Art. 895.6. Compliance credits; probation

A.(1) Except as provided in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, every defendant on felony probation pursuant to Article 893 for an offense other than a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) or a sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541 shall be eligible to earn a diminution of probation term, to be known as "earned compliance credits", by good behavior, in accordance with the procedure provided in Article 893. The amount of diminution of probation term allowed under this Article shall be at the rate of thirty days for every full calendar month on probation.

(2) A defendant who is ordered by the court to enter and complete a specialty court program is not eligible to receive earned compliance credits pursuant to the provisions of this Article. For purposes of this Article, "specialty court program" includes any of the following: a program provided by the drug division of the district court pursuant to R.S. 13:5301, an established driving while intoxicated court or sobriety court program, a mental health court program established pursuant to R.S. 13:5351 et seq., a Veterans Court program established pursuant to R.S. 13:5361 et seq., a reentry court established pursuant to R.S. 13:5401, or the Swift and Certain Probation Pilot Program established pursuant to R.S. 13:5371.

B.(1) If the defendant's probation and parole officer has reasonable cause to believe that a defendant on felony probation has not been compliant with the conditions of his probation in a given calendar month, he may rescind thirty days of earned compliance credits as an administrative sanction pursuant to Article 899.2. Credits may be rescinded only for a month in which the defendant is found not to be in compliance.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the provisions of Article 899.2(A)(3) requiring consent of the defendant shall not apply to the rescinding of earned compliance credits as an administrative sanction under Article 899.2.

C. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall develop written policies and procedures for the implementation of earned compliance credits for defendants on felony probation supervision provided for by the provisions of this Article. The policies and procedures shall include but not be limited to written guidelines regarding the process to rescind earned compliance credits, and the placement of these credits in the administrative sanctions grid. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall also collect data on the implementation of earned compliance credits, including the names of defendants that earned credits, how many credits are applied to each defendant, and reductions to supervision periods at the time of discharge.

D. When a defendant's total probation term is satisfied through a combination of time served on felony probation and earned compliance credits, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall order the termination of the probation of the defendant.

Acts 2017, No. 280, §1, eff. November 1, 2017; Acts 2018, No. 508, §1; Acts 2018, No. 668, §2.