La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 658 — LA Code / Code code-of-criminal-procedure / Article 658
Probation; conditional release; reporting
Status: in_force

A. When the committed person is released on probation, which shall also be known as conditional release, the clerk of court shall deliver to him a certificate setting forth the period and the conditions of his probation. It shall be a condition of every such probation that the person released shall be recommitted if he becomes dangerous to others or to himself for reasons of mental illness, substance abuse, or intellectual disability. The probationer shall be required to agree in writing to the conditions of his probation.

B.(1) The probationer shall be under the supervision of the division of probation and parole. When the probationer violates or is about to violate the conditions of his probation, he may be arrested and detained in conformity with the applicable provisions of Article 899 of this Code.

(2) The Louisiana Department of Health shall be responsible for the community treatment and monitoring of persons placed on outpatient status under this Chapter. These services shall be available on a parish or regional basis. The department may provide treatment services directly or through contracts with private providers or local jurisdictions.

(3) The department shall designate for each parish or for each region comprised of two or more parishes a conditional release program coordinator, who shall be responsible for the provisions specified in this Chapter. The coordinator shall monitor the forensic aftercare provider's implementation of the conditional release order and the forensic aftercare provider's submission to the court of written reports on the acquittee's progress, adjustment in the community, and compliance with the order no less frequently than ninety days after admission to the program and every one hundred eighty days thereafter.

(4) If a person on conditional release or otherwise probated under this Chapter is in need of acute, i.e. short-term, hospitalization and is not charged with a new criminal offense, he may be voluntarily admitted pursuant to R.S. 28:52 or admitted by emergency certificate pursuant to R.S. 28:53 to the Feliciana Forensic Facility or to another suitable treatment facility, with subsequent notice to the court. Transportation to and from the receiving hospital may be effected by the Feliciana Forensic Facility or the sheriff of the parish of incarceration. Hospital discharge of the person under this provision shall be at the discretion of the clinical director of the facility and a hospital admission pursuant to this provision will not be grounds for revocation or recommitment under Subparagraph (C)(4) of this Article. However, the discharge of a person based on the need for indefinite hospitalization or noncompliance with treatment recommendations shall be grounds for revocation or recommitment.

(5) The division of probation and parole or the Louisiana Department of Health through the conditional release program coordinator or a designee shall immediately notify the court of any substantive violations or imminent violations of the conditions of a person's probated release and shall present recommendations to the court regarding whether the court should revoke the probation and recommit the probationer to a state mental institution or other recommendations as may be appropriate.

(6) The court, on its own motion or that of the district attorney or probation officer, or upon receiving a report recommending revocation or other disposition from the conditional release program coordinator, may cause the person to be arrested, if he is not already in custody, and shall immediately hold a hearing to consider the violations listed or transfer the case to the parish of commitment, if different from that of the arrest, at which place the hearing should be held as soon as possible.

C. If the court determines that there has been a violation or that the probationer was about to violate the conditions of release or probation it may do any of the following:

(1) Reprimand and warn the probationer.

(2) Order that supervision be intensified.

(3) Modify or add additional conditions to the probation.

(4) Revoke the probation and recommit the probationer to a state mental institution, subject to consideration for discharge or release on probation only after one year has elapsed from the date of revocation and in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Articles 655 through 657 of this Code for a first application and hearing. If the probation is revoked and the probationer recommitted, the court shall provide the hospital with the report of the probation officer or forensic aftercare provider regarding the details of the violations involved.

D. The court may completely discharge the probationer after the expiration of one year in a supervised conditional release program only on recommendation of the director of the division of probation and parole or the administrator of the conditional release program or on other proper evidence of expected outpatient compliance with any continued treatment recommendations, and after a contradictory hearing with the district attorney.

E. No person who is on outpatient conditional release status pursuant to this Chapter shall leave this state without first obtaining written approval to do so from the director of the division of probation and parole and the administrator of the conditional release program. Any person who violates the provisions of this Paragraph may be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than one year, or both.

Acts 1985, No. 925, §1; Acts 1995, No. 800, §1; Acts 2014, No. 811, §31, eff. June 23, 2014.