CHAPTER 143
FORMERLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 86
AS AMENDED BY
HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO A PILOT PROGRAM FOR CONTINUOUS REMOTE ALCOHOL MONITORING.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE :
Section 1. Amend Chapter 42 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code by inserting a new section to read as follows:
"§4219. Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring Pilot Program.
(a) There is established a continuous remote alcohol monitoring pilot program to determine the potential for future expanded use of continuous remote alcohol monitoring technology for sentencing and probation purposes. The program shall be administered jointly by the Board of Parole and the Department of Corrections and shall last for a period of one year from the date the first person selected for continuous remote alcohol monitoring is issued the remote monitoring technology.
(b) Notwithstanding any provisions of this Code to the contrary, the program shall be administered in a four-part testing program as follows:
(1) Ten Level 5 inmates incarcerated for violations under §4177(a) of Title 21 of the Delaware Code for a third or fourth offense, or for alcohol related parole violations shall be chosen for participation in continuous remote alcohol monitoring by the Chairman of the Board of Parole and the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, or their designees, upon recommendation of the sentencing judge. Selected inmates must agree and adhere to all conditions set by the Board of Parole and the Department of Corrections for participation in the pilot program. Those inmates shall be released on Level IV status, subject to the conditions of the pilot program and those of the sentencing judge. The remainder of a participant's sentence of incarceration shall be suspension upon the successful completion of the program requirements.
(2) Ten persons on probation with a condition of their probation of zero tolerance for alcohol shall be chosen for participation in continuous remote alcohol monitoring by the Chairman of the Board of Parole and the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, or their designees. Selected probationers shall agree and adhere to all conditions set by the Board of Parole and the Department of Corrections or their designees.
(3) The Court of Common Pleas in and for New Castle County may impose, as part of the sentence of any person convicted under §4177(a) for a first offense where the first offender election is not available, or a second offense involving a blood alcohol content of .20 or higher, a period of continuous remote alcohol monitoring not to exceed 90 days for a first offense and 120 days for a second offense with zero tolerance for alcohol use. There shall be 15 continuous remote alcohol monitoring units available for use in the Court of Common Pleas sentencing.
(4) The Family Court may impose, as a part of the conditions of the issuance of a contested protection from abuse order or the sentencing for a conviction on a domestic violence crime where alcohol was a significant factor, a period of continuous remote alcohol monitoring not to exceed 60 days for a domestic violence conviction and not to exceed 180 days on a protection from abuse order, where zero tolerance for alcohol is imposed. There shall be 15 continuous remote alcohol monitoring units available for Family Court sentencing.
(c) The Department of Corrections shall bear the costs of the 20 continuous remote alcohol monitoring units for use in the portions of the program described in subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section. The sentenced offender or person subject to a protection from abuse order shall bear the cost of monitoring under subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this section, not to exceed $15 per monitoring day. The Department of Corrections shall bear the costs of units reserved for use in subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this section, but not actively monitoring an offender .
(d) For purposes of this pilot program, 'continuous remote alcohol monitoring' shall mean the ability to automatically, continuously test and periodically transmit alcohol consumption levels of, and tamper attempts by, the person being monitored."
Section 2. The Board of Parole will maintain statistical data on the pilot program and the Board of Parole and Department of Corrections shall submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the effectiveness of continuous remote alcohol monitoring 6 months into the monitoring program. That report shall be updated after an additional 3 months with any recommendations for continuing, expanding, or limiting the use of remote alcohol monitoring technology.