ASSEMBLY ACTION Initial and Date |SENATE ACTION Initial and Date
Adopted Lost | Adopted Lost
Concurred In Not
|Concurred In Not
Receded Not | Receded Not
Amend the resolution, page 1, by deleting lines 17 through 20 and inserting:
“hereby directed to appoint a committee to conduct an interim study of:
1. The criminal justice system and associated services and agencies in the rural areas of Nevada; and
2. The feasibility of implementing a program for transitional housing for felony offenders released on probation or parole or released after discharge from the Department of Corrections; and be it further
Resolved, That the committee must be composed of six Legislators as follows:”.
Amend the resolution, page 2, by deleting lines 19 and 20 and inserting:
“advisory group of 13 nonvoting members to assist the committee with that portion of the interim study which pertains to the criminal justice system and associated services and agencies in the rural areas of Nevada. The advisory group must consist of the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts”.
Amend the resolution, page 2, by deleting line 37 and inserting:
“limitation:
1. A comprehensive review and evaluation of the following”.
Amend the resolution, page 2, line 40, by deleting “1.” and inserting “(a)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, line 1, by deleting “2.” and inserting “(b)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, line 4, by deleting “3.” and inserting “(c)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, line 8, by deleting “4.” and inserting “(d)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, line 11, by deleting “5.” and inserting “(e)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, line 13, by deleting “6.” and inserting “(f)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, line 16, by deleting “7.” and inserting “(g)”.
Amend the resolution, page 3, by deleting line 19 and inserting:
“(h) The effect of unfunded mandates on rural courts;
2. The specific problems to be addressed while an offender is living in transitional housing, such as employment, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and health issues, and the community resources available to address these problems;
3. The evaluation of other programs for transitional housing that have been successful, including, without limitation:
(a) Programs that require offenders to give back to their communities by volunteering, such as building houses for Habitat for Humanity or counseling young people in trouble with the law; and
(b) Programs such as the Delancey Street Foundation and the Altamont Program, where offenders are trained in such careers as culinary arts, catering, building trades, and motel and restaurant operations;
4. A cost comparison of keeping an offender in confinement versus releasing him to transitional housing;
5. The development of reentry plans for offenders scheduled for release and methods to be used to identify likely candidates for transitional housing;
6. The costs of building and operating a transitional housing facility, by size, by scope of service and by location;
7. The standards to be required of a transitional housing facility, such as organization, house rules and consequences for negative behavior, to ensure a structured, positive environment, and the varying degrees of restrictions and monitoring required for certain offenders;
8. Specific requirements that must be met by a transitional housing facility to receive licensing, including a review of the related requirements of state and federal agencies;
9. Identification of any unique or specific issues to be addressed for youthful offenders, women and the mentally ill;
10. Solutions to best address transitional housing for sex offenders because of the safety concerns of the community in having these offenders living in their neighborhoods and the hostility of persons in the community towards these offenders;
11. Methods to be used to ensure communication between transitional housing facilities and the Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety, such as reports and methods of monitoring facilities and offenders; and
12. A review of the practices and resources of the Department of Corrections and the Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety concerning the release of offenders into the community;”.
Amend the preamble of the resolution, page 1, by deleting line 14 and inserting:
“the criminal justice system in rural Nevada; and
Whereas, More than 2 million people are now incarcerated in the United States, a four-fold increase over the past 25 years, and statistics show that two-thirds of those released will be rearrested within 3 years and that 40 percent will be returned to custody; and
Whereas, One of the greatest challenges facing American society today is the reintegration of the more than 600,000 inmates who leave state and federal prisons to return home each year, with far-reaching consequences; and
Whereas, In the State of Nevada, the Department of Corrections releases over 4,800 inmates every year to return to communities that are ill-equipped to handle the many demands this places on the limited resources available; and
Whereas, While states and the Federal Government have allocated increasing shares of their budgets to building and operating prisons, transitional housing is an alternative that has proven to be more cost-effective and to have a positive impact on the released offenders; and
Whereas, When an offender is released directly back into the community from which he came, he is often returning to the friends and environment that contributed to his criminal conduct and too easily falls back into destructive patterns of behavior, which may include alcohol or drug abuse, domestic violence and gang activity, and he may not be welcomed back into his own home because of the chaos he has caused in his family; and
Whereas, Many released offenders are uneducated, have poor life-management skills, and have little or no job skills, resulting in bleak futures upon their release; and
Whereas, Many of those released have infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV and AIDS, and 16 percent of offenders have some form of mental illness; and
Whereas, Studies have shown that offenders released into transitional housing, which provides them with food and shelter, a supportive environment, peer review, mentors, counseling, job skills and education, have fewer problems reintegrating into their communities and have a much lower rate of recidivism; and
Whereas, Since many released offenders have not had to make their own decisions for years and may have feelings of rage, hostility and shame, transitional housing provides the offender with a controlled environment where he is held accountable for his actions while learning how to adjust to a new living situation, thus easing his transition from prison life to community life and allowing him to become a productive member of society; and
Whereas, Since more than 1.5 million children in the United States have a parent in prison and a child of an inmate is five times more likely than the average child to serve time in prison as an adult, it is essential that those offenders who are parents successfully reintegrate back into their communities; and
Whereas, The State of Nevada recognizes the economic and social importance of transitional housing and similar programs for offenders who are released back into the community after confinement; now, therefore, be it”.
Amend the title of the resolution, third line, by deleting “Nevada.” and inserting:
“Nevada and of transitional housing for released offenders.”.
Amend the summary of the resolution to read as follows:
“SUMMARY—Directs Legislative Commission to conduct interim study of criminal justice system in rural Nevada and of transitional housing for released offenders. (BDR R‑1215)”.