New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10A - CORRECTIONS › Chapter 9 - CLASSIFICATION PROCESS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 10A:9-1.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Assaultive offense" means a criminal conviction for an offense involving violence or use of force, or any offense involving the threat or attempted use of force or violence including, but not limited to, a sexual offense, carjacking, and kidnapping.
"Assessment scale" means a fixed progressive reference system used as a measurement standard to determine the relative value, degree, importance, rank, or rating of factors including, but not limited to, criminal and/or assaultive offenses or prohibited acts, escape history, time to expiration of sentence or parole, inmate age, education, employment history, alcohol/drug use, or correctional facility program participation.
"Classification Committee" means a group of correctional staff members that have been designated to make decisions related to the needs of inmates from admission to discharge.
"Classification material" means the documents in a classification folder on which information regarding an inmate is recorded such as, but not limited to, psychological or psychiatric evaluations, rap sheets, disciplinary charges, program participation, pre-sentence reports, and medical reports.
"Custody status" means the custody assignment of an inmate. There are six categories: close custody, maximum custody, medium custody, gang minimum custody, full minimum custody, and community custody.
"Detainer" means a warrant or formal authorization to hold an inmate for prosecution or detention by a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency or the Department of Homeland Security-Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"Gap time credit" means the credit awarded by the sentencing court for the period of time between dates of sentence when a defendant, who has previously been sentenced to imprisonment, is subsequently sentenced to another term for an offense committed prior to the former sentence, other than an offense committed while in custody.
"Increased custody" means assignment of an inmate to a custody level that requires more supervision.
"Initial classification" means the process by which an inmate is reviewed and/or evaluated upon admission to the Department of Corrections in order to determine the initial custody status, correctional facility, program and job assignment.
"Initial Instrument" means an objective classification scoring instrument that is weighted to evaluate an inmate's prior criminal history and selected stability factors to determine the inmate's initial custody level, correctional facility, program and job assignment.
"Intensive Supervision Program" means the program which permits certain offenders sentenced to State correctional institutions to be sentenced by a Resentencing Panel of judges to an intermediate form of punishment between incarceration and probation.
"Jones Farm" means a community-based satellite unit of New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) that houses inmates in full minimum custody status who meet the criteria for assignment to that facility.
"Mandatory minimum term" means a period of parole ineligibility imposed by the court in addition to the maximum term.
"No Early Release Act (NERA)," 2C:43-7.2, means the Act that requires that persons who are sentenced to prison terms for committing certain enumerated crimes of the first and second degree be required to serve at least 85 percent of the term of incarceration imposed by the court before being eligible for parole.
"Non-permissible" means a detainer/open charge that precludes an inmate from being eligible for minimum custody as defined in
10A:9-4.6
.
"Objective classification" means the system that allows for an inmate to be scored using standardized evaluations and objectively-defined criteria in order to determine an inmate's custody level.
"Open charge" means an offense for which an inmate has been arrested but that lacks a final disposition and which is not represented by a detainer.
"Override Code Reference Index" means a list of justification codes used to document when an inmate is assigned to a custody status other than the recommended custody status indicated by the custody level score on an objective classification scoring instrument.
"Permissible" means a detainer/open charge that does not preclude an inmate from being eligible for minimum custody as defined in
10A:9-4.6
.
"Pre-Sentence Investigation Report" (PSI) means a report that contains the summary of the State's allegations, statements by the victim and defendant, the defendant's prior criminal history, and other information such as prior work and education history.
"Prison Rape Elimination Act" (PREA) means the Federal Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. This act was established to provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, state, and local institutions and provide information, resources, and recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment. The major provisions of PREA include adherence to a zero-tolerance standard for the incidence of inmate sexual assault and rape, the development of standards for the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape, and the collection and dissemination of information on the incidence of prison rape.
"Rahway Camp" means a community-based satellite unit of East Jersey State Prison that houses inmates in full minimum custody status who meet the criteria for assignment to that facility.
"Reclassification" means the process by which an inmate is reviewed and/or evaluated subsequent to initial classification to determine future custody level, correctional facility, program and job assignment.
"Reclassification Instrument" means an objective classification scoring instrument that is weighted to evaluate an inmate's correctional facility adjustment subsequent to initial classification to determine custody level, correctional facility, program and job assignment.
"Reduced custody" means assignment of an inmate to a custody level that requires less supervision.
"Reduced custody status" means an assignment of an inmate to a minimum custody level, such as gang minimum, full minimum or community.
"Security level" means the physical attributes of a correctional facility or housing unit in primarily objective terms related to perimeter security, operating procedures, and internal housing configurations to identify the highest custody level of inmates allowed.
"Severity of Offense Scale" means a fixed progressive reference system consisting of criminal offenses and point values designated for use with the Initial and Reclassification Instruments that are grouped according to the severity and degree of the crime and used to rate criminal offense related criteria.
"Severity of Offense--Disciplinary Infractions Scale" means a fixed progressive reference system consisting of prohibited acts and point values grouped according to the severity of the infraction to rate the disciplinary history of an inmate on the reclassification instrument.