Executive Directive: # 09-07

[IDOCO]

TO: ALL ADULT FACILITIES

FROM: Stanley Knight
Executive Director/Adult Facilities

DATE: February 11, 2009

SUBJECT: Executive Directive: # 09-07


Since the distribution of Executive Directive: # 09-07 which presented changes in the Disciplinary Code for Adult Offenders, there have been questions as to its intent and implementation. This memorandum shall attempt to clarify and answer the questions that have been raised.

Executive Directive: # 09-07 indicated that the changes presented in it were to go into effect on February 15, 2009. It is still the intent of the Department that these changes will go into effect on that date. Facilities are to continue to attempt to identify and use alternative sanctions and reduce the amount of demotions in credit class and the amount of earned credit time that is taken from offenders as a result of disciplinary hearings.

The only exception to the implementation of the changes in Executive Directive: # 09-07 concerns the amount of Disciplinary Segregation that may be imposed as a sanction for a Disciplinary Code violation. It is the intent of the Department that the facilities will reduce the amount of disciplinary segregation time that offenders are given for most offenses. However, for those offenders who commit the most serious (egregious) offenses, such as batteries (A-102), escape (A-108), rioting (A-103), etc., the disciplinary segregation guidelines in the current “Disciplinary Code for Adult Offenders” (2004 edition) shall still be in effect. Accordingly, for the most serious offenses an offender may receive up to one (1) year in disciplinary segregation.

As the changes presented in Executive Directive: # 09-07 are considered a prelude to a complete revision of the “Disciplinary Code for Adult Offenders” later this year, it is anticipated that there may be additional changes in the near future and that questions may arise. Staff will continue to monitor the operation of the Disciplinary Code and will make adjustments as needed.

If you have any questions regarding this memorandum or the changes presented in Executive Directive: # 09-07, please contact the Final Reviewing Authority for Disciplinary Matters, at [phone].

cc: Commissioner
Deputy Commissioner/Operations

[IDOCO]

8. Credit Class Review (Not including CTP):

The Hearing Officer shall review and timely process a disciplinary action which resulted in a credit class demotion. An offender who has been demoted in credit class shall be reviewed for promotion 90 days from the effective date of the last guilty finding by a Hearing Officer until the offender is promoted to Credit Class I.

a. If an offender, while within a Department facility, has maintained a clear conduct record (i.e. NO findings of guilt or guilty pleas for any REPORTS OF CONDUCT for Class A or Class B offenses) for 90 calendar days from the effective date of the last guilty finding by a Hearing Officer or the equivalent person in a jail, the offender shall be promoted to the next higher Credit Class.

b. Offenders convicted of a disciplinary code violation, except for Class C or Class D violations, or who the Parole Board has determined to be parole violators within the 90 days period shall be advised by the Hearing Officer that they shall not be promoted in credit class. The Hearing Officer shall determine the effective date of the offender’s last guilty finding and shall set the date for the offender’s next Credit Class review 90 calendar days from that date. The offender shall be advised as to the date of the next review and that in order to be promoted in Credit Class he/she must maintain a clear conduct record until that date.

c. There shall be no appeal of the denial of a Credit Class promotion due to additional disciplinary actions.

9. Restoration of Earned Credit Time:

a. An offender may petition for the restoration of earned credit time that has been deprived as a result of a disciplinary action while housed in a Department facility, while assigned to a Community Transition Program or in a privately operated facility under contract with the Department, including a county jail. The offender shall use State Form 6949, PETITION FOR RESTORATION OF TIME, for this purpose.

b. The restoration of deprived credit time shall be based solely upon the offender’s behavior. If the offender meets the eligibility criteria, the restoration of deprived credit time shall be automatic. The Facility Head shall designate staff responsible for the review, approval and timely processing of restoration petitions. The staff designated to complete these reviews shall be knowledgeable in these administrative procedures and in the restoration of earned credit time.

c. An offender may petition the staff designated by the Facility Head for restoration of credit time deprived, if the offender meets all of the following eligibility criteria:

