In order to reduce potential for over-supervision in probation, there should be a standardized process within Colorado Probation among all judicial districts to ensure a transparent, consistent and timely review of each adult case for early termination. Following these recommendations (Appendix A) is a list of technical considerations and areas that will need to be addressed by a working group for this process to be successful. Recommended aspects of the standardized process include: Process Development, Policy and Standards, Structured Tools, Specialized Intensive Programs, Stakeholder Education, Victim Notification, Training, Quality Assurance and Implementation.

[See the "Recommendation Text" for Appendix A: Technical Process Areas to be Addressed.]

Agencies in the state should develop policies to standardize and increase access to telehealth services for behavioral health treatment for those individuals on community supervision within the criminal justice system. This recommendation includes several propositions directed to multiple agencies to revise practice standards. These standards should address such topics as Competency of the Provider, Ethical Considerations in Standards of Care, Informed Consent, Diversity and Inclusivity Considerations, Confidentiality of Data & Information, Security & Transmission of Data & Information, Participant Guidelines and Criteria, and Telehealth Treatment Decision Making.

Amend §16-11-205, §16-11-209, §16-11-2?? (new section), §16-11.5-101, §16-11.5-102(1)(c), §16-11.5-105, §18-1.3-102, and any other required conforming revisions to statute to reflect contemporary best practice guidelines that serve people on probation and deferred sentences, especially those diagnosed and/or dealing with substance use disorders. Such practices provide corresponding systems that include a range of individualized and structured behavioral responses to substance use and other behaviors that violate typical conditions of probation. This recommendation specifically prioritizes modern methods of rehabilitative and reparative justice that align with the statutory purposes of probation (included in CCJJ Recommendation FY22-SR #01. Define the Purposes of Probation) rather than the finite and limited responses in current statute that reflect retributive, punitive, and deterrent-based justice methods.

[See the "Recommendation Text" for the Proposed Statutory Language.]

Create, implement, and fund a process that will permit the automatic sealing of criminal conviction records for drug offenses. The State Court Administrator's Office (SCAO), the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and each district attorney's office will implement procedures to evaluate cases that qualify for automatic sealing and will automatically seal eligible cases without associated fees, a Motion or a Petition to Seal being filed by the defendant.

 

[See the "Recommendation Text" for a description of the recommended automatic sealing process.]

 

[Statute may require revision to accommodate this automatic sealing process; however, no proposed statutory language was prepared for this recommendation.]

Authorize the utilization of existing marijuana tax revenue distributed to Senate Bill 1991-94 entities to allow these funds to be used to support the development and implementation of local crossover youth plans and services.

The Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare, should promulgate rules that provide guidance on permanency planning  to county departments of social/human services under Social Service Rules Volume 7. These rules should provide guidance to counties in circumstances involving a legally free youth (where parental rights have been terminated and there is no legal guardianship) who is either returning to county custody after a period of DYS commitment or is projected to emancipate from the Division of Youth Services (DYS).

Promote community safety and economic growth by:

- Preventing public housing authorities from taking adverse action against individuals on the basis of arrests that did not result in a conviction, or convictions that have been pardoned, sealed or expunged.

- Requiring public housing authorities to consider other convictions using the same criteria the state currently applies for licensure and employment decisions.

The imposition of special conditions of probation should be based only on specific, individual needs/risk assessment information.

As a way to provide incentives while enhancing public safety, a working group shall be formed of representatives from the Division of Probation Services, district court probation departments, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victim representatives, and judges to develop an earned time schedule that links specific behaviors, such as completing drug treatment and maintaining "clean" urinalysis tests, to specific reductions in the term of the probation sentence.

Judicial and probation officer training should be expanded to develop curricula that promote a culture of successful supervision of probationers.

Research shows that positive reinforcement is an important component of behavior modification. The use of incentives to facilitate successful completion of probation should be encouraged. Such incentives should be interpreted as evidence-based efforts to encourage the offender's positive performance for the purpose of enhancing public safety and preventing victimization.

To increase consistency across the state in the response to probation technical and criminal violations, the Division of Probation Services should work with district probation departments to develop a range of probation sanction guidelines that hold offenders accountable while working toward successful completion of probation. These guidelines will be adopted and consistently implemented with the assistance of the court in each jurisdiction.

Minimize court review hearings and appearances to reduce docket overload and interruptions to the offender's employment. Educate judges and probation officers on the necessity of prioritizing support for the offender's employment since research shows that stable employment is linked to recidivism reduction. This does not apply to specialty courts or dockets.

