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12 CAR § 70-112. Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act — County Jail Backlog
12 CAR § 70-112. Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act — County Jail Backlog.
(a) Purpose. To establish the policy by which the Board of Corrections may, when the county jail backlog exceeds five hundred (500) inmates, release eligible inmates from the Division of Correction prior to their normal release date.
(b) Applicability. The board, all division employees, especially those involved in release processing, and all inmates.
(c) Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) “County backlog” means inmates sentenced to the Division of Correction that are being housed in the county jails until space is available in the prison;
(2) “Discharge” means the unconditional release of an inmate or person on release supervision upon the expiration of a sentenced term of years pursuant to Arkansas codes; and
(3) “Eligible inmate” means Class I or Class II inmates, convicted of nonviolent offenses, who are eligible for parole, transfer, or discharge and not serving a legislatively mandated seventy percent (70%) or more sentence, who have been incarcerated in a Division of Correction facility for a minimum of six (6) months.
(d) Policy. It shall be the policy of the division and the board to review the inmate population of the division and, at the board’s discretion, invoke the Prison Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act, Arkansas Code § 12-28-601 et seq., based on a county backlog exceeding five hundred (500).
(e) Procedures — Overcrowding based on county jail backlog.
(1) When the board declares a prison overcrowding state of emergency due to the county jail backlog exceeding five hundred (500) inmates and notifies the Director of the Division of Correction of the emergency as authorized, the director shall:
(A) Certify to the board a list of those eligible inmates who are in Class I or Class II status who have been incarcerated in a division facility for a minimum of six (6) months and are serving a sentence for a nonviolent offense as established by the board; and
(B) Indicate which eligible inmates he or she recommends.
(2) The listed inmates shall be those who, if authorized, would have their parole eligibility, transfer eligibility, or discharge dates moved up to a point where they would immediately be eligible for:
(A) Parole;
(B) Transfer; or
(C) Discharge.
(3) Upon the receipt of the list of eligible inmates certified by the director, the board is authorized to move up the projected parole eligibility, transfer eligibility, or discharge dates of any or all eligible inmates on the list by up to one (1) year.
"Section Number: 1316
Page Number: 1 of 2
Board Approval Date: 7/11/2003
Supersedes:
Dated:
Reference:
Effective Date: 7/25/03"
"I. AUTHORITY:
The authority of the Board of Corrections to promulgate this Administrative Rule is vested in Act 50 of 1968, First Extraordinary Session, as amended; Act 418 of 1987, Regular Session; Act 684 of 1991, Regular Session; Act 1721 of 2003, Regular Session, and A.C.A. 12-28-601 - 12-28-606."