(1) Must have attained Credit Class I and been in Credit Class I for a period of 90 days prior to the date of submission of the petition;
(2) Must have no documented findings of guilt in a disciplinary action, except for Class C or Class D violations (i.e., a clear conduct record with no findings of guilt or guilty pleas for any Class A or Class B offenses) for a period of six (6) months from the date of the last disciplinary hearing;
(3) Must not be serving disciplinary segregation time for any disciplinary action;
(4) The offense must not have been for a violation of any federal, state or local criminal law (Code 100), assault with a weapon or inflicting serious injury (Code 102), sexual act on staff or visitor (Code 114), sexual act on an offender (Code 115) or assault on staff (Code 117). An offender who has been found guilty of any of these offenses shall not be eligible for the restoration of any lost earned credit time as a result of that violation; and,
(5) Must have no pending reports of conduct at the time of submission of the petition for restoration of time and must remain free of any reports of conduct until the review of the petition is complete.

d. An offender may file a petition for restoration of time only once each six (6) calendar months from the date of submission of the last petition. The credit time being requested must be credit time that was deprived while serving the current sentence. Credit time deprived while serving a previous sentence or prior to release to parole or probation supervision on a current sentence can not be restored.

e. If an offender submits a petition prior to the date that he/she is eligible, the petition shall simply be returned to the offender indicating that he/she is not eligible and advising as to the date when the petition may be submitted.

f. The designated staff person(s) shall review the offender’s records to determine whether the offender meets the eligibility criteria.

(1) The staff person(s) shall determine the appropriate number of days to be restored to the offender.
(2) The designated staff person(s) shall complete the appropriate sections of State Form 6949.
(3) If the offender meets all criteria, the designated staff person shall sign the petition verifying the review has been completed, the offender’s eligibility and the amount of earned credit time that will be restored.
(4) Once the designated staff person has reviewed and approved the petition, the designated staff person shall forward the approved petition to appropriate staff for entry in the Offender Information System (OIS).

g. If the petition for restoration of earned credit time that has been deprived as a result of a disciplinary hearing is approved, the earned credit time shall be restored in the following manner:

(1) Approval of the first petition shall result in 25% of the original amount of the TOTAL lost earned credit time being restored;
(2) Approval of the second petition shall result in 25% of the original amount of the TOTAL lost earned credit time being restored; and,
(3) Approval of the third petition shall result in 25% of the original amount of the TOTAL lost earned credit time being restored.
(4) The maximum amount of credit time that can be restored for petitions for the restoration of earned credit time is 75% of the credit time deprived for any eligible disciplinary action.
(5) Credit time shall be restored based upon the cumulative amount of eligible lost earned credit time.
(6) Credit Time that is not earned due to a demotion in Time Earning Class cannot be restored as “deprived” credit time.

h. The effective date of the restoration of any deprived earned credit time shall be the date when the designated staff person signs the petition. Staff shall enter the restored days into the OIS as soon as possible after the designated staff person’s decision to restore time has been made.

i. Deprived earned credit time shall not be restored to an offender if by restoring the deprived earned credit time, the offender’s projected release date would be in fewer than 45 days from the date the time was restored.

(1) In such a case, the designated staff person may restore only that portion of the earned credit time that will allow the offender to remain in the facility for at least 45 days from the date of restoration.
(2) The 45 days shall allow the facility to ensure that release plans and all appropriate notifications (e.g., victim/witness, community transition program, etc.) are completed.

j. Time deprived a Department offender housed in a county jail may be restored when the offender is transferred to the Department.

(1) Earned credit time deprived by a county sheriff or by order of a court shall be restored in the same manner as time deprived while in a Department facility.
(2) When the offender is received at a Department intake unit, staff shall review the offender’s record to determine whether earned credit time has been deprived.
(3) If earned credit time has been deprived and the offender appears to be eligible for restoration, staff at the intake unit shall advise the offender that he/she may submit a petition for restoration of time.
(4) If it is determined that the offender would have been eligible for earned credit time restoration previously, the designated staff in the intake unit shall determine the amount of time that the offender would have been eligible to receive. In these cases:

(a) The offender shall be granted all of the earned credit time that he/she would have received if the offender had been housed in a Department facility and appropriately petitioned for restoration.
(b) Such petitions shall be processed consistent with these administrative procedures.