Resolve new county court cases as soon as possible because unresolved cases may interfere with the success of district court probation.

A statewide committee should be formed to develop an advisory, statewide monetary bond schedule that is generally consistent across jurisdictions. Each judicial district should develop a committee of stakeholders to review the existing monetary bond schedule.

Each judicial district should be encouraged to establish a bond commissioner and process that give authority to the specially trained commissioner or their designee to undertake an individual assessment of the accused and set bonds and/or summonses as appropriate.

Implement existing statutes (C.R.S. 16-5-206 and 16-5-207) encouraging the use of a summons rather than arrest for probation revocations.

Encourage the use of "cash only" bonds rather than arrest and incarceration for offenders on revocation status for nonpayment when the total amount of fees and costs owed is minimal. The judge can convert the cash bond into costs owed should the offender fail to comply with conditions of supervision.

When appropriate, and considering public safety and the safety of the victim, expand the use of home detention in lieu of jail, as a condition of probation or for a probation revocation.

Using the Level of Supervision Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) and other tools as appropriate, DOC shall conduct a comprehensive risk/needs assessment of each offender prior to release for the development of a case plan. This plan will form the basis of providing vouchers (or other approved mechanisms) that assist the offender in accessing immediate services, including housing, medication (for example, insulin), mental health services, addiction treatment, and related programs.

Ensure current (within the last six months) release assessment information is provided to the parole board and community corrections boards.

Determine the cost and feasibility to develop a standardized comprehensive profile for each convicted felon, to include a Pre-Sentence Information Report (PSIR) that is entered into an automated system and made accessible to authorized personnel.

Representatives from probation, community corrections, DOC, and local jails must work together to develop and implement a protocol whereby a standardized, comprehensive profile of an offender, the offense, and the victim impact--which may include the PSIR--and individual empirically-based assessment information (such as the Level of Supervision Inventory, and specialized assessments), should follow all individuals convicted of a felony throughout the system, from pre-sentence to release. This assessment should be regularly updated, at a minimum prior to significant decision points in custody or during community supervision, to assure that program placement is linked to criminogenic needs and to document treatment progress and new skills obtained. A systematic quality assurance procedure must be implemented with this initiative. Protocols to share this information while protecting the privacy of the individual must be developed and implemented within and across agencies.

Develop an efficient system for transferring an offender from DOC institutional custody to the custody of community corrections and/or parole supervision.

Form a collaborative of public and private agencies to identify and develop additional housing resources for special populations who have a criminal record (for example, the aging, those with mental illness, people with developmental disabilities, sex offenders,  and those medical problems).

Whenever feasible, ensure every offender leaving jail and prison may obtain a driver's license or verifiable state identification upon release to the community by implementing the following business practices:

 

A. For the Department of Revenue (DOR) to issue a Colorado driver's license or state identification card to an individual incarcerated in a Department of Corrections (DOC) facility, the DOR will accept a certified state or county issued birth certificate and a DOC photo inmate identification card if the name and date of birth on DOC photo inmate identification card match the name on the birth certificate. A match is permissible if DOC card bears the date of birth and the full name of the incarcerated individual, and this name matches the first and last names on the birth certificate. The lack of a middle name or initial on one of these documents will not disallow a match.

B. The Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) will apply for birth certificates in every state (including U.S. territories) on behalf of incarcerated individuals who request this service. Legal citizens born abroad may also qualify, depending upon the funding level of DOC program.  

C. When DOC determines that the full legal name of the incarcerated individual differs from the name on that person's sentencing mittimus, DOC will include that name with the individual's file. Upon release of that individual, DOC will issue the individual a DOC photo inmate identification card bearing both the name entered on the individual's sentencing mittimus as well as the full legal name of that individual.  

D. DOC should sign the newest memorandum of understanding with the Social Security Administration and include all prisons, including the private prisons, on the MOU in order to apply for Social Security cards on behalf of incarcerated individuals whose full legal name they are able to confirm. Eligibility cannot be confined to the name on the mittimus.

E. Arresting entities should confirm and use a person's full legal name on all documents. This may require training on how to properly identify a person upon arrests.

 

F. The law enforcement community, including state patrol, local police, sheriffs, and community corrections, should develop a statewide standard regarding the retention of (and consequences for the destruction of) primary identification documents.

