AB 926: Parole: Safe Communities Grant Program.

Existing law governs the length and conditions of parole and establishes the Board of Parole Hearings to carry out various duties relating to parole, including conducting parole consideration hearings, parole rescission hearings, and parole progress hearings for adults and juveniles under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reviewing inmates requests for reconsideration of the denial of good-time credit and setting of parole length or conditions, and making every order granting and revoking parole and issuing final discharges to any person under the jurisdiction of the department.

This bill would require the department to establish rules and regulations for implementing an earned compliance credit program that would reduce the period of parole supervision of eligible persons, as specified, upon compliance with their parole conditions. The bill would provide that for each full calendar month of compliance with the conditions of parole supervision, earned compliance credits equal to the number of days in that month shall be deducted from the eligible parolees parole discharge date. The bill would also specify the circumstances under which credits would not accrue, including when a parolee has been arrested for a new offense, except as specified.

The bill would also require the department to provide annually to the Director of Finance and the Legislative Analysts Office specified data regarding the program, including the number and percentage of parolees who qualified for the earned compliance credit program and the total amount of credits earned by parolees within the year.

The bill would establish the Safe Communities Grant Program to be administered by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in consultation with specified state entities, to allocate moneys to counties, by January 1 of each fiscal year beginning in 2018, to provide support for employment and housing for parolees, as specified.

The bill would also establish the continuously appropriated Safe Communities Grant Program Fund within the State Treasury for purposes of the program. The bill would require, on or before July 31, 2017, and on or before July 31 of each fiscal year thereafter, the Director of Finance to calculate the savings accrued to the state from the implementation of the earned compliance credit program and to certify the results of the calculation to the Controller no later than August 1 of each fiscal year. The bill would require the Controller, before August 31, 2017, and before August 31 of each fiscal year thereafter, to transfer that amount from the General Fund to the Safe Communities Grant Program Fund. The bill would also require, every 2 years, beginning in 2019, the Controller to conduct an audit of the Safe Communities Grant Program Fund to ensure the funds are disbursed and expended solely according to the requirements of the bill and to report his or her findings to the Legislature and make them available to the public. The bill would also require that any costs incurred by the Director of Finance and the Controller in connection with the administration of the Safe Communities Grant Program Fund, including the costs of the required calculation and the audit, be deducted from the Safe Communities Grant Program Fund before the funds are disbursed, as specified.

By establishing the continuously appropriated Safe Communities Grant Program Fund, and by directing the Controller to transfer funds from the General Fund to that fund, the bill would make an appropriation.