S1699.02T

To repeal sections 595.010 and 595.020, RSMo 1994, and sections 217.010 and 217.777, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to community corrections, and to enact in lieu thereof six new sections relating to the same subject, with an emergency clause for certain sections and with a termination date for a certain section.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

     Section A. Sections 595.010 and 595.020, RSMo 1994, and sections 217.010 and 217.777, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and six new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 217.010, 217.440, 217.777, 595.010, 595.020 and 1, to read as follows: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 may establish a program of restorative justice within the department's correctional centers and 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 while incarcerated and participation in victim-oriented programs, as well as other restorative activities to be determined by the department. The provisions of this section shall terminate December 31, 2000.

     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. Until December 31, 2000, 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) In referring offenders to local volunteer community boards for probation supervision pursuant to this section, the court is encouraged to select those volunteers who live in close geographical proximity to the community in which the crime is alleged to have occurred for supervision purposes.

     (3) 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.

     595.010. 1. As used in sections 595.010 to 595.075, unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms shall mean:

     (1) "Child", a dependent, unmarried person who is under eighteen years of age and includes a posthumous child, stepchild, or an adopted child;

     (2) "Claimant", a victim or a dependent, relative, survivor, or member of the family, of a victim eligible for compensation pursuant to sections 595.010 to 595.075;

     (3) "Conservator", a person or corporation appointed by a court to have the care and custody of the estate of a minor or a disabled person, including a limited conservator;

     (4) "Counseling", problem-solving and support concerning emotional issues that result from criminal victimization licensed pursuant to section 595.030. Counseling is a confidential service provided either on an individual basis or in a group. Counseling has as a primary purpose to enhance, protect and restore a person's sense of well-being and social functioning after victimization. Counseling does not include victim advocacy services such as crisis telephone counseling, attendance at medical procedures, law enforcement interviews or criminal justice proceedings;

     (5) "Crime", an act committed in this state which, if committed by a mentally competent, criminally responsible person who had no legal exemption or defense, would constitute a crime; provided that, such act involves the application of force or violence or the threat of force or violence by the offender upon the victim but shall include the crime of driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter and hit and run; and provided, further, that no act involving the operation of a motor vehicle except driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter and hit and run which results in injury to another shall constitute a crime for the purpose of sections 595.010 to 595.075, unless such injury was intentionally inflicted through the use of a motor vehicle. A crime shall also include an act of terrorism, as defined in 18 U.S.C. section 2331, which has been committed outside of the United States against a resident of Missouri;

     (6) "Crisis intervention counseling", helping to reduce psychological trauma where victimization occurs;

     (7) "Department", the department of public safety;

     (8) "Dependent", mother, father, spouse, spouse's mother, spouse's father, child, grandchild, adopted child, illegitimate child, niece or nephew, who is wholly or partially dependent for support upon, and living with, but shall include children entitled to child support but not living with, the victim at the time of his injury or death due to a crime alleged in a claim pursuant to sections 595.010 to 595.070;

     (9) "Direct service", providing physical services to a victim of crime including, but not limited to, transportation, funeral arrangements, child care, emergency food, clothing, shelter, notification and information;

     (10) "Director", the director of public safety of this state or a person designated by him for the purposes of sections 595.010 to 595.070;

     (11) "Disabled person", one who is unable by reason of any physical or mental condition to receive and evaluate information or to communicate decisions to such an extent that the person lacks ability to manage his financial resources, including a partially disabled person who lacks the ability, in part, to manage his financial resources;

     (12) "Division", the division of workers' compensation of the state of Missouri;

     (13) "Emergency service", those services provided within thirty days to alleviate the immediate effects of the criminal act or offense, and may include cash grants of not more than one hundred dollars;

     (14) "Earnings", net income or net wages;

     (15) "Family", the spouse, parent, grandparent, stepmother, stepfather, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, adopted children of parent, or spouse's parents;

     (16) "Funeral expenses", the expenses of the funeral, burial, cremation or other chosen method of interment, including plot or tomb and other necessary incidents to the disposition of the remains;

     (17) "Gainful employment", engaging on a regular and continuous basis, up to the date of the incident upon which the claim is based, in a lawful activity from which a person derives a livelihood;

     (18) "Guardian", one appointed by a court to have the care and custody of the person of a minor or of an incapacitated person, including a limited guardian;

     (19) "Hit and run", the crime of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident as defined in section 577.060, RSMo;

     (20) "Incapacitated person", one who is unable by reason of any physical or mental condition to receive and evaluate information or to communicate decisions to such an extent that he lacks capacity to meet essential requirements for food, clothing, shelter, safety or other care such that serious physical injury, illness, or disease is likely to occur, including a partially incapacitated person who lacks the capacity to meet, in part, such essential requirements;

     (21) "Injured victim", a person:

     (a) Killed or receiving a personal physical injury in this state as a result of another person's commission of or attempt to commit any crime;

     (b) Killed or receiving a personal physical injury in this state while in a good faith attempt to assist a person against whom a crime is being perpetrated or attempted;

     (c) Killed or receiving a personal physical injury in this state while assisting a law enforcement officer in the apprehension of a person who the officer has reason to believe has perpetrated or attempted a crime;

