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(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

The purpose of House Bill 310 is to appropriate $1,000,000 from the state's general fund to the Regional Juvenile Services Grant Fund for expenditure in FY2000 and subsequent fiscal years for the purpose of developing a regional system of non-secure alternatives to detention for juveniles.

Significant Issues

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of the year shall not revert to the general fund

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The judiciary reports any fiscal impact on the judiciary would result from the sentencing of more juveniles to non-secure alternatives thus, requiring additional judicial time for tracking cases to completion, including probation and compliance with other conditions of release.

The Criminal Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (CJJCC) reports the development of a regional system of non-secure alternatives to detention of juveniles could provide some significant cost savings for the state. A study completed by UNM's Institute for Social Research in 1995 found that non-secure alternatives to detention in Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia counties were much lower than costs of detention. The community monitoring program had an average daily cost of $8 compared to daily juvenile detention costs of $115 in Bernalillo county, $105 in Sandoval county and $114 in Valencia County.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

CJJCC reports: "Secure detention is the most expensive way of ensuring that the child appears for court hearings and does not commit a new violation between arrest and adjudication. If juveniles can be supervised adequately through less costly, community-based programs, a substantial savings in detention costs might be realized."

According to CJJCC, non-secure alternatives include home detention, intensive supervision, electronic monitoring, day reporting centers, access to secure shelter beds and drug screening devices. Home detention programs have been implemented successfully in many parts of the country, with fewer than 10% of juveniles failing to appear at hearings and only 10-20% committing new violations of the law. The programs are most appropriate for medium-risk youth, that is, juveniles accused of moderately serious offenses who pose some risk of flight or nonappearance, but who do not pose a clear and present danger to the community.

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