Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 004 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › Rule 004.00.91-018 - Inmates with at Terminal Illness

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
850 Inmates with at Terminal Illness
I.
AUTHORITY
;
The Board of Correction is vested with the authority to
			 promulgate administrative regulations by Act 50 of 1968, First Extraordinary
			 Session, as amended; authority to release terminally ill inmates is granted
			 through Act 771 of 1991, Regular Session.
II.
PURPOSE
:
Establishes the criteria for determination of terminal illness,
			 and the procedures for considering the release of terminally ill
			 inmates.
III.
APPLICABILITY
:
To those convicted felons not under sentence of death who have
			 been identified by the medical authority as having terminal illness; medical
			 staff and staff filling positions listed as being on the screening committee;
			 the Director and such staff as are involved with the release of inmates.
IV.
DEFINITIONS
:
A.
Terminal illness
- An illness which, in the
		  independent opinion of two physicians, can be expected, on the average, to
		  result in death within 12 months of the date of the medical
		  examination.
B.
Reasonable risk
- An assessment made by the screening
		  committee, with the assistance of any professional advice sought by the
		  committee, that the risk to the community of releasing a particular individual
		  is minimal based on the incapacitation of that individual due to ongoing
		  physical debility and/or based on the rehabilitated status of the
		  individual.
C.
Screening Committee
- A committee the specific
		  composition of which may vary at the discretion of the Director, which would
		  typically include:
1. the Deputy Director, as
		  Committee Chair
2. a representative
		  of Mental Health Services
3. the
		  Administrator of Medical Services
4. a Unit Warden
5. a representative of Parole
		  Services.
D.
Emergency
- A condition which may be declared, by the
		  Director, to exist when the death of an inmate is imminent, so that certain
		  procedural aspects of staffing and due process can be accelerated or
		  waived.
V.
POLICY
:
It shall be the policy of the Department of Correction to
			 establish a screening committee to collect and evaluate information on any
			 inmate identified as having a terminal illness and to recommend to the Director
			 the release of terminally ill inmates who can be returned to the community with
			 minimal risk.
VI.
PROCEDURE
:
A. The
		  medical director will furnish to the Administrator of Medical Services, on a
		  quarterly basis, a list of inmates suffering chronic debilitation and/or acute
		  irreversible illness or injury. A prognosis will be given for each inmate, and
		  if that prognosis is terminal, an expected life span will be stated. This list
		  may also be issued on an emergency basis.
B. The Administrator of Medical Services will
		  notify the other members of the screening committee established by the
		  Director. Those members will request reports, as needed, and assemble available
		  information pertinent to the condition and risk of release of the
		  inmate.
C. The screening committee
		  will meet, and staff the inmate to complete and to check the accuracy of the
		  information. The inmate will be given notification of the staffing, at least 10
		  working days prior, unless emergency conditions prevail, and will be allowed to
		  testify and to present the documentary testimony of others during the course of
		  the staffing.
D. The staffing
		  report, signed by members of the screening committee, will be submitted to the
		  Director. The staffing report will state the recommendation of the screening
		  committee and the evidence on which that recommendation is based. All documents
		  collected for the screening process will be appended to the report. Any member
		  of the screening committee voting against the majority recommendation may
		  include, along with those documents, a dissent to the recommendation.
E. The Director will provide the staffing
		  report and attached documentation to the Board of Correction for any individual
		  recommended for release under Act 771. Should an emergency situation exist, the
		  Director may ask the Chairman of the Board to poll the members by
		  phone.
F. The Board will recommend
		  continued incarceration, or set a release date for the inmate. Should continued
		  incarceration be recommended, the Board will determine the circumstances, if
		  any, under which further consideration may be given.
Board of Correction Approval Date: 8/28/91
Attorney General Review Date: 8/28/91
Date Filed Secy, of State: 8/29/91