 

G. If the district attorney's office receives information from law enforcement or the defense counsel concerning a defendant's true name and identity, the district attorney's office will review documents and, when appropriate, notify the Court so that the mittimus may reflect the defendant's true name and identity.

 

H. If the defense counsel receives information concerning a defendant's true name and identity, the defense counsel will review documents and, when appropriate, notify the district attorney's office and the Court so that the mittimus may reflect the defendant's true name and identity.

 

I. The importance of placing the full legal name on an individual's court record, including the mittimus, as an AKA at the request of a party, should be underscored to judges and clerks.

 

J. The state court system should investigate whether the court record, if filed in a name other than the individual's full legal name, could contain a field to record the individual's full legal name in addition to listing the full legal name as an AKA, at the request of a party.

 

K. The Department of Public Health and Environment's Office of Vital Records should develop a memorandum of understanding with departments of corrections in every state. This will allow departments of corrections in states other than Colorado to apply for birth certificates on behalf of inmates born in Colorado.

 

L. Jail and DOC personnel should provide a one-page explanation to all individuals leaving these facilities who will need to appear at a Division of Motor Vehicle office in order to obtain a driver's license or state identification card.

M. The General Assembly should provide DOC and jails with the necessary funding to accomplish the tasks explained here, including fees to purchase birth certificates, dossiers, and other required documents.

 

N. The Commission supports the effort of the Legislative Oversight Committee for the Study of the Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness Who Are Involved in the Justice System to obtain and fund a van that will travel to jails and other locations in the seven-metro county area to provide identification documents

 

O. The Commission supports DOC's pilot ID project with the DOR involving mobile units that issue identification to individuals releasing from incarceration.

 

P. All parties addressed in these recommendations should report their progress back to the Commission in February 2009.

Any limitation or restriction of an offender's driver's license while on parole and community corrections must be based on specific, written, and standardized criteria.

Because the research is conclusive that stable and meaningful employment is critical to recidivism reduction, the Department of Corrections should work with the Department of Labor and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, private businesses, trade unions, along with city, county, state and private employers to expand the number and scope of vocational programs offered in prison, and to ensure that the job skills offered by these programs are relevant and transferable to the current job market. Job placement and job readiness programs should be added in the Department of Corrections, and should be a priority for offenders approaching their release date. A focus on creating jobs for individuals coming from the Department of Corrections should be a priority for the collaborating entities.

Upon request and as appropriate, job supervisors at the Department of Corrections should be encouraged to write job recommendations for individuals being released from incarceration.

Technological advances should be explored to provide long distance learning opportunities so that to individuals registered in these classes will not lose time or momentum when transferred to a different facility.

As part of the contract award process, the Department of Corrections will give preference to private service vendors (for example, for treatment, drug tests, etc.) who provide extended hours of operation during the week and/or weekend hours. The Department of Corrections can waive this requirement for vendors in under-served areas of the state, or for those providers for whom this requirement would prevent the delivery of services.

Provide funding to enhance the technology available to the parole board members, hearing officers, and administrative law judges so that they may obtain items such as laptop computers, other hardware, software, and video conferencing, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of parole board hearings and operations. Allow electronic requests for modifications of conditions of parole.

The Commission requests that an independent agency with expertise in paroling authorities (in particular, the Center for Effective Public Policy) provide technical assistance to the parole board to increase efficiency and effectiveness. This assistance would involve bringing to Colorado experts in parole and release to engage in the following tasks:

The Commission requests that the Department of Public Safety, on behalf of the Colorado Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission, apply for funding from the JEHT Foundation* to provide the aforementioned assistance.

To promote continuity of supervision, the Department of Corrections should develop consistent policies and trainings that promote uniformity in establishing and implementing discretionary conditions and privileges of parole supervision.

The Commission supports the Department of Corrections' effort to develop more flexibility in reporting options for parolees.

With limited exceptions, when someone has been transitioned out under inmate status, provide a date-certain release for offenders in community corrections while retaining the authority of the parole board to conduct a rescission hearing and extend or vacate the parole date in the event of noncompliance. Specifically, when an inmate is accepted in community corrections as a transition client, the parole board should set a parole date no later than 12 months from the date of placement in residential community corrections. Likewise, when an inmate has been placed in the Intensive Supervision Program-Inmate (ISP-I), the parole board should set a date for parole at 180 days from the placement on ISP-I.

For individuals entering community corrections facilities, provide the opportunity to defer the first two to four weeks of subsistence payments for those who are indigent.

Commission supports the Department of Corrections' effort to expand parenting and bonding programs.