(1) The department shall track the prison bed vacancy rate in both correctional facilities and state-funded private contract prison beds on a monthly basis. If the vacancy rate falls below three percent for thirty consecutive days, the department shall notify the governor, the joint budget committee, the parole board, each elected district attorney, the chief judge of each judicial district, the state public defender, and the office of community corrections in the department of public safety. The department shall notify the governor, the joint budget committee, the parole board, each elected district attorney, the chief judge of each judicial district, the state public defender, and the office of community corrections once the vacancy rate exceeds four percent for thirty consecutive days.
(2) (a) If the vacancy rate in correctional facilities and state-funded private contract prison beds falls below three percent for thirty consecutive days, the department shall:
Request the office of community corrections to provide the department with information regarding the location and nature of any unutilized community corrections beds. The office of community corrections shall provide the information within seventy-two hours of the request and on a weekly basis until the office of community corrections receives notification that the vacancy rate exceeds three percent.
Request that the parole board review a list of inmates who are within ninety days oftheir mandatory release date, have an approved parole plan, and do not require full board review or victim notification pursuant to section 24-4.1-302.5 (1)(j);
Coordinate with the parole board to review the list of inmates who have satisfiedconditions for conditional release verified by the department of corrections, do not require full board review or victim notification pursuant to section 24-4.1-302.5 (1)(j), and have satisfied the condition or conditions required for an order to parole; and
(A) Submit to the parole board a list of eligible inmates with a favorable parole planwho have been assessed to be medium or lower risk on the validated risk assessment scale developed pursuant to section 17-22.5-404 (2). Except as provided in subsection (2)(a)(IV)(B) of this section, the parole board shall conduct a file review of each inmate on the list and set conditions of release for the inmate within thirty days after receipt of the list and set a day of release no later than thirty days after conducting the file review.
If victim notification is required and a victim wishes to provide input, the paroleboard shall schedule a hearing in lieu of a file review and set conditions of release for the inmate and a date of release no later than thirty days after conducting the hearing.
If additional information is needed, the parole board may table a decision after thefile review or hearing and request additional information from the department. The parole board may grant or deny parole to an applicant, and, if the decision is to deny parole, it must be based on a majority vote of the full board.
An inmate is not eligible for release pursuant to this section if he or she is serving asentence for an offense enumerated in section 24-4.1-302 or section 16-22-102 (9) or has had a class I code of penal discipline violation within the previous twelve months from the date of the list or since incarceration, whichever is shorter; has been terminated for lack of progress or declined in writing to participate in programs that have been recommended and made available to the inmate within the previous twelve months or since incarceration, whichever is shorter; has been regressed from community corrections or revoked from parole within the previous one hundred eighty days; or has a pending felony charge, detainer, or an extraditable warrant.
An inmate is eligible for release pursuant to this subsection (2)(a)(IV) if the inmateis at or past his or her parole eligibility date and is only serving a sentence for a conviction of a level 3 or level 4 drug felony or a class 3, class 4, class 5, or class 6 nonviolent felony offense.
(b) The department may utilize any, all, or a combination of the measures described in subsection (2)(a) of this section when the vacancy rate falls below two percent for thirty consecutive days and until the vacancy rate is above three percent for thirty consecutive days.
Source: L. 2018: Entire section added, (HB 18-1410), ch. 394, p. 2352, § 1, effective June 6. L. 2019: (1), IP(2)(a), (2)(a)(II), and (2)(a)(III) amended and (2)(a)(IV) added, (SB 19143), ch. 286, p. 2655, § 1, effective May 28.