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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 753 (as amended by Senate "A")*
AN ACT CONCERNING THE COUNTING OF INCARCERATED
PERSONS FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING LEGISLATIVE
DISTRICTS.
SUMMARY
This bill creates a process to adjust U.S. census population data and
count most prison inmates at their address before incarceration,
instead of at their prison address. It requires that this adjusted data, as
well as the unadjusted data, serve as the basis for determining state
legislative districts and municipal voting districts. The bill excludes
inmates serving a life sentence without the possibility of release from
the adjusted data.
Generally, the bill’s process requires the:
1. Department of Correction (DOC) to provide the Office of Policy
and Management (OPM) secretary with a list of inmates, other
than those serving a life sentence without the possibility of
release, and their residential or other addresses prior to
incarceration;
2. OPM secretary to ask federal agencies for a similar list for
federal prisons in Connecticut;
3. OPM to adjust the census population counts so that these
inmates are represented as residing at their prior residential
address, not at their prison address; and
4. OPM secretary to prepare and publish the adjusted and
unadjusted data and notify municipalities that they must use
these data for determining municipal voting districts.
The bill prohibits using residences at unknown geographic locations
within the state to determine the average population for any set of 2021SB-00753-R01-BA.DOCX
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districts.
*Senate Amendment “A” (1) requires that inmates serving a life
sentence without the possibility of release be excluded from the
adjusted data; (2) requires that unadjusted data, not only adjusted
data, be used to determine state legislative and municipal voting
districts; and (3) changes certain deadlines to conform with COVID-19-
related delays, as well as with the decennial census.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
DOC REPORT TO OPM
The bill requires DOC to determine the residential street or other
address of everyone committed to DOC custody as of or after January
1, 2020, and decennially after that, and who remains so committed on
the date for which the census reports population (see
BACKGROUND) . DOC must maintain an electronic record of the
addresses that at least contains each inmate’s last-known residential or
other address before incarceration.
The bill requires DOC, by (1) June 30, 2021, and (2) May 1 in each
year thereafter when the U.S. decennial census is taken and the U.S.
Census Bureau counts inmates as residents of the town where they are
incarcerated, to provide the OPM secretary with the following
information in a form the secretary prescribes:
1. a unique identifier for each inmate under DOC’s jurisdiction on
the date for which the decennial census reports population;
2. the street address of the prison where the person is incarcerated
at the time of the report;
3. the residential or other address of the person before
incarceration;
4. information about whether the person is age 18 or older;
5. the person’s race and whether he or she is of Hispanic or Latino
origin, if known; and 2021SB-00753-R01-BA.DOCX
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6. other information the secretary may legally request.
The bill prohibits including an inmate’s name or anything else that
might identify him or her. It makes the information confidential and
prohibits its disclosure, except to OPM or as aggregated by census
block for the bill’s purposes. It also prohibits DOC from delivering to
OPM the residential or other address before incarceration of a person
serving a life sentence without the possibility of release.
OPM REQUEST TO FEDER AL PRISON AUTHORITIES
The bill requires the OPM secretary, by (1) June 30, 2021, and (2)
May 1 in each year thereafter when the U.S. census is taken and the
U.S. Census Bureau counts inmates as residents of the towns in which
they are incarcerated, to ask each agency operating a federal
correctional facility in Connecticut for a report that includes the same
information as the DOC report (see above). It prohibits OPM from
asking an agency for the residential or other address before
incarceration of a person serving a life sentence without the possibility
of release.
OPM REASSIGNMENT OF INMATE ADDRESSES
For each person included in a DOC or federal agency report, other
than anyone serving a life sentence without the possibility of release,
the bill requires the OPM secretary to determine the geographic units
(census blocks) in the census that contain the person’s (1) correctional
facility and (2) prior residential or other address. When the inmate’s
prior address is known and in Connecticut, OPM must adjust the
population counts of geographic units reported in the census to
represent the inmate as residing at that address when the census
reports population, and not at the prison address.
For inmates with unknown or out-of-state addresses or residing in
federal prisons for whom a report was not provided, other than
anyone serving a life sentence without the possibility of release, the bill
requires OPM to ensure that these inmates are not counted in the
geographic unit of the inmate’s prison. Instead, they must be counted
as part of a state unit not tied to a specific geographical determination 2021SB-00753-R01-BA.DOCX
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in the way that someone with an unknown state of residency is
counted (such as military and federal government personnel stationed
abroad).
Inmates Serving a Life Sentence Without the Possibility of
Release
The bill prohibits the OPM secretary from adjusting the address of a
person included in a DOC or federal agency report who is serving a
life sentence without the possibility of release. Instead, the secretary
must ensure that these people are represented as residing at the facility
where they were incarcerated on the date for which the census reports
population.
OPM PUBLICATION OF A DJUSTED DATA
The bill requires the OPM secretary to prepare and publish the
adjusted and unadjusted data by the later of (1) July 1 in the year
following the year when the U.S. census is taken or (2) 30 days after the
U.S. Census Bureau’s publication of Connecticut state redistricting
data (see BACKGROUND).
BACKGROUND
Census Data Publication
Public Law (P.L.) 94-171 requires the U.S. Census Bureau to
administer a decennial redistricting program and provide the states
with the population tabulations necessary for legislative redistricting.
The Census Bureau must publish this state redistricting data within
one year after the date for which it reports population (i.e., Census
Day), which is April 1
st
in the year of the census (e.g., 2020, 2030).
During the 2011 redistricting cycle, Connecticut received the
population data on March 9, 2011. This cycle, because of COVID-19-
related delays, the state will likely receive the data in August and
September of 2021.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute 2021SB-00753-R01-BA.DOCX
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Yea 13 Nay 5 (03/29/2021)