BILL COULD CUT INMATES' SENTENCES

CONCORD - State prisoners could earn earlier release under a bill
passed last week in the House of Representatives and another bill up
for consideration this week.

The bills don't change sentencing rules nearly as dramatically as the
original authors intended, however, and both bills must also clear
the Senate and Gov. John Lynch before becoming law.

The original version of House Bill 595 would have replaced the
practice of adding "disciplinary time" for misbehavior with a system
rewarding inmates with time off for good behavior, up to 12-1/2 days
for every month served.

Such "good time" proposals come up every so often, and state
Corrections Commission William Wrenn said Thursday he's dead-set
against the idea. Judges should handle any changes to the sentences
they impose, he said, and that's what the new amended bill does, he
said.

The text of the new bill is not available on the Legislature's Web
site, nor did Wrenn's office have a copy. The bill passed the House
on Wednesday by voice vote, house staff said.The new bill requires
the Department of Corrections to restore a review board (abolished
in the earlier part of this decade) to consider inmate requests for
sentence reductions, Wrenn said.

Under current state law, inmates can petition the court for sentence
reduction after serving four years, or two-thirds of their minimum
sentence. The new law will allow inmates to petition the commissioner
at any time for permission to petition the court sooner, he said.
Still, any reduction will be up to the court, with input from
prosecutors and victims, he said. The commissioner's review board
will simply recommend whether to consider an inmate's petition.

Inmates will have to earn favorable recommendations, according to
Jeff Lyons, Department of Corrections spokesman.

"Essentially it's going to be an incentive for the inmates to take
required treatment programs," such as programs to help with drug
abuse, he said.

"They would have to show us some indication that they are willing to
improve themselves and be rehabilitated," Lyons said. "We're not just
going to let someone get early release for X number of days just for
being here and staying out of trouble."

The House also passed a bill clarifying how consecutive and
concurrent sentences should be calculated, in a way that could
effectively reduce some inmate's sentences. That bill also was
amended, however, so there's no telling what it actually accomplishes
until a revised version is circulated.

Both bills passed by voice vote, so no tally was taken, and both will
now be kicked over to the Senate for consideration.

Later this week, the House is scheduled to consider another bill
(House Bill 1159) which, as written, would give the Department of
Corrections authority to free some nonviolent inmates (sexual
offenders also would be ineligible) on "early conditional release."

Wrenn said he has yet to review the proposal or take any position on
it.