The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard HB 1369 on sentencing sponsored by Sen. M. Young.Theauthor, Rep. Morris, introduced the bill whichallows an inmate to petition for relief from the inmate’s sentence for certain offenses committed before July 1, 2014. The bill reduces the number of consecutive years that an inmate must be confined to the custody of the Department of Correction (DOC), for an offense committed before July 1, 2014, before DOC identifies the inmate to the parole board and provides the parole board with the inmate’s offender progress report. The bill provides that upon recommendation by DOC, the parole board may consider certain factors and discharge an inmate if:
- the inmate has served a sentence for an offense that was committed before July 1, 2014, that meets or exceeds 75% of the current advisory sentence, including any credit time earned or accrued, for the offense on the date the inmate files for a petition for discharge; or
- the inmate has served a sentence for an offense that was committed before July 1, 2014, that meets or exceeds 75% of the maximum sentence for the same offense that the inmate is currently petitioning for relief.
The bill also provides that when determining whether an inmate has served 75% of the inmate’s sentence, the parole board shall consider the substantially equivalent offense committed before July 1, 2014 and any enhancing circumstances.
The bill was amended by consent to establish a procedure to allow certain inmates confined to DOC an additional opportunity to request sentence modification from the sentencing court if DOC has recommended sentence modification. The amendment requires that an inmate who receives sentence modification be placed under supervision of a community transition program, court, community corrections program, or supervised reentry program.
Representatives from DOC and Indiana Public Defender Council testified in support of the bill. The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council testified in opposition. The amended bill passed 6-1.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2022/bills/house/1369