ENROLLED
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 73
BY REPRESENTATIVE ABRAHAM
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to study the potential
impact of permitting judicial referral agency residential facilities to house offenders
participating in, and to operate as, sheriff's work release programs, and to utilize
these facilities as an alternative to other incarceration programs.
WHEREAS, the mission of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections is to
enhance public safety through the safe and secure incarceration of offenders, effective
probation and parole supervision, and proven rehabilitative strategies that successfully
reintegrate offenders into society; and
WHEREAS, successful offender rehabilitation and reintegration into the community
is essential to reducing recidivism rates and has a direct impact on public safety and crime
prevention; and
WHEREAS, the chance of achieving successful outcomes for these offenders grows
exponentially if the offenders are referred to facilities that are adequately structured and
well-suited to provide the offender with proper services and programming from the moment
that they enter into the criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana law provides that individuals who have been arrested for the
commission of a crime may be referred by any judicial agency, including the court and
district attorneys, to a residential facility regulated by the Department of Public Safety and
Corrections; and
WHEREAS, these judicial agency referral residential facilities are available to house
offenders participating in a pretrial diversion program and offenders who are under the
supervision of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, division of probation and
parole; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana law prohibits the use of judicial agency referral residential
facilities for offenders participating in a sheriff's work release program and prohibits such
facilities from receiving funding from the state; and
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WHEREAS, although legislation is necessary to authorize the use of these residential
facilities for work release programs, it is beneficial to examine the possibility and determine
the impact of expanding the use of these facilities for purposes beyond what is provided for
in current law.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to study the potential
impact of permitting judicial referral agency residential facilities to house offenders
participating in, and to operate as, sheriff's work release programs, and to utilize these
facilities as an alternative to other incarceration programs.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall consider various aspects of these
alternative facilities and programs including but not limited to moral reconditioning,
community alliances, and family reunification.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in this regard, the Department of Public Safety
and Corrections may work with and receive input from the governor's office, the state public
defender, the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association,
and other criminal justice stakeholders as is necessary to achieve its purposes.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
shall prepare and submit a report no later than March 1, 2018, to the speaker of the House
of Representatives, the president of the Senate, the chair of the House Committee on the
Judiciary, the chair of the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, the chair
of the Senate Committee on Judiciary B, and the chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary
C.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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