SSHB556 4274 3929
HOUSE SUMMARY OF SENATE AMENDMENTS
HB 556 2023 Regular Session Davis
CORRECTIONS: Provides relative to electronic monitoring
Synopsis of Senate Amendments
1.Makes technical changes.
2.Requires corrections services, the office of state police, and the La. Commission
on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice, in addition to the
DPS&C, to develop written policies and procedures for electronic monitoring
providers within the APA.
3.Clarifies that the policies and procedures shall encompass operational capacity
for electronic equipment utilized for pre-trial, post-conviction, or monitoring.
4.Provides that the timely alert notifications sent to an authorizing judge or law
enforcement agency from the office of technology services shall also include
alert notifications sent from applicable local, municipal, and parish authorities.
5.Removes proposed law from DPS&C's policies and procedures relative to the
development of a statewide system for the use of global position system
monitoring and other electronic methods of monitoring as an alternative to
incarceration in certain circumstances.
6.Moves proposed law relative to the development of guidelines and criteria for
contracts between a local government and a person or entity who provides
electronic monitoring services from DPS&C's policies and procedures to the
Integrated Criminal Justice Information System Policy Board as a topic to be
evaluated for feasability.
7.Moves proposed law relative to the development and maintenance of a
centralized registry that collects data pertaining to the number of persons who
are electronically monitored and the number of violations that occur within each
jurisdiction from DPS&C's policies and procedures to the Integrated Criminal
Justice Information System Policy Board as a topic to be evaluated for
feasability.
8.Clarifies that an electronic monitoring service provider that monitors, tracks, or
supervises pretrial or post-conviction persons within La. shall certify in writing
that the provider meets the criteria provided in proposed law.
9.Provides that electronic monitoring service providers shall register with the
office of the attorney general, rather than the DPS&C, no later than Dec. 1,
2024, rather than Jan. 1, 2024.
10.Provides that the registration application shall be submitted on forms provided
by the office of the attorney general, rather than the DPS&C.
11.Changes the penalty for electronic monitoring service providers who violate the
provisions of proposed law (R.S. 15:571.36(C)) from a suspension or
revocation of approval to operate in La. by the DPS&C to removal from the
registry maintained by the office of the attorney general.
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Digest of Bill as Finally Passed by Senate
Present law (R.S. 14:110.2) provides for the crime of tampering with electronic monitoring
equipment and provides for penalties.
Proposed law retains present law, but adds an additional penalty of a fine of not more than
$1,000 and imprisonment at hard labor for not more than one year for an offender who
violates present law after being released pursuant to a bail undertaking for a felony crime of
violence enumerated or defined in present law (R.S. 14:2(B)).
Present law (R.S. 15:571.36) requires DPS&C to develop written policies and procedures in
the manner provided in Administrative Procedure Act (APA) for the promulgation of a rule
governing the availability, storage, and use of electronic monitoring equipment.
Proposed law amends present law to provide that corrections services, the office of state
police, and the La. Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice
(LCLE) shall also work with DPS&C to develop written policies and procedures in the
manner provided in the APA for the promulgation of rules governing mandatory
requirements for electronic monitoring service providers, including governing the
availability, storage, use of, and operational capacity for electronic monitoring equipment,
utilized for pre-trial, post-conviction, or monitoring.
Present law requires the policies and procedures to include the following criteria:
(1)Secure storage.
(2)Timely visual inspection of equipment worn by the monitored individual.
(3)A master listing and inventory.
(4)Availability of at least one complete backup unit for a number of specified units.
(5)Responses to system malfunctions.
(6)Restricted password access to authorized staff.
(7)Maintenance and cleaning of equipment.
Proposed law retains present law, specifies that the policies and procedures be developed
pursuant to the APA, and adds the following criteria:
(1)Location accuracy for the indoor, outdoor, and on-demand location of a monitored
individual. Also provides for the ability to provide a monitored offender's location
accuracy within three minutes of a request.
(2)Development of zoning capabilities for inclusion and exclusion zones.
(3)Timely alert notifications from the applicable local, municipal, and parish authorities
and the office of technology services to an authorizing judge or law enforcement
agency for all of the following:
(a)The tampering of the electronic monitoring equipment and the ability to
provide an alert of this violation within three minutes of the violation.
(b)The presence of the electronic monitoring equipment in an exclusion zone
and the ability to provide an alert of this violation within four minutes of the
violation.
(c)Low battery alert prior to the complete discharge of the battery within the
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electronic monitoring equipment.
(4)Simultaneous access to an authorizing judge or law enforcement agency for all
monitoring records of an electronic monitoring provider.
Proposed law provides that when an individual has been placed under electronic monitoring,
the provider of the electronic monitoring service shall, by noon of the following day, provide
law enforcement agencies within the appropriate jurisdiction all of the following information:
(1)The name and any aliases used by the monitored individual.
(2)The physical address or addresses of residence of the monitored individual.
(3)The name and physical address of place of employment. Further provides that if the
monitored individual does not have a fixed place of employment, he shall provide
information with as much specificity as possible regarding the places where he
works, including but not limited to travel routes used by the monitored offender.
(4)The pending criminal charges against the monitored individual.
(5)The reason why the monitored individual has been placed under electronic
monitoring.
Proposed law provides that after an individual has been placed under electronic monitoring,
the court exercising jurisdiction over the monitored individual shall report the information
provided in proposed law to all law enforcement agencies within its jurisdiction.
Proposed law provides that any provider of an electronic monitoring service who
intentionally withholds or intentionally fails to timely report information as required by
proposed law shall be subject to a civil fine of not more than $1,000 and shall be prohibited
from registering to provide electronic monitoring services in La. for a period of five years.
Proposed law provides that the attorney general shall have the authority to pursue the civil
fine imposed pursuant to proposed law and may institute any civil action to prohibit any
violator of proposed law from conducting business in this state for a period of five years.
Proposed law provides that the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System Policy Board,
in consultation with the DPS&C, corrections services, the office of state police, the office
of the attorney general, the office of information and technology systems, and the LCLE shall
evaluate the feasibility of all of the following:
(1)Development of a statewide system for the use of global position system monitoring
and other electronic methods of monitoring as an alternative to incarceration for
persons who have been arrested, who are awaiting trial, or who have been convicted.
(2)Development of guidelines and criteria for contracts between a local government and
a person or entity that provides electronic monitoring services.
(3)Development and maintenance of a centralized registry that can assist the state in the
collection of the following data:
(a)The number of persons who are electronically monitored by jurisdiction.
(b) The number of violations that occur within each jurisdiction.
Proposed law provides that any person or entity who provides electronic monitoring services
for the purpose of monitoring, tracking, or supervising pretrial or post-conviction persons
within the state of La. shall certify in writing that the provider meets the criteria provided in
proposed law and shall register with the office of the attorney general no later than Dec. 1,
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2024.
Proposed law provides that no person or entity shall provide electronic monitoring services
in this state without having first complied with the registration requirements as provided in
proposed law. Further provides that the application for registration shall be submitted on
forms provided by the office of the attorney general and shall contain all the information
required by such forms and any accompanying instructions.
Proposed law provides that the office of the attorney general shall remove from its registry
any person or entity that provides electronic monitoring services in this state if the office
determines that the person or entity has violated the provisions of proposed law (R.S.
15:571.36(C)).
(Amends R.S. 14:110.2(B); Adds R.S. 15:571.36(8)-(11) and (B)-(D) and 835)
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