O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-13—sSB 753
Government Administration and Elections Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E COUNTING OF CERTAI N
INCARCERATED INDIVID UALS FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING
STATE LEGISLATIVE AN D MUNICIPAL VOTING D ISTRICTS
SUMMARY: This act 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, be the basis for determining state legislative districts and municipal voting
districts. The act excludes inmates serving a life sentence without the possibility
of release from the adjusted data.
Generally, the act’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 or other address, not at
their prison address; and
4. OPM secretary to (a) prepare and publish the adjusted and unadjusted data
and (b) notify municipalities that they must use these data for determining
municipal voting districts.
The act prohibits using residences at unknown geographic locations within the
state to determine the average population for any set of districts.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
DOC REPORT TO OPM
Under the act, DOC must determine the residential or other address of
everyone committed to DOC custody as of or after January 1, 2020, and
decennially after that, and who remains 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 act 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 information in a form the secretary prescribes. This
information includes the following: O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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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. 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
6. other information the secretary may legally request.
The act 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 act’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 FEDERAL PRISON AUTHORITIES
The act 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
with 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 act requires
the OPM secretary to determine the geographic units (e.g., census blocks) used 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, the secretary 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 act requires the secretary to ensure
that these inmates are excluded from 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 location in the way that someone with an unknown state of
residency is counted (e.g., military and federal government personnel stationed
abroad).
OPM PUBLICATION OF DATA O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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The act 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 publishes
Connecticut’s 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 data within one year after the date for which it reports
population (i.e., Census Day), which is April 1 in the year of the census (e.g.,
2020, 2030). But in 2021, because of COVID-19-related delays, the Census
Bureau provided the states with their population data on August 12.