Division of Correction - Volunteer Services Program
HB0108 establishes a new Release Preparation Volunteer Services Program within the Division of Correction. The program is intended to give incarcerated people access to volunteers who can help with release preparation, and it expressly includes formerly incarcerated individuals and organizations led by formerly incarcerated individuals as potential volunteers. The Division of Correction must create a registration protocol for volunteers, submit that protocol to the Attorney General for approval, maintain a record of registered volunteers, and allow volunteers to provide schedules for facility access.
The bill also amends the Cannabis Regulation and Enforcement Fund to add support for the new program as an authorized use of the fund. In addition to existing uses for cannabis administration, enforcement, and the Social