HCS HB 1646 -- PROBATION AND PAROLE

SPONSOR:  Smith

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Civil and
Administrative Law by a vote of 9 to 7 with 1 present.

Effective July 1, 2001, this substitute transfers the Board of
Probation and Parole from the Department of Corrections to an
independent status, with budgetary control over the board placed
under the Office of Administration.  In its major provisions,
the substitute:

(1)  Authorizes the Department of Corrections rather than the
Board of Probation and Parole to supervise offenders released to
the house arrest program;

(2)  Transfers the staff of the Board of Probation and Parole to
the Board of Parole.  A percentage of the personnel, property,
and equipment attributed to the administrative operations of the
department must also be transferred to the Office of State
Courts Administrator (Section 549.603.2, RSMo);

(3)  Authorizes the states' circuit courts to supervise
offenders who have been paroled or sentenced to probation.  The
State Courts Administrator must allocate to the circuit courts
the necessary probation and parole officers (Section 549.603.3);

(4)  Sets forth the criteria to be used in selecting the members
of the Board of Parole and the process for selecting those
members (Section 549.606);

(5)  Requires a paroled offender to be transferred from the
department to the jurisdiction of the court that originally
sentenced the offender (Section 549.618);

(6)  Requires a court which placed an offender on probation to
conduct preliminary hearings of alleged violations of
probation.  Current law allows the court in the county of the
alleged violation or staff of the Board of Probation and Parole
to conduct the hearing (Section 549.636.2);

(7)  Requires the Director of the Department of Corrections to
assign senior staff of the department to work with the State
Courts Administrator to effect the transfer of the Board of
Probation and Parole to the new Board of Parole.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Cost to General Revenue Fund of $0
in FY 2001, and Unknown in FY 2002 and FY 2003.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the Department of Corrections
currently oversees the Board of Probation and Parole, even
though the missions of the department and of the board are
vastly different.  The department's main agenda is to keep the
prison population behind bars, while the board strives to get as
many of those inmates out of the system as possible.  The board
should be independent of the department, and put under the
control of the Office of Administration.

Testifying for the bill was Representative Smith.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the Department of
Corrections has 4 divisions, including Probation and Parole, and
they all have the same goal of public safety.  One should not
fragment a system that works well as it is.  The department has
developed an information system for tracking offenders who may
be serving sentences in prison and probation violations at the
same time.  A lack of uniformity can arise if the system is
divided.  The majority of states have unified systems like
Missouri, and those states that are changing are consolidating,
not dividing up their systems.

Testifying against the bill were Dora Schriro, Director of the
Department of Corrections; Missouri Probation and Parole
Officers Association; and Cranston Mitchell, Member of the Board
of Probation and Parole.

Richard Smreker, Legislative Analyst

HB 1646 -- Probation and Parole

Co-Sponsors:  Smith, Hosmer, Troupe, Kelly (27)

Effective July 1, 2001, this bill transfers the Board of
Probation and Parole from the Department of Corrections to the
judicial branch of state government.  In its major provisions,
the bill:

(1)  Authorizes the Department of Corrections rather than the
Board of Probation and Parole to supervise offenders released to
the house arrest program;

(2)  Transfers the staff of the Board of Probation and Parole to
the Board of Parole within the judicial branch.  A percentage of
the personnel, property, and equipment attributed to the
administrative operations of the department must also be
transferred to the Office of the State Courts Administrator
(Section 549.603);

(3)  Authorizes the states' circuit courts to supervise
offenders who have been paroled or sentenced to probation.  The
State Courts Administrator must allocate probation and parole
officers to the circuit courts (Section 549.603);

(4)  Requires the board's headquarters to be located in
Jefferson City;

(5)  Requires a paroled offender to be transferred from the
department to the jurisdiction of the court that originally
sentenced the offender (Section 549.618);

(6)  Requires a court which placed an offender on probation to
conduct preliminary hearings of alleged violations of
probation.  Current law allows the court in the county of the
alleged violation or staff of the Board of Probation and Parole
to conduct the hearing (Section 549.636.2);

(7)  Requires the Superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol
rather than the Department of Corrections to determine the
content of firearms training for probation and parole officers.
The firearm, holster, and ammunition must be purchased at the
officer's expense (Section 549.645).  Current law allows the
department to purchase ammunition;

(8)  Requires the Director of the Department of Corrections,
prior to October 1, 2000, to forward to the State Courts
Administrator a report listing all persons employed by the Board
of Probation and Paroled including salaries and job titles, all
persons employed by the Board of Probation and Parole who have
transferred to another position within the Department of
Corrections between January 1, 2000, and the date of the report,
all property that is transferred from the Board of Probation and
Parole between January 1, 2000, and the date of the report, and
all employees of the Board of Probation and Parole who have
received, between July 1, 2000, and the date of the report, an
increase in compensation greater than the increase authorized by
Section 105.005.  Similar reports must be delivered by the
Director on January 1, 2001, April 1, 2001, and July 1, 2001
(Section 549.648); and

(9)  Requires the Director of the Department of Corrections to
assign senior staff of the department to work with the State
Courts Administrator to effect the transfer of the Board of
Probation and Parole to the judicial branch.