The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard HB 1120 sponsored by Sens. Koch, Young, Gaskill, and Taylor regarding educational credit time. The bill sets forth new guidelines related to educational credit time for a person incarcerated in the Department of Correction (DOC) after June 30, 2020. Specifically, the bill mandates that DOC implement individualized evidence-based case management plans, successful completion of which will entitle an inmate to educational credit time. The bill also provides DOC discretion to determine the amount of credit to award an inmate who successfully completes a case management plan subject to their rulemaking authority. The maximum amount of credit a person may earn for completion of a case management plan is the lesser of two (2) years; or one-third (1/3) of the person’s total applicable credit time.
The bill was amended by consent to provide statutory authority for a community corrections director to deprive an inmate of credit time. The amendment also provided the prosecution with authority to request a trial court to revoke placement.
The Department of Correction and Ivy Tech Community College testified in support of the bill. The Indiana Public Defender Council testified in support of the bill as written but opposed providing authority to the prosecutor to seek revocation. The amended bill passed 8-0.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/house/1120.