To repeal sections 217.010 and 217.777, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to community corrections, and to enact in lieu three new sections relating to the same subject.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

     Section A. Sections 217.010 and 217.777, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 217.010, 217.440 and 217.777, to read as follows:

     217.010. As used in this chapter and chapter 558, RSMo, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms shall mean:

     (1) "Administrative segregation unit", a cell for the segregation of offenders from the general population of a facility for relatively extensive periods of time;

     (2) "Board", the board of probation and parole;

     (3) "Chief administrative officer", the institutional head of any correctional facility or his designee;

     (4) "Correctional center", any premises or institution where incarceration, evaluation, care, treatment, or rehabilitation is provided to persons who are under the department's authority;

     (5) "Department", the department of corrections of the state of Missouri;

     (6) "Director", the director of the department of corrections or his designee;

     (7) "Disciplinary segregation", a cell for the segregation of offenders from the general population of a correctional center because the offender has been found to have committed a violation of a division or facility rule and other available means are inadequate to regulate the offender's behavior;

     (8) "Division", a statutorily created agency within the department or an agency created by the departmental organizational plan;

     (9) "Division director", the director of a division of the department or his designee;

     (10) "Local volunteer community board", a board of qualified local community volunteers selected by the court for the purpose of working in partnership with the court and the department of corrections in a reparative probation program;

     [(10)] (11) "Nonviolent offender", any offender who is convicted of a crime other than murder in the first or second degree, involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, forcible rape, forcible sodomy, robbery in the first degree or assault in the first degree;

     [(11)] (12) "Offender", a person under supervision or an inmate in the custody of the department;

     (13) "Probation", a procedure under which a defendant found guilty of a crime upon verdict or plea is released by the court without imprisonment, subject to conditions imposed by the court and subject to the supervision of the board;

     [(12)] (14) "Volunteer", any person who, of his own free will, performs any assigned duties for the department or its divisions with no monetary or material compensation.

     217.440. The director is authorized to establish a program of restorative justice within the department's correctional centers and to require that offenders offer acts and expressions of sincere remorse for the offense committed and its impact on the victim(s) and the community. Such program requirements may include, but are not limited to, community service work requirements while incarcerated and participation in victim-oriented programs, as well as other restorative activities to be determined by the department.

     217.777. 1. The department shall administer a community corrections program to encourage the [development of community-based treatment and supervision services, and to encourage] establishment of local sentencing alternatives for offenders to:

     (1) [Establishment of local sentencing alternatives for certain eligible offenders who, in the absence of such a community corrections program, would be committed to the department;

     (2)] Promote accountability of offenders to crime victims, local communities and the state by providing increased opportunities for [certain eligible] offenders to make restitution to victims of crime through financial reimbursement or community service;

     (2) Ensure that victims of crime are included in meaningful ways in Missouri's response to crime;

     (3) [Local involvement in the development of treatment programs] Provide structured opportunities for local communities to determine effective local sentencing options to assure that individual community programs are specifically designed to meet local needs; [and]

     (4) [Reducing] Reduce the cost of punishment, supervision and treatment significantly below the annual per-offender cost of confinement within the traditional prison system[.]; and

     (5) Improve public confidence in the criminal justice system by involving the public in the development of community-based sentencing options for eligible offenders.

     2. The program shall be designed to implement and operate community-based [treatment] restorative justice projects including, but not limited to: preventive or diversionary programs, community-based intensive probation and parole services, community-based treatment centers, day reporting centers, and the operation of facilities for the detention, confinement, care and treatment of adults under the purview of this chapter.

     3. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations for operation of the program established pursuant to this section as provided for in section 217.040 and chapter 536, RSMo.

     4. Any proposed program or strategy created pursuant to this section shall be developed after identification of a need in the community for such programs, through consultation with representatives of the general public, judiciary, law enforcement and defense and prosecution bar.

     5. In communities where local volunteer community boards are established at the request of the court, the following guidelines apply:

     (1) The department shall provide a program of training to eligible volunteers and develop specific conditions of a probation program and conditions of probation for offenders referred to it by the court. Such conditions, as established by the community boards and the department, may include compensation and restitution to the community and the victim by fines, fees, day fines, victim-offender mediation, participation in victim impact panels, community service, or a combination of the aforementioned conditions;

     (2) The term of probation shall not exceed five years and may be concluded by the court when conditions imposed are met to the satisfaction of the local volunteer community board.

     [5.] 6. The department may staff programs created pursuant to this section with employees of the department or may contract with other public or private agencies for delivery of services as otherwise provided by law.