ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1541

with Assembly committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 3, 1997

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1541, with committee amendments.

      Assembly Bill No.1541, as amended, requires that persons who are sentenced to prison terms for committing crimes of the first and second degree involving violence be required to serve at least 85 percent of the term of incarceration imposed by the court before being eligible for parole.

      Unless the court imposes a sentence of lifetime parole supervision pursuant to legislation now pending as Senate Bill No. 524 SCS of 1996, the bill requires the court to impose a five-year term of parole supervision on any defendant being sentenced for a crime of the first degree, or a three-year term of parole supervision on a defendant being sentenced for a crime of the second degree, on a person sentenced pursuant to this bill.

      The bill defines "violent crime" as one in which the perpetrator causes death, causes serious bodily injury, or uses or threatens the immediate use of a deadly weapon. "Violent crime" also includes any aggravated sexual assault or sexual assault in which the perpetrator uses, or threatens the immediate use of, physical force. The bill defines a "deadly weapon" as any firearm or other weapon, device, instrument, material or substance, whether animate or inanimate, which in the manner it is used or is intended to be used, is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.

      The bill requires that a court must first conduct a hearing to establish the ground for sentencing a defendant pursuant to the bill's provisions. At the hearing, the defendant would have the right to hear and controvert the evidence.

      As amended, this bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 855 (2R) as amended by this committee.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Department of Corrections has noted that the bill would substantially increase the length of stay for the affected inmates, resulting in a significant increase in the adult inmate population. Impact would begin to accrue in the second year after enactment, and full impact of this bill would be achieved after year 18. According to the department the average cost of housing an inmate in a State institution is currently $26,000 per year. The one-time cost of building additional bed space is about $80,000 per inmate. No estimate is available of the inmate population affected by the amended bill.

      The Department of Corrections has also noted that the bill would eventually yield a reduction in parole supervision caseloads. The timing of this anticipated reduction of caseload and how it would affect the additional institutional operating costs cannot be currently determined. However, assuming that the current parole requirements remain as they are, the savings in parole supervision would be about $1,250 per supervisee per year.

      The department has also noted that while the department could be eligible for partial reimbursement of capital expenditures based in the provisions of the federal Violent Crimes Control and Enforcement Act of 1994, it is not known what percentage of the total amount would be offset by federal funds.

      The Department of Corrections was not able to quantify the deterrent effect of the increased sentence on potential offenders, nor the reduction in recidivism because of continued incarceration. Each of the these effects would decrease the social costs of crime and reduce total expected Department of Corrections expenditures.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments clarify those violent crimes which would be subject to the provisions of the bill, add a term of parole supervision following the defendants' release from incarceration, and require that the court first conduct a hearing to establish the ground for sentencing a defendant pursuant to the bill.