The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Alden A. Clement Jr.
DIGEST
SB 385 Original 2020 Regular Session Carter
Present law provides that any person sentenced to the custody of the Dept. of Public Safety and
Corrections may, upon referral by the department, be considered for medical parole by the committee
on parole. Present law further provides that consideration for medical parole is in addition to any
other parole for which an inmate may be eligible.
Proposed law retains present law.
Present law provides that an offender eligible for consideration for release under the medical parole
program is any offender who, because of an existing medical or physical condition, is determined
by the department to be within one of the following designations:
(1) "Permanently disabled offender," which means any offender who is unable to engage in any
substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical impairment that
can be expected to result in death or that is or can be expected to be permanently irreversible.
(2)"Terminally ill offender," which means any offender who, because of an existing medical
condition, is irreversibly terminally ill. Present law provides that "terminally ill" is defined
as having a life expectancy of less than one year due to an underlying medical condition.
Proposed law retains present law.
Present law provides that medical parole is not available to any offender serving a sentence for a
conviction of first degree murder or second degree murder, or an offender who is awaiting execution.
Proposed law provides that medical parole is not available to any offender serving a sentence for a
conviction of any crime of violence or any sex offense, as those terms are defined in present law, or
any offense that would constitute a crime of violence or sex offense as defined in present law,
regardless of the date of conviction, or an offender who is awaiting execution.
Present law provides that the parole term of an offender released on medical parole is for the
remainder of the offender's sentence, without diminution of sentence for good behavior, with
supervision of the offender consisting of periodic medical evaluations. Present law further provides
that if it is discovered that the offender's condition has improved such that he would not then be
eligible for medical parole, the committee on parole may order that the offender be returned to the
custody of the department to await a hearing to determine whether his medical parole should be
revoked. Present law further provides that an offender whose medical parole is revoked due to an
improvement in his condition must resume serving the balance of his sentence with credit given for
the duration of the medical parole. Present law further provides that if the offender's medical parole is revoked under these circumstances, and he would be otherwise eligible for parole, he may then
be considered for parole under other present law provisions relative to parole eligibility.
Proposed law retains present law.
Effective upon signature of the governor or lapse of time for gubernatorial action.
(Amends R.S. 15:574.20(B)(2))