WHEREAS,
Delaware is faced with a financial situation that has made it more difficult to
meet essential health, education, public safety and other service needs that
are required for the well being of all Delaware citizens this year; and
WHEREAS, members
of the General Assembly and the Governor want to ensure that the citizens of
Delaware have a cost-effective, efficient, criminal justice system that
protects the safety of the public; and
WHEREAS, Delaware
spends one (1) dollar out of thirteen (13) of its budget on corrections alone
and the budgets of all of the State’s criminal justice agencies have increased
dramatically over the past few years; and
WHEREAS, Delaware
has just completed an unprecedented expansion of its prison system, adding
2,650 beds at a capital cost of more than $180 million and additional annual
operational cost increases in excess of $40 million; and
WHEREAS, despite
this expansion, the present system’s capacity of 6, 587 custodial beds is
already exceeded by a custodial population of about 6,600, leading to a
situation which, if unchecked will cost hundreds of millions of additional
expenditures for further expansion; and
WHEREAS, despite
these expenditures, the high rate of recidivism for offenders released from Delaware’s
prisons continues to be a threat to public safety; and
WHEREAS, a special
commission should be created which is geographically diverse and is drawn from
diverse communities and should include senior officials of the State
representing the Executive Branch, the General Assembly, the Judiciary, the
Attorney General, the Public Defender, the Department of Correction, law
enforcement, The Criminal Justice Council, The Sentencing Accountability
Commission, the State Bar Association, The University of Delaware, Delaware
State University, medical and rehabilitation treatment community, and the
business community.
Section 1. Amend
Title 11, Chapter 65, Delaware Code by inserting as new “Subchapter XII” the
following:
“Subchapter
XII. The Special Commission on Criminal Justice.
§ 6595
Establishment; composition; purpose.
(a)
A ‘Special Commission on Criminal Justice’ is hereby
established. The Commission shall undertake a comprehensive review of Delaware’s
charging decisions, pre-trial detention, plea bargaining, sentencing and
correctional systems, rehabilitation, programming, offender re-entry
mechanisms, services and programming available in the community, and further,
to identify modifications that can be made in those systems to improve their
cost-effectiveness, in conformance with justice, public safety and
constitutional requirements.
(b)
The Special Commission shall consist of 17 members, the
body of which shall be comprised as follows:
(1)
three (3) persons appointed by the Governor;
(2)
two (2) persons appointed by the President Pro-Tempore
of the Senate;
(3)
one (1) person appointed by the Minority Leader of the
Senate;
(4)
two (2) persons appointed by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives;
(5)
one (1) person appointed by the Minority Leader of the
House of Representatives;
(6)
two (2) persons appointed by the Chief Justice of the
Delaware Supreme Court;
(7)
two (2) persons appointed by the Attorney General;
(8)
two (2) persons appointed by the Public Defender; and
(9)
two (2) persons appointed by the Delaware Police
Chief’s Council, Inc.
(c)
The Governor shall appoint the Chair and Co-Chair from
the members of the Special Commission.
(d)
The Special Commission shall review Delaware’s
criminal justice system for fiscal accountability and discipline, sentence
modification, re-entry and reduction of recidivism, pre-trial detention and
correctional operations and facilities.
(e)
The Special Commission is authorized to organize
special sub-committees consisting of core Commission members as chairpersons
and including other persons impacted by or having special expertise in the
areas to be studied.
(f)
The Special Commission shall enjoy the complete
cooperation and assistance of all departments of the State of Delaware
including the Statistical Analysis
Center and the Administrative
Offices of the Courts, and shall have the authority to call witnesses and
obtain reports.
(g)
The highest priority and objective of the Special
Commission is the continued or improved safety of law abiding citizens.
(h)
The Special Commission shall, by March 31, 2005,
provide an interim report to members of the General Assembly and the Governor,
and by January 15, 2006, a final report providing conclusions and
recommendations, including any recommended legislation, so as to permit an
informed assessment of the viability of alternatives to embarking upon a
construction program for additional Level V capacity for the Department of
Correction.”.
Section 2. This
Act shall sunset on July 1, 2006.