k. The decision of the Facility Head’s designated staff person shall be final. There is no appeal from the denial of the request for the restoration of earned credit time. Since the calculation of the earned credit time eligible for restoration is completed automatically by OIS an offender may not appeal the amount of earned credit time restored.

l. If an offender is transferred to another facility while a petition is under review, the facility holding the offender when the petition was submitted shall complete the review and forward the results to the holding facility. The holding facility shall ensure that the offender is notified of the final decision and that the petition for restoration of earned credit time is filed in the offender’s packet and any restoration is recorded in OIS.

m. During an offender’s RAP review, the Unit team shall review the offender’s Conduct history to determine whether the offender has been deprived of any earned credit time due to disciplinary action.

(1) If the offender has been deprived of earned credit time, the Unit Team shall determine whether the offender has had any of the deprived credit time restored.
(2) If the offender has had earned credit time deprived, but none has been restored, the Unit Team shall determine whether the offender is eligible to submit a petition for the restoration of earned credit time and, if so, instruct the offender on how to submit such a petition.
(3) During the RAP review, the Unit team shall determine whether the offender has made significant progress toward meeting the goals indicated in the RAP. Significant progress shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) Having completed at least 75% of the goals established in the last RAP review;
(b) Successfully maintained a work/education assignment in accordance with the RAP;
(c) Made outstanding contributions to the safety and security of the facility, such as assisting staff in maintaining safety and security beyond that which is normally required by an offender; or,
(d) Other significant achievements, such as significantly improving the operation of the facility or a work assignment.

(4) In such cases, the Unit Manager or designee shall prepare a report to the Facility Head or designee explaining the significant accomplishments of the offender and shall indicate that the offender has met the criteria for the restoration of earned credit time.
(5) The Facility Head or designee shall review the report from the Unit Manager and determine whether it appears that the offender is suitable for the awarding of additional earned credit time.
(6) If approved by the Facility Head or designee, the recommendation and an up-to-date progress report shall be forwarded to the Department’s Final Reviewing Authority for review and approval.
(7) As the Commissioner’s designee, the Final Reviewing Authority shall review the recommendation and determine whether the offender meets the basic criteria for the restoration of earned credit time and the restoration of additional earned credit time.
(8) If the Final Reviewing Authority approves the recommendation from the facility, the offender shall be awarded up to an additional 15% of the earned credit time that has been deprived. (NOTE: This additional 15% shall be taken from the 25% of the deprived earned credit time that is not restorable under the above procedures.)
(9) The Final Reviewing Authority shall advise the Facility Head or designee of the decision regarding the restoration of additional earned credit time. The Facility Head or designee shall advise the offender of the decision.
(10) The maximum amount of earned credit time that can be restored through the routine petition for restoration of time and the recommendation for the restoration of additional earned credit time shall be 90% of the total amount of earned credit time that has been deprived from the offender.
(11) Offenders who are not eligible for the restoration of earned credit time in accordance with Procedure 9 c (4) may be considered for the restoration of earned credit time for significant progress toward the completion of the offender’s RAP. In such cases, the maximum amount of time that can be restored to the offender is 25% of the total amount of credit time deprived. In these cases, the offender must have maintained clear conduct (no findings of guilt for a Class A or B violation) for one (1) year and must not be in disciplinary segregation at the time that the recommendation is made by the Unit Team.

[IDOCO]

EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE: # 09 – 07

The Executive Directive presents a revision to the administrative procedures for Policy 02-04-101, “The Disciplinary Code for Adult Offenders.” The attached changes are applicable to all facilities housing adult offenders. The effective date of these changes is February 15, 2009.

The first change is in the sanction guidelines. There have been significant changes made in the sanctions that are permitted, including:

• Class C offenses shall no longer have any loss of credit time or demotion in credit class.
• Class A and B have had significant reductions in the maximum amount of credit time that can be deprived.
• Only a Class A offense will allow a credit class demotion and it will be limited to a one (1) step demotion for a single violation.
• Additional sanctions have been added, such as room confinement, building confinement and suspension from work.

