Bill Summary for Bill Number HB09-1022

Date: 01/15/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB09-1022

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A), whi Amend L.001, line 22, strike "Identification of th Refer House Bill 09-1022, as amended, to the Commi	PASS PASS PASS

02:25 PM -- House Bill 09-1022

Representative Solano, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 09-1022 concerning assistance to counties to implement recidivism reduction programs for the mentally ill. The bill recommended by the Legislative Oversight Committee for the Continuing Examination of the Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness who are Involved in the Criminal Justice System, creates a Recidivism Reduction Grant Program within the Division of Criminal Justice. The grant program is to provide three-year implementation grants for programs to reduce recidivism for individuals with mental illness who have been involved in the criminal justice system. A county government or a collaboration among a group of counties is eligible to apply. The bill specifies that the funding for the program shall not exceed $600,000 over three years and individual grants will not exceed $100,000 per applicant in a year or $200,000 per applicant over three years. To apply for the grants, county governments must fill out an application with information on the strategies, goals, and outcomes of the program as well as information on costs and how the grant monies will be used. Specifically, the grant program will fund:

• mental health courts;
• transitional housing or employment programs;
• re-entry services;
• alternatives to incarceration;
• transition services; and
• community corrections programs.

Representative Solano discussed prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The amendment expands the legislative declaration to provide greater detail about the problem of recidivism and the reasons why individuals re-enter the criminal justice system. She expressed her belief that the bill will ultimately save the state money. The committee discussed the fiscal note and the potential costs savings that could be realized by the bill.

02:39 PM -- Dr. Hall returned to the table to talk about the process that led to the drafting of this bill. She explained that the bill came from a subcommittee of the task force on medication, health care, and housing. Many of the supports that have been shown to reduce recidivism are things like housing, employment, medical treatment, drug and alcohol treatment, and mental health services. The subcommittee decided that the task force should support some effort to help local entities that have begun the process of planning programs to address the lack of these supports for offenders transitioning from prison back into the community. The grants are reserved for entities that have made some progress toward stated goals and are ready to take a next step, but lack adequate funding. Representative Levy asked if the amount of the grants is enough to make a change. Dr. Hall responded that these grants are intended to help along programs that have already been planned, but not yet implemented. She talked about blended funding streams for community-based correctional programs for the mentally ill.

02:46 PM -- Ms. Shimeall returned to speak in favor of the bill. Ms. Shimeall is employed with Arapahoe-Douglas Mental Health Network. She designed and coordinates the mental health court for the 18th Judicial District. She discussed how mental health courts are a collaborative effort between courts, law enforcement, mental health professionals, etc. She talked about her experience with mentally ill clients, providing some statistics about mentally ill individuals in the jails and prisons.
02:55 PM -- Peg Ackerman, County Sheriffs of Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Ackerman talked about some sheriffs that are interested in applying for grants to fund innovative programs to address the issue of recidivism in county jails.

02:57 PM -- Diane Inscoe, private citizen, spoke in support of the bill.

02:57 PM -- Andy Karsian, Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Karsian distributed a report to the committee illustrating the impact of the mentally ill on county jails (Attachment B). He responded to questions from the committee regarding the effectiveness of the $100,000 grants.

03:06 PM -- Geneva Biggio, Felons Regaining Equal Employment (FREE) Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Biggio would like to see more money focused on small community-based organizations that provide education and certification services to parolees.

03:08 PM -- Lacey Brumen, NAMI Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Brumen discussed the amount of money it would take to provide medication to parolee daily. She provided some statistics about juvenile offenders with mental illness that will most likely end up in the adult system..

03:10 PM -- Larry Krause, NAMI Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Krause discussed his experience with the mental health system.

03:13 PM -- Mark Ivandick returned to speak in support of the bill. Mr. Ivandick provided information about his experience working with mentally ill parolees.


BILL:	HB09-1022
TIME:	03:19:13 PM
MOVED:	Pace
MOTION:	Amend L.001, line 22, strike "Identification of this"; Strike lines 23-29. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	McCann
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes
	King	Yes
	Miklosi	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Roberts	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	Yes
	McCann	Yes
	Levy	Yes

Not Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	HB09-1022
TIME:	03:21:08 PM
MOVED:	Pace
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A), which adds language to the legislative declaration, as amended. The motion passed on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:	Ryden
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	No
	King	No
	Miklosi	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Roberts	No
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	No
	McCann	Yes
	Levy	No
Not Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:24 PM

Representative Pace discussed the possibility of conceptually amending the bill to require that some percentage of the grant monies to non-metro Denver area counties. He ultimately decided not to offer a motion.


BILL:	HB09-1022
TIME:	03:32:33 PM
MOVED:	McCann
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1022, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Miklosi
		VOTE
	Apuan	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes
	King	Yes
	Miklosi	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Roberts	No
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	No
	McCann	Yes
	Levy	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:33 PM

Representative Levy brought the idea of meeting on Friday, January 30. The committee discussed how to schedule bills and decided to work late on Thursdays rather than working on Fridays. It was decided that the committee will begin working at 1:00 P.M. on January 22 and January 29 and will work as late as necessary in order to get through all of the bills. Representative Levy adjourned the committee.