Opinion ID: 2150185
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: overview of the creation under l.b. 46 of community corrections council and sentencing guidelines

Text: In 2001, the Governor convened the Community Corrections Working Group. The group worked within the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. The group's goal was to address Nebraska's rising prison costs by (1) developing less expensive community-based correctional options for nonviolent offenders and (2) reducing the State's reliance on incarceration for these offenders. [3] In passing 2003 Neb. Laws, L.B. 46, the Legislature adopted many of the group's proposals. [4] At the committee hearing, the introducer of L.B. 46 stated that the goal was to limit the use of incarceration and to prevent Nebraska's correctional system from bankrupting the state of Nebraska. [5] He explained that the budget for the Department of Correctional Services had increased 100 percent from fiscal year 1996-97 to fiscal year 2002-03. He projected that even with completion of a new correctional facility in 2001, the prison population would reach 153 percent of design capacity by 2005. [6] In passing L.B. 46, the Legislature enhanced treatment programs for substance abuse offenders and required participants in both probation and non-probation-based programs to pay fees toward the costs of services. [7] Also, as part of L.B. 46, the Legislature enacted the Community Corrections Act. [8] The act establishes community-based correctional alternatives for some offenders. The Legislature specifically intended to [p]rovide for the development and establishment of community-based facilities and programs in Nebraska for adult offenders and encourage the use of such facilities and programs by sentencing courts and the Board of Parole as alternatives to incarceration or reincarceration, in order to reduce prison overcrowding and enhance offender supervision in the community. [9] To carry out the program, the act created the Community Corrections Council (hereinafter the Council). [10] The Council's duties include (1) developing a statewide plan for community correctional facilities and programs, [11] (2) developing eligibility standards for probationers and parolees in community facilities and programs, [12] and (3) recommending sentencing guidelines for adoption by this court. [13] In addition to mandating that the Council develop sentencing guidelines, the Legislature also mandated that we adopt sentencing guidelines: In order to facilitate the purposes of the Community Corrections Act, the Supreme Court shall by court rule adopt guidelines for sentencing of persons convicted of certain crimes. [14] Also, § 47-630(4) provides that [t]he Council shall develop and periodically review the guidelines and, when appropriate, recommend amendments to the guidelines. Obviously, this means the Council would periodically recommend that we adopt amendments to the guidelines. In February 2007, the Council filed a petition with this court requesting that we adopt and implement by court rule its voluntary sentencing guidelines for felony drug offenses. The Council also asked that we develop, in coordination with the Council, protocols and curriculum for training judges, probation officers, county attorneys, and defense counsel.