Department Of Corrections Earned Time For College Program Completion
Under existing law, an inmate in the custody of the department of corrections (department) may have earned time deducted from the inmate's sentence for meeting certain statutory requirements. The bill permits an inmate sentenced for a nonviolent felony offense to have earned time deducted from the inmate's sentence for each accredited degree or other credential awarded by an a regionally accredited institution of higher education to the inmate while the inmate is incarcerated or on parole , in the following amounts:
- 18 months of earned time for a master's degree and 2 years of earned time for a doctoral degree;
- One year of earned time for receiving an associate or baccalaureate
or graduatedegree; and - 6 months of earned time for receiving a certificate or other credential that requires completion of at least 30 credit hours .
The bill requires the general assembly to annually appropriate the savings incurred during the prior state fiscal year as a result of the release of inmates from correctional facilities because of earned time granted for completion of a higher education degree or credential, as follows:
- 50% of the savings to the department of corrections to facilitate inmates enrolling in and completing accredited higher education programs; and
- 50% of the savings to the department of higher education for allocation to institutions of higher education that offer accredited programs in correctional facilities.
(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)
(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)