Substitute Senate Bill No. 1022
Public Act No. 17-205
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ENHANCED COMMUNITY SERVICES TO THOSE IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2017) (a) The office of the Chief State's Attorney shall establish a pilot program to serve the geographical area courts for Hartford, New Haven, New London, Norwalk and Norwich in the judicial districts of Hartford, New Haven, New London and Stamford-Norwalk in identifying and tracking the homeless, addicted or mentally ill persons entering the criminal justice system.
(b) The office of the state's attorney for each such judicial district shall screen cases in order to identify and track persons arrested who are homeless, drug addicted or mentally ill for intensive assistance, and shall refer such persons to diversion programs, counseling, treatment, housing assistance and reentry programs in an effort to stabilize such person and prevent future arrests of such person, provided the office shall retain the discretion to dispose of any case in any manner, with a focus on alternatives to incarceration and that the court shall maintain jurisdiction over the cases to ensure compliance with any ordered treatment or counseling.
(c) The Chief State's Attorney shall establish policies and procedures to implement the pilot program required by this section and, on or before February 1, 2019, shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, concerning the implementation of the pilot program.