A. The corrections department shall develop and implement a special incarceration alternative program for certain adult male and adult female felony offenders pursuant to this section. The program shall provide substance abuse counseling and treatment, high school equivalency credential preparatory courses, manual labor assignments, physical training and drills, training in decision-making and personal development and pre-release skills training. The programs shall be conducted in a strict disciplinary environment. Emphasis shall be given to rehabilitation of alcohol and substance abusers. The corrections department shall require that program participants complete a structured, ninety-day program.

B. Participation in the program shall be limited to those offenders sentenced on or after July 1, 1990. Offenders ineligible to participate in the program are offenders:

(1) sentenced to death;

(2) who have received a life sentence;

(3) with a record of prior confinement for a felony conviction;

(4) convicted of murder in the first or second degree, child abuse resulting in death or great bodily harm, criminal sexual penetration in the first or second degree or criminal sexual contact with a minor;

(5) convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory sentence that cannot be suspended or deferred;

(6) who have participated in a special incarceration alternative program in the past;

(7) who are more than thirty years of age at time of sentencing; or

(8) who do not volunteer to participate in the program and who do not agree to the special conditions of probation for successful program participants.

C. The corrections department shall develop and adopt regulations to provide for the screening of all convicted felons sentenced to the custody of the corrections department. The regulations shall provide that the screening occurs within thirty days of sentencing. Persons deemed suitable under the regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection shall not be denied eligibility for participation in the program solely due to physical disability.

D. If the sentencing court accepts the recommendation of the corrections department that the offender is suitable for participation in a special incarceration alternative program, the court shall resentence the offender to provide that, in the event the offender successfully completes the program, the remainder of the sentence shall be suspended and the offender shall be placed on probation for the remainder of the term. The sentencing court shall be notified in writing by the corrections department of the offender's successful completion of the special incarceration alternative program.

E. The corrections department may contract for the design, construction and lease of a facility to house a special incarceration alternative program with public or private agencies, entities or persons capable of providing financing or construction of such a facility. The facility shall be operated by the corrections department.

F. Appropriate post-institutional treatment shall be made available by the corrections department to the offender.

History: Laws 1990, ch. 51, § 1; 2015, ch. 122, § 16.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, replaced the term "general education diploma" with "high school equivalency credential" in the provision relating to special incarceration alternative programs for certain felony offenders in the custody of the corrections department; in Subsection A, after "treatment", deleted "general education diploma" and added "high school equivalency credential".