SUMMARY--Requires certification by panel before offender who pleaded guilty but mentally ill may be released on parole. (BDR 16-287)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: Yes.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to mentally ill offenders; requiring certification by a panel before an offender who pleaded guilty but mentally ill may be released on parole; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 NRS 213.1099 is hereby amended to read as follows:
213.1099 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section and NRS 213.1215, the board may release on parole a prisoner who is otherwise eligible for parole pursuant to NRS 213.107 to 213.157, inclusive.
2. In determining whether to release a prisoner on parole, the board shall consider:
(a) Whether there is a reasonable probability that the prisoner will live and remain at liberty without violating the laws;
(b) Whether the release is incompatible with the welfare of society;
(c) The seriousness of the offense and the history of criminal conduct of the prisoner;
(d) The standards adopted pursuant to NRS 213.10885 and the recommendation, if any, of the chief; and
(e) Any documents or testimony submitted by a victim notified pursuant to NRS 213.130.
3. When a person is convicted of a felony and is punished by a sentence of imprisonment, he remains subject to the jurisdiction of the board from the time he is released on parole under the provisions of this chapter until the expiration of the maximum term of imprisonment imposed by the court less any credits earned to reduce his sentence pursuant to chapter 209 of NRS.
4. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 213.1215, the board may not release on parole a prisoner whose sentence to death or to life without possibility of parole has been commuted to a lesser penalty unless it finds that the prisoner has served at least 20 consecutive years in the state prison, is not under an order to be detained to answer for a crime or violation of parole or probation in another jurisdiction, and that he does not have a history of:
(a) Recent misconduct in the institution, and that he has been recommended for parole by the director of the department of prisons;
(b) Repetitive criminal conduct;
(c) Criminal conduct related to the use of alcohol or drugs;
(d) Repetitive sexual deviance, violence or aggression; or
(e) Failure in parole, probation, work release or similar programs.
5. In determining whether to release a prisoner on parole pursuant to this section, the board shall not consider whether the prisoner will soon be eligible for release pursuant to NRS 213.1215.
6. The board shall not release on parole a sex offender until the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction a sex offender will be released on parole has been provided an opportunity to give the notice required by the attorney general pursuant to NRS 213.1253.
7. The board shall not release on parole a prisoner convicted of a felony pursuant to a plea of guilty but mentally ill unless a panel consisting of:
(a) The administrator of the mental hygiene and mental retardation division of the department of human resources;
(b) The director of the department of prisons; and
(c) A psychologist licensed to practice in Nevada or a psychiatrist licensed to practice medicine in Nevada,
certifies that the prisoner was under observation while confined in an institution of the department of prisons and is not a menace to the health, safety or morals of others. For the purposes of this subsection, the administrator and the director may each designate a person to represent him on the panel.