KRS § 6.949 — KY Code / Title II / Chapter 6 / Section 6.949
6.949 Corrections impact statement -- Conditions in legislation requiring preparation -- Contents of corrections impact statement -- Calculation of costs and savings of creation of new crime or revision of existing crime
Status: in_force

6.949 Corrections impact statement -- Conditions in legislation requiring

preparation -- Contents of corrections impact statement -- Calculation of costs

and savings of creation of new crime or revision of existing crime.

(1) Any bill, amendment, or committee substitute that creates a new crime, increases

the penalty for an existing crime, decreases the penalty for an existing crime,

changes the elements of the offense for an existing crime, repeals an existing crime,

or proposes to increase, decrease, or otherwise impact incarceration shall be

identified by the staff of the Legislative Research Commission as having a

corrections impact on a "Corrections Impact Statement" form specified by the

Legislative Research Commission.

(2) If a bill, amendment, or committee substitute is identified as having a corrections

impact under subsection (1) of this section, the staff of the Legislative Research

Commission shall notify the sponsor of the bill, amendment, or committee

substitute that a corrections impact is required.

(3) If a bill, amendment, or committee substitute is identified as having a corrections

impact, a "Corrections Impact Statement" shall be prepared by the staff of the

Department of Corrections with the assistance of the Department of Kentucky State

Police, Administrative Office of the Courts, Parole Board, and other persons,

agencies, or organizations deemed necessary by the Department of Corrections staff

assigned to prepare the corrections impact statement. The Department of Kentucky

State Police, Administrative Office of the Courts, Parole Board, and other persons,

agencies, and organizations that have been requested to provide information for the

corrections impact statement shall do so within the period of time specified by the

Department of Corrections staff person requesting the information, which in no case

shall exceed two (2) business days unless an extension is granted by the requesting

staff person.

(4) The corrections impact statement shall contain the estimated costs, estimated

savings, and necessary appropriations based upon:

(a) Incarceration in jail prior to trial and during trial based on the available

information about persons granted bail or other form of pretrial release and

the length of time spent in jail prior to release;

(b) Supervision of a person who has been granted bail or pretrial release based on

the average time spent between the time of release until the time of trial for

the offense;

(c) Incarceration in jail for a misdemeanor following conviction based on the

maximum time of incarceration authorized for the offense;

(d) Incarceration in a state correctional facility for a capital offense, or felony

offense based on the maximum and minimum length of incarceration

authorized for the offense, except for offenses in which incarceration in a

county jail for a Class D felony is required;

(e) Incarceration in a county jail for a Class D felony for which incarceration in a

county jail is authorized based on the maximum and minimum sentence of

incarceration authorized for a Class D felony;

(f) Probation or conditional discharge supervision based on the maximum time of

probation or conditional discharge authorized for the offense;

(g) Parole supervision based on the minimum expiration of sentence; and

(h) Treatment, education, and other programs which are to be paid by the state

based on the average costs actually paid by the Department of Corrections

during the previous fiscal year.

(5) Insofar as possible, costs and savings for a change to an existing crime shall be

calculated using:

(a) Arrest data for the crime from the Department of Kentucky State Police;

(b) Pretrial incarceration data from the Administrative Office of the Courts;

(c) Preconviction jail data from the Administrative Office of the Courts;

(d) Conviction data from the Administrative Office of the Courts;

(e) Postconviction jail and imprisonment data from the Department of

Corrections;

(f) Probation and parole data from the Department of Corrections; and

(g) Data from applicable agencies or organizations providing treatment,

education, or other mandated programs.

(6) Insofar as possible, costs or savings for a new crime shall be calculated in the same

manner as specified in subsection (5) of this section using data for similar crimes

unless that is determined by the Department of Corrections staff person to be

impractical or impossible in which case the estimate for a new crime may be

prepared using:

(a) The maximum and minimum length of incarceration for the offense;

(b) An estimate of cost based on ten (10) persons being charged with the offense,

and based on one hundred (100) persons being charged with the offense;

(c) An estimate of cost based on ten (10) persons and one hundred (100) persons

being convicted of the offense and sent to jail if the offense is a misdemeanor

using the criteria specified in subsection (7) of this section; and

(d) An estimate of cost based on ten (10) persons and one hundred (100) persons

being convicted of a felony offense requiring imprisonment in a state-operated

correctional facility unless the offense is a Class D felony for which

imprisonment in a county jail is required in which case the cost shall be based

on the amount paid by the Department of Corrections for a person

incarcerated in a county jail for a Class D felony.

(7) Costs or savings shall be based on the average costs actually paid by the

Department of Corrections during the previous fiscal year for incarceration of a

person in a state correctional facility, the average cost for supervision of a person

placed on probation without electronic monitoring, the average cost of a person

placed on probation with electronic monitoring, the average cost of parole

supervision without electronic monitoring, and the average cost of parole

supervision with electronic monitoring.

(8) In addition to the requirements of subsections (4) to (7) of this section, the

corrections impact statement shall contain:

(a) Any documentation, studies, written opinions, calculations, and citations in

support of the department's findings and conclusions;

(b) An estimate of potential future cost savings, if not already in the statement,

with an explanation why the bill would or would not result in future cost

savings; and

(c) Certification by the commissioner of the department that the information

provided is accurate.

(9) If an amendment to a bill is combined into a committee substitute or a GA version

of the bill is created incorporating a floor amendment, a new corrections impact

statement shall be prepared combining the information in the original bill as

modified by the amendment.