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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6875
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 5508
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ISSUANCE OF A STATE
IDENTIFICATION CARD OR MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATOR'S
LICENSE TO A PERSON BEING DISCHARGED FROM A
CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 18-81ff of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 2
(a) The Commissioners of Correction and Motor Vehicles shall [, 3
within available appropriations,] ensure that [an inmate] a person who 4
is incarcerated possesses a state identification card issued pursuant to 5
section 1-1h or a motor vehicle operator's license issued pursuant to 6
chapter 246 at the time such [inmate] person is released from a 7
correctional facility after serving any part of a term of imprisonment for 8
a misdemeanor or felony conviction, [provided any such inmate (1) 9
requests and qualifies for such identification card or license, and (2) 10
pays any fee associated with obtaining such identification card or 11
license.] unless such person indicates, in writing, on a form prescribed 12
by the Commissioner of Correction, that such person does not wish to 13
obtain such card or license. 14 Raised Bill No. 6875
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(b) In order to effectuate the provisions of subsection (a) of this 15
section, at the time a person is committed to the care and custody of the 16
Department of Correction, the Commissioner of Correction, in 17
consultation and collaboration with the Commissioner of Motor 18
Vehicles, shall ascertain (1) whether the person has been issued a current 19
state identification card issued pursuant to section 1-1h or a motor 20
vehicle operator's license issued pursuant to chapter 246, and (2) if such 21
card or license has been issued the date on which such card or license 22
expires. 23
(c) For any person who is incarcerated who wishes to obtain an initial 24
state identification card issued pursuant to section 1-1h or a motor 25
vehicle operator's license issued pursuant to chapter 246, or renew such 26
card or license, or obtain a duplicate card or license when the original 27
card or license has been lost, the Commissioner of Correction, in 28
consultation and collaboration with the Commissioner of Motor 29
Vehicles, shall: 30
(1) (A) Not later than twenty-four months prior to the date on which 31
such person is to be discharged from the correctional facility, determine 32
the documentation such person requires to obtain such card or license; 33
and (B) facilitate the process that allows such person to expeditiously 34
obtain the required documentation by providing access to any forms, 35
fees, fee waivers, notary services, and mailing-related needs, to secure 36
the required documentation. For any person sentenced to a term of life 37
imprisonment, the Commissioner of Correction shall begin the process 38
described in this subdivision not later than twenty-four months prior to 39
the person's earliest date of eligibility for parole, and immediately begin 40
the process for any person whose sentence is reduced and the reduced 41
sentence results in a date of discharge within twenty-four months; 42
(2) Not later than thirteen months prior to the date on which such 43
person is to be discharged from the correctional facility, initiate a 44
process that allows such person to expeditiously obtain any additionally 45
required documentation or photographs by providing (A) access to any 46
forms, fees, fee waivers, notary services, and mailing-related needs, to 47 Raised Bill No. 6875
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secure the required documentation, and (B) a means by which to obtain 48
the required photographs. For any person sentenced to a term of life 49
imprisonment, the Commissioner of Correction shall begin the process 50
described in this subdivision not later than thirteen months prior to the 51
person's earliest date of eligibility for parole, and immediately begin the 52
process for any person whose sentence is reduced and the reduced 53
sentence results in a date of discharge within thirteen months; and 54
(3) Make any required licensing examination available to a person 55
seeking to obtain a motor vehicle operator's license issued pursuant to 56
chapter 246, except the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to 57
any required road test administered by the Department of Motor 58
Vehicles. 59
(d) At the time a person is released from a correctional facility, the 60
Commissioner of Correction shall provide a state identification card 61
issued pursuant to section 1-1h or a motor vehicle operator's license 62
issued pursuant to chapter 246 to any person who has successfully 63
obtained such card or license pursuant to the provisions of this section. 64
(e) Not later than July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the 65
Commissioner of Correction shall report, in accordance with the 66
provisions of section 11-4a, on: 67
(1) The total number of formerly incarcerated persons who were 68
issued original, renewal or duplicate state identification cards pursuant 69
to section 1-1h, and original, renewal or duplicate motor vehicle 70
operator's licenses issued pursuant to chapter 246, disaggregated by 71
card and license type, and licensing examinations disaggregated by 72
license type; 73
(2) The total number of identification cards and motor vehicle 74
operator's licenses issued to such persons by each individual state 75
correctional facility; and 76
(3) Any issues encountered by the Department of Correction in 77
implementing the provisions of this section along with 78 Raised Bill No. 6875
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recommendations for the resolution of such issues and any 79
recommended enhancements to the provisions of this section. 80
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 18-81ff
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure that a person being discharged from a correctional facility has
the ability to obtain a state identification card or a motor vehicle
operator's license at the time of discharge from such facility.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]