SENATE PANEL BACKS 'BOOT CAMP' PROGRAM

A sometimes controversial program to send juvenile offenders to "boot
camp" won a tentative endorsement from the Senate Judiciary Committee on
Monday.

The "regimented juvenile training program," currently in Pueblo and
operated by a private contractor, is to expire July 1.

But the Judiciary Committee voted to extend it another two years. Senate
Bill 50, introduced by Sen. Mary Ellen Epps, R-Colorado Springs, originally
had no new expiration date.

The bill also was amended to require a new report to the Legislature on the
program's effectiveness. The deadline for the Division of Criminal Justice
to complete the report is Nov. 30, 2001.

Money for a study, though, would have required sending the bill to another
committee, Senate appropriations. That was avoided when corrections
officials and supporters of the measure said funding might already be
available.

The bill cleared the committee on a 6-2 vote.