to the Transitional
Housing Fund, any unexpended and unencumbered monies in the Transition Program Fund
of more than $3,000,000. (Sec. 1)
7. Appropriates $10,000,000 from the Transition Program Fund to the Transitional Housing Fund
in FY 2024. (Sec. 3)
8. Stipulates that the $10,000,000 appropriation, from the Transition Program Fund to the
Transitional Housing Fund, is to be transferred by December 31, 2023. (Sec. 3)