     (22) "Law enforcement official", a sheriff and his regular deputies, municipal police officer or member of the Missouri state highway patrol and such other persons as may be designated by law as peace officers;

     (23) "Offender", a person who commits a crime;

     (24) "Personal physical injury", actual bodily harm only with respect to the victim. Personal physical injury may include mental or nervous shock resulting from the specific incident upon which the claim is based;

     (25) "Private agency", a not for profit corporation, in good standing in this state, which provides services to victims of crime and their dependents;

     (26) "Public agency", a part of any local or state government organization which provides services to victims of crime;

     (27) "Relative", the spouse of the victim or a person related to the victim within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity as calculated according to civil law;

     (28) "Survivor", the spouse, parent, legal guardian, grandparent, sibling or child of the deceased victim of the victim's household at the time of the crime;

     (29) "Victim", a person who suffers personal physical injury or death as a direct result of a crime, as defined in subdivision (5) of this section;

     (30) "Victim advocacy", assisting the victim of a crime and his dependents to acquire services from existing community resources.

     2. As used in sections 565.024 and 565.060, RSMo, and sections 595.010 to 595.075, the term "alcohol-related traffic offense" means those offenses defined by sections 577.001, 577.010, and 577.012, RSMo, and any county or municipal ordinance which prohibits operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

     595.020. 1. Except as hereinafter provided, the following persons shall be eligible for compensation pursuant to sections 595.010 to 595.075:

     (1) A victim of a crime;

     (2) In the case of a sexual assault victim:

     (a) A relative of the victim requiring counseling in order to better assist the victim in his recovery; and

     (3) In the case of the death of the victim as a direct result of the crime:

     (a) A dependent of the victim;

     (b) Any member of the family who legally assumes the obligation, or who pays the medical or burial expenses incurred as a direct result thereof; and

     (c) A survivor of the victim requiring counseling as a direct result of the death of the victim.

     2. An offender or an accomplice of an offender shall in no case be eligible to receive compensation with respect to a crime committed by the offender. No victim or dependent shall be denied compensation solely because he is a relative of the offender or was living with the offender as a family or household member at the time of the injury or death. However, the division may award compensation to a victim or dependent who is a relative, family or household member of the offender only if the division can reasonably determine the offender will receive no substantial economic benefit or unjust enrichment from the compensation.

     3. No compensation of any kind may be made to a victim or intervenor injured while confined in any federal, state, county, or municipal jail, prison or other correctional facility, including house arrest.

     4. No compensation of any kind may be made to a victim who has been finally adjudicated and found guilty, in a criminal prosecution under the laws of this state, of two felonies within the past ten years, of which one or both involves illegal drugs or violence. The division may waive this restriction if it determines that the interest of justice would be served otherwise.

     5. In the case of a claimant who is not otherwise ineligible pursuant to subsection 4 of this section, who is incarcerated as a result of a conviction of a crime not related to the incident upon which the claim is based at the time of application, or at any time following the filing of the application:

     (1) The division shall suspend all proceedings and payments until such time as the claimant is released from incarceration;

     (2) The division shall notify the applicant at the time the proceedings are suspended of the right to reactivate the claim within six months of release from incarceration. The notice shall be deemed sufficient if mailed to the applicant at the applicant's last known address;

     (3) The claimant shall file an application to request that the case be reactivated not later than six months after the date the claimant is released from incarceration. Failure to file such request within the six-month period shall serve as a bar to any recovery.

     6. Victims of crime who are not residents of the state of Missouri may be compensated only when federal funds are available for that purpose. Compensation for nonresident victims shall terminate when federal funds for that purpose are no longer available.

     7. A Missouri resident who suffers personal physical injury or, in the case of death, a dependent of the victim or any member of the family who legally assumes the obligation, or who pays the medical or burial expenses incurred as a direct result thereof, in another state, possession or territory of the United States may make application for compensation in Missouri if:

     (1) The victim of the crime would be compensated if the crime had occurred in the state of Missouri;

     (2) The place that the crime occurred is a state, possession or territory of the United States, or location outside of the United States that is covered and defined in 18 U.S.C. section 2331, that does not have a crime victims' compensation program for which the victim is eligible and which provides at least the same compensation that the victim would have received if he had been injured in Missouri.

     Section 1. 1. In any action challenging any rule promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this act, the agency, as defined in section 536.010, RSMo, promulgating such rule shall be required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the rule or threatened application of the rule is valid, is authorized by law, is not in conflict with any law and is not arbitrary and capricious.

     2. The court shall award reasonable fees and expenses as defined in section 536.085, RSMo, to any party who prevails in such action.

     3. All rules promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall expire on August 28 of the year after the year in which the rule became effective unless the general assembly extends by statute the rule or set of rules beyond that date to a date specified by the general assembly.

     4. Any rulemaking authority granted pursuant to the provisions of this act, is subject to any rulemaking authority contained in chapter 536, RSMo, including any subsequent amendments to chapter 536, RSMo.

     5. The provisions of this section shall not take effect if legislation amending the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo, has been signed into law prior to the effective date of this act.

     6. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 595, RSMo.

     Section B. Because of the immediate need to compensate all Missouri residents who are victims of crime, sections 595.010 and 595.020 are deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace and safety, and sections 595.010 and 595.020 are hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and sections 595.010 and 595.020 shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval.