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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Jaret Gibbons |
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Gibbons' initiative approved by committee
HARRISBURG, May 12 – State Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-Lawrence/Beaver/Butler, announced that legislation he sponsored that would require the Department of Corrections to hold a public hearing prior to entering into any contracts with private vendors for community corrections services for inmates with prerelease status or who are on parole has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee.
Gibbons said his legislation, H.B. 1281, also would require the department to notify the public when a hearing is to be held, including the topic, location and time of the public hearing, and a contact number for people to call for additional information.
"This issue has been close to my heart since last year, when the department accepted a proposal from a private contractor to open a privately operated community corrections center in my district in Wayne Township, Lawrence County," Gibbons said. "Local officials weren't notified, and had it not been for vigilance by members of the local planning commission, the facility would have been built and running without any input from the community."
Gibbons said he considers his proposal a good-government initiative that would provide residents with full disclosure of the department’s intent and the opportunity to ask questions prior to the establishment of a community corrections center or the department entering into any contracts.
Currently, courts may impose a sentence of intermediate punishment on offenders with addiction problems that can include a period of incarceration, institutional and community-based therapeutic treatment, and treatment in an outpatient addiction treatment facility. Further, the department can also provide a period of supervised community reintegration. Inmates receiving outpatient therapeutic services from the department reside in community corrections centers located throughout the Commonwealth.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
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