ASSEMBLY, No. 1540

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 15, 1996

By Assemblywoman ALLEN, Assemblymen DeSOPO, Gregg, Assemblywoman Crecco, Assemblymen Blee, LeFevre, Malone, Cottrell, Assemblywoman Bark, Assemblyman Bodine, Assemblywoman J. Smith, Assemblymen Bucco, Asselta, Arnone, Azzolina, Rocco, Assemblywoman Wright and Assemblyman Garrett

An Act concerning the rehabilitation of inmates and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. a. Whenever a person is sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a State correctional facility, the Department of Corrections shall, upon assuming custody of the person, review the person's background and educational history and assign, if appropriate, an educational requirement the person must fulfill as a condition of release.

    For the purposes of this section the department may require either:

    (1) A curriculum which, depending upon the term of imprisonment, shall either enable the inmate to attain a level of educational achievement comparable to high school graduation and prepare him to secure the high school equivalency certificate that may be obtained through the Department of Education's Office of Adult and Continuing Education or enable him to progress toward that level of achievement; or

    (2) A vocational skills training program which is designed to improve the inmate's basic vocational skills or develop specialized labor skills with the aim of providing the inmate with the necessary skills to sucure employment when released; or

    (3) A program combining an education cirriculum as set forth in paragraph (1) and vocational training as set forth in paragraph (2).

    b. An inmate who does not fulfill the educational requirement imposed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall not be eligible for release; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to preclude the release of an inmate if the inmate has not been offered the classes or training necessary to satisfy the educational requirement.

    c. In accordance with the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the Commissioner of Corrections, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of Labor, as appropriate, shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.

    2. This act shall take effect ninety days following enactment.

STATEMENT

    This bill would require a person sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a State correctional institution to fulfill, if appropriate, an educational requirement while imprisoned in order to be eligible for release.

    Under the provisions of this bill, the Department of Corrections upon assuming custody of a prison, would review the person's background and educational history and determine the appropriate educational requirement for the person. That requirement would be either a curriculum designed to give the inmate an opportunity to attain a General Equivalency Diploma (GED); a vocational skills training program or a program combining education and vocational training.

    An inmate assigned an educational requirement would not be eligible for release until the fulfillment of that requirement but an inmate could not be denied release if the classes or training necessary to satisfy the educational requirement were not offered to the inmate.

Directs the Department of Corrections to assign inmates educational requirements as a condition of release where appropriate.