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 21-97—sSB 889
Judiciary Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E CRIMINAL JUSTICE P OLICY AND
PLANNING DIVISION AN D THE PUBLICATION OF REPORTS AND
PRESENTATIONS BY THE OFFICE OF POLICY AND MANAGEMENT
SUMMARY: This act makes various changes and updates to reporting
requirements of the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division (CJPPD)
within the Office of Policy Management (OPM).
Principally, the act:
1. eliminates the requirement that CJPPD (a) develop a plan to promote a
more effective and cohesive state criminal justice system and (b)
biennially update the governor and the Appropriations and Judiciary
committees on the plan (§ 1);
2. requires CJPPD to annually track, in its trends and outcomes reporting
system, the recidivism of offenders who received earned risk reduction
credits (§ 3);
3. eliminates the requirement that the CJPPD reporting system define
outcomes for major programs and annually report them (§ 3);
4. requires CJPPD to conduct a data analysis of state criminal justice system
trends and annually report the data and analysis to the Governor and the
Judiciary Committee (§ 4);
5. repeals the CJPPD annual report and presentation requirement on
promoting an effective and cohesive criminal justice system (§ 4);
6. narrows the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission’s (CJPAC)
duties by eliminating certain reporting and presentation requirements and
the commission’s full-day review of the state’s criminal justice system
required under prior law (§ 5); and
7. requires OPM to make any CJPPD report or presentation available on the
office’s website, including certain specified reports (§§ 1-4, 6 & 7).
It also makes technical changes and repeals the OPM urban violence reduction
grant program and certain CJPPD reporting requirements (§§ 8 & 9).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
§ 3 — TRENDS AND OUTCOMES REPORTING SYSTEM
Annual Connecticut Recidivism Study
Existing law requires CJPPD to develop a reporting system that tracks trends
and outcomes related to policies designed to reduce prison overcrowding,
improve rehabilitation efforts, and enhance reentry strategies for offenders
released from prison. This system must annually track the recidivism of offenders O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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(1) released from prison; (2) on probation; and (3) participating in programs
designed to reduce prison overcrowding, improve rehabilitation efforts, and
enhance reentry strategies for offenders released from prison. The act requires the
system to also annually track the recidivism of offenders who received earned risk
reduction credits.
Major Program Outcomes
The act also eliminates a requirement under prior law that the reporting
system define and annually report outcomes for major programs and delineate
strategies to measure outcomes when information needed to measure a program’s
effectiveness is not yet available.
§ 4 — TRENDS IN CONNECTICU T’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
REPORT
The act repeals prior law’s requirement for CJPPD to annually submit a report
and make a presentation to the governor and the Judiciary and Appropriations
committees on the actions needed to promote an effective and cohesive criminal
justice system.
It requires CJPPD, by October 15 each year, to submit a report to the governor
and the Judiciary Committee analyzing data on state criminal justice system
trends, including, if available, the number of reported crimes and arrests and the
size of the populations on probation, parole, special parole, and in prison.
§ 5 — CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY ADVISORY COMMISSION (CJPAC)
The act narrows CJPAC’s duties by eliminating requirements that the
commission (1) develop a guide on best practices for providing reentry services
and (2) develop and annually update a plan to ensure the availability of reentry
services, including establishing community reentry centers.
The act eliminates a requirement that CJPAC report annually to the governor
and the legislature on outcomes achieved under the state’s reentry strategy and the
coordination of information technology systems used by criminal justice agencies.
It also eliminates a requirement that CJPAC sponsor a full-day review of the
criminal justice system in the state for all members of the criminal justice
community, facilitated by the CJPPD undersecretary.
§§ 1-4, 6 & 7 — REPORTS AVAILABLE ON OPM’S WEBSITE
The act requires OPM to make any CJPPD report or presentation available on
the office’s website, including the division’s:
1. annual report on the correctional system population projections for
planning purposes (§ 2),
2. monthly report on the reporting system’s tracking and annual outcome
report (§ 3), O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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3. new annual report containing data analysis of state criminal justice system
trends (§ 4),
4. annual report on the chief public defender’s pilot program to provide
representation at parole revocation hearings (§ 6), and
5. annual report on the prevalence and disposition of traffic stops and
reported complaints (§ 7).
§ 9 — REPEALER
The act repeals a requirement that OPM, within available appropriations,
administer an urban violence reduction grant program. It also repeals
requirements that CJPPD:
1. notify municipalities monthly of outstanding arrest and rearrest warrants
for probation violations;
2. track, analyze, and annually report to the Judiciary Committee on
recidivism rates for children; and
3. report to the legislature quarterly on the use of earned risk reduction
credits.