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H4969 VERSION AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE AND SENT TO SENATE SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a Correction Citizen Review Board. Said Board shall consist of seventeen members, including three members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, at least two of whom shall be members of the House of Representatives, three members appointed by the Senate President, at least two of whom shall be members of the Senate, three members appointed by the Governor including the commissioner of the department of public health, the secretary of public safety and the chairperson of the parole board, one member appointed by the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, one member appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, two members appointed by the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union, one member appointed by Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, one member appointed by the inspector general, one member appointed by the Women’s Bar Association and one member appointed by the Victim Witness Program. The terms of the members appointed to said Board by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President shall be for three years. The terms of the members appointed to said Board by the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association, the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union and the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services shall be for two years and, at the expiration of the first two-year term of the first members appointed by the Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association, the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union and the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, for three years thereafter. The terms of the members appointed to the board by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Victim and Witness Program, the inspector general and the Women’s Bar Association shall be for 1 year and, at the expiration of the first one-year term of the first members appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Victim and Witness Program, the inspector general and the Women’s Bar Association, for three years thereafter. No member of said Board shall be appointed to serve more than two consecutive three-year terms. Said Board shall annually elect a chairperson. Members of said Board shall receive no compensation but each member shall be reimbursed by the Commonwealth for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her official duties. Said Board shall adopt bylaws to govern its own proceedings. SECTION 2. Members of Correction Citizen Review Board shall have access to all Massachusetts Correctional Institutions and all inmates therein upon furnishing a photo identification provided by the Executive Office of Public Safety between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm and upon 48 hours notice to the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am. SECTION 3. The Correction Citizen Review Board shall have the following duties: (a) It shall study the medical services, including mental health and substance abuse treatment services, and educational, vocational, employment and rehabilitation programs available to prisoners; (b) It shall review the annual plans and the budget of the Department of Correction and shall make recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on Public Safety in regard thereto; (c) It shall report on the general state of correctional facilities, their administration of correctional policy and practices, the living conditions of inmates therein, the general state of working conditions for Department of Correction employees and, where appropriate, the impact of Department of Correction policies and inmate living conditions upon rates of recidivism and over-classification; (d) It shall hold quarterly meetings; (e) It shall advise the Commissioner of the Department of Correction on policy development and priorities for Department of Correction facilities as well as on the Department’s compliance with legislative and judicial mandates; (f) It shall issue public reports annually to the Department of Correction and the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate; (g) It shall report annually on the staffing of Unit 4 positions, so called, in each state correctional institution. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, the following: The number of Unit 4 positions broken down by correctional institution, and the numberof Unit 4 positions vacant; the number of Unit 4 positions lost toretirement, discharge or resignation and the number that have been replaced; a breakdown by correctional facility of the staff hours of overtime worked by Unit 4 personnel and the annual aggregate costs related to this overtime; the number of reported assaults upon Unit 4 personnel; the number of Unit 4 personnel out on industrial accident leave, and for each individual, the length of time on leave. SECTION 4. This act shall expire on January 1, 2012. |
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