These changes will correspond with revisions that are being made in the remainder of the administrative procedures which should be completed and ready for implementation by July 1, 2009.

In addition to changes in the sanction guidelines, attached are new administrative procedures regarding credit class promotions and the restoration of deprived credit time. The most significant changes in these procedures is in the time frames in which the offenders will be eligible for either promotions or for submitting petitions for the restoration of deprived earned credit time. These times frames have essentially been cut in half from the previous time frames.

Also, a new procedure has been added which will allow offenders who have had earned credit time deprived to have additional time restored based upon significant completion of the Re-Entry Accountability Plan (RAP) or other exceptional behavior. Upon recommendation by the Unit Team and approval of the Superintendent, these offender can be eligible for restoration of up to an additional 15% of the total earned credit time that has been deprived.

Please ensure that all staff, especially Hearing Officers, Appeal Responders and Unit Team, is made aware of this Executive Directive and the attached revisions to the administrative procedures for Policy 02-04-101. Copies of this Executive Directive are to be posted in all offender housing units, the law libraries and any other locations where offender information is posted.


Executive Directive: # 09-07
January 21, 2009
Page 2



If there are any questions regarding this Executive Directive or the attached procedures, please contact either the Final Reviewing Authority for Disciplinary Matters, at [phone], or the Department Policy Manager, at [phone].

[IDOCO]

The maximum allowable sanctions for each class of offense for adult offenders are as follows:

CLASS CLASS CLASS CLASS
SANCTION A B C D

Disciplinary segregation1 30 days2 15 days 5 days NONE

Reduction in credit class 1 gr NONE NONE NONE

Loss of earned credit time 30 days2 15 days NONE NONE

Restriction of privileges 45 days 30 days 15 days 5 days

Extra work (up to four [4] 20 hr 20 hr 20 hr 10 hr
hours per 24 hour period)
Restitution Restitution in the $ 10.00 NONE amount of the loss or less.
Room Confinement3 15 days 5 days
Building Confinement 4 30 days 15days
Reprimand Written Written Written Verbal
Suspension from Work5 30 days 15 days 5 days

1 The amounts of time listed are the maximum allowable disciplinary segregation sanction for a single offense. Additional segregation time may be imposed for multiple offenses, up to a maximum of 60 continuous days in segregation. Offenders placed in disciplinary segregation may be allowed privileges consistent with the security of the facility after 30 days in segregation. Restriction of recreation is limited to no more than 10 days for offenders in segregation and may only result from violations involving recreation.

2Any offender found guilty of an offense involving an assault/battery on staff with a weapon or that causes serious injury (i.e., Code 102) shall be subject to sanctions that are double the maximum allowable sanctions for offenses of that class. (For example, an offender found guilty of a Code 102 for a battery on staff may receive up to 60 days in segregation and loss of up to 60 days of Earned Credit Time in addition to any other sanctions.) All cases involving an offender assault/battery on staff shall be referred to the local Prosecutor for possible criminal prosecution.

3The Facility Head or designee may authorize the offender to leave his/her living quarters during the hours of confinement for attendance at religious services, medical appointments, showers and visits. The Facility Head or designee may remove any or all electronic equipment (e.g., radios and televisions) from the offender’s living quarters if room/cell confinement is ordered.

4During the hours of confinement, the offender may only leave the building with specific authorization. The Facility Head or designee may authorize the offender to leave the building for attendance at religious services, medical appointments and visits.

5Offenders may be suspended from work without pay as a Class A, B or C sanction. Offenders shall not be terminated from their work assignment as a result of the suspension unless the offender’s classification makes him/her ineligible for a work assignment. Offender’s eligibility for a work assignment shall not automatically be rescinded for a Class A or Class B Conduct Report or a finding of guilt of a Class A or Class B offense. Offenders shall only be terminated based upon the safety and security of the facility and the likelihood that continuing the offender in a work assignment eligible classification will result in further disciplinary actions. Offenders may remain job eligible after a finding of guilt for a Class A or Class B offense, but may be required to change work assignments based upon the safety and security of the facility. Following a suspension from work, the offender shall be returned to the same or an equivalent work assignment as soon as possible.