FISCAL NOTE

House Bill 55 as amended and reported by the Committee on Ways and Means General Fund requires the establishment of a community punishment and corrections (CPC) program in each Judicial Circuit in the state by January 1, 2023 with exceptions. In addition, this bill requires the Department of Corrections (DOC) to reimburse each CPC program a per diem rate of at least $15 per day, up to $20 per day, for each offender in a CPC, based on risk level assessment. This would increase the obligations of the department by 1) a minimum estimated $76,000 to provide start-up costs in each of the six judicial circuits that do not have a CPC or alternative program for an estimated total of $456,000; 2) an estimated minimum of $4.6 million, up to an estimated maximum of $9.3 million, for fiscal year 2023, to provide the above per diem for each inmate that is currently in a CPC program; 3) an estimated minimum $2.7 million, up to an estimated maximum of $3.7 million, for fiscal year 2023 to provide the above per diem for each inmate that becomes eligible to participate in a CPC program in a judicial circuit that currently does not have a CPC program or an inmate in a county in a judicial circuit without a CPC program that is now eligible to participate in the program within the judicial circuit; 4) an estimated minimum $9.9 million, up to an estimated maximum of $17.3 million, for fiscal year 2024 and thereafter for per diem costs; and 5) an undetermined amount to provide for annual operating costs for each CPC program established in judicial circuits that currently do not have a program. This increase in obligations could be offset, in whole or in part, by additional appropriations from the State General Fund. DOC was appropriated $14.1 million from the State General Fund for the Community Corrections Program in Fiscal Year 2022. This amount was also in the Fiscal year 2023 State General Fund appropriation bill recommended by the Governor.

This bill could also decrease the administrative obligations of the department by an undetermined amount dependent on the number of offenders sentenced to community corrections that otherwise would have been sentenced to a state facility.

This bill could increase the obligations of county commissions in judicial circuits that do not have a CPC program by an undetermined amount, dependent on whether an authority or nonprofit entity will operate the CPC program in that county. However, this bill provides that the provisions therein shall not require a county commission to provide funding for a CPC program.