Chapter 412
2013 -- S 0358 AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/15/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
CRIMINALS -- CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS -- ESTABLISHMENT OF A CERTIFICATE OF
RECOVERY & RE-ENTRY
Introduced
By: Senators Metts, Jabour,
Pichardo,
Date Introduced: February 13, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 13 of the General Laws entitled
"CRIMINALS - CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTIONS" is
hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER
8.2
CERTIFICATE
OF RECOVERY & RE-ENTRY
13-8.2-1.
Certificate of recovery & re-entry established -- Findings of the general
assembly and purposes. -- There is hereby established a certificate of
recovery & re-entry for
individuals that are convicted of a crime in which their legal
status and ability to seek and
maintain employment changes forever. A criminal record may
prohibit individuals from
successfully obtaining jobs, occupational licenses, housing and
other benefits and opportunities
available to all other individuals. These restrictions are
often narrowly tailored and serve to
protect society against an unidentified public safety risk,
but others are arbitrary, unnecessary and
without regard to any post-conviction rehabilitation or
recovery & re-entry. Individuals who have
successfully completed their board-imposed sentences need to be
able to reestablish themselves
as law-abiding members of society. At the same time,
employers and other decision-makers need
to have some reassurance of a person’s reliability.
Therefore, the intent and purpose of this
chapter is to provide a process that would, in select and
appropriate cases, allow the issuance of a
certificate of recovery & re-entry. Said certificate, if granted
by the parole board, would serve to
relieve the petitioner, in appropriate cases, of some of the
collateral consequences resulting from
his or her criminal record. Said certificate shall serve
as one determining factor as to whether the
petitioner has been successful in his or her rehabilitation.
13-8.2-2.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter the
following words and terms shall have
the following meanings:
(1) "Board"
means the parole board within the
established pursuant to the provisions of section 13-8-1.
(2)
"Department" means the department of corrections.
(3)
"Director" means the director of the department of corrections.
(4) "Eligible
Petitioner" means a person who has not been convicted of a crime or of an
offense as defined in RIGL subdivision 11-47-2(2) and in RIGL
subdivision 12-1.3-1(1) who has
not been convicted of more than one felony.
(5) "Certificate
of recovery & re-entry " or
"Certificate" shall serve as one determining
factor, consistent with concerns of public safety, of the
person’s ability to obtain employment,
professional licenses, housing and other benefits and
opportunities. Provided, further, that said
instrument shall serve as a determination that the person
receiving it has successfully achieved his
or her recovery & re-entry goals as provided for in
section 13-8.2-4.
(6)
"Conviction" notwithstanding the provisions of section 12-18-3, means
the imposition
of a fine, period of incarceration whether or not
suspended, probation or deferred sentence
imposed after the entry of a plea of nolo
contendere.
(7)
"Petition" means the motion, pleading, or other legal document or
form seeking the
issuance of a certificate of recovery & re-entry from the
board.
(8)"Felony"
means a conviction of a felony in this state or of an offense, that is not a
crime of violence, in any other jurisdiction for which a
sentence to a term of imprisonment in
excess of one year, was authorized. Criminal acts committed
outside the state shall be classified
as acts committed within the state.
13-8.2-3. Rules of
construction. -- For the purposes of this chapter the following
rules of
construction, facts and circumstances shall apply:
(1) Two (2) or more
convictions of felonies charged in separate counts of one indictment
or information shall be deemed to be one conviction;
(2) Two (2) or more
convictions of felonies charged in two (2) or more separate
indictments or information, where disposition of all indictments
or information takes place on the
same date, shall be deemed to be one conviction; and
(3) A plea or verdict
of guilty upon which a sentence of probation, conditional discharge,
or supervision has been imposed shall be deemed to be a
conviction.
13-8.2-4.
Procedure for issuance of certificate. -- The
board shall have the following
procedures for certificate of recovery & re-entry hearings:
(1) To hear petitions
from individuals seeking an order granting the issuance of a
certificate of recovery & re-entry.
(2) To establish the
minimum period of recovery & re-entry for individuals referred to in
subdivision (1) of this section, as follows:
(i)
Where the most serious crime of which the individual was convicted is a
misdemeanor, the minimum period of recovery & re-entry shall
be one year;
(ii) Where the most
serious crime of which the individual was convicted is a non-violent
felony conviction, the minimum period of recovery &
re-entry shall be three (3) years; and
(iii) The minimum
period of recovery & re-entry by the individual shall be measured
either from the date of the payment of any fine imposed upon
him or her, or from the date of his
or her release from the institutional facility, custody
by parole or home confinement, whichever is
later.
(3) To classify
criminal acts committed outside the state as acts committed within the
state based on the non violent nature of the criminal acts
and the maximum sentence that could
have been imposed based upon such conviction pursuant to
the laws of such foreign jurisdiction.
(4) To use its
discretion as to the holding of an open hearing or an individual conference
on any matter relevant to the granting of the
application and the taking of testimony under oath.
13-8.2-5.
Powers and duties of the board. -- (a) The board shall have the power to issue
and establish criteria to determine eligibility for
issuance of the certificate of recovery & re-entry;
(b) By an affirmative
vote of a majority of the members of the board to issue a certificate
of recovery & re-entry to any person previously
convicted of a crime in any jurisdiction;
(c) To create all
applications, and certificates necessary for the purposes of this chapter
upon forms prescribed by the board. Such forms relating to
certificates of recovery & re-entry
shall be distributed by the chairman of the board;
(d) To promulgate all
necessary rules and regulations to carry out the intent of this
chapter; and
(e) Any information
contained within a certificate of recovery & re-entry as created in
subsection (c) of this section shall be limited to:
(i)
The applicant’s name;
(ii) Date of birth;
(iii) Certificate
number;
(iv)
Issue date;
(v) A statement that
"The board has determined that up to and including the issue date
stated above, this individual has met the necessary
standards of recovery & re-entry to hold the
certificate"; and
(vi)
Authentication phone number for the department of corrections.
13-8.2-6.
Limitations and restrictions of certificate. -- (a)
Nothing contained in this
chapter shall be deemed:
(1) Destruction or
sealing of criminal records pursuant to section 12-1-12; or
(2) Expungement of criminal records pursuant to sections
12-1.3-1 through 4; or
(3) To alter or limit
or affect the manner of applying for pardons to the
Governor;
(b) The certificate
shall not to be deemed to prevent:
(1) Any judicial
proceeding, administrative, licensing or other body, or authority from
relying upon the conviction specified in the certificate as
the basis for the exercise of its
discretionary power to suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew
any license, permit, or other
authority or privilege.
(2) Or limit the
introduction of evidence of a prior conviction for purposes of
impeachment of a witness in a judicial or other proceeding where
otherwise authorized by the
applicable rules of evidence.
(3) The enhancement
from misdemeanor to felony when charging an individual with a
criminal offense, subsequent to the conviction on which the
certificate was issued, when a prior
conviction mandates such enhancement of subsequent charges.
13-8.2-7.
Severability. -- If any provision of this
chapter or its application to any person
or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the
invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not
affect other provisions or applications of this chapter
which can be given effect without the
invalid or unconstitutional provision or application, and to
this end the provisions of this chapter
are declared to be severable.
13-8.2-8.
Immunity for third-party individuals -- Civil and criminal.
-- An individual
or entity that denies employment, professional
licensing, housing or other benefits or
opportunities to a holder of a certificate of recovery &
re-entry on the basis of a criminal records
check shall not be liable for civil damages or subject to
any claim, demand, cause of action, or
proceeding of any nature as a result of such denial.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect one year from the date
of passage.
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LC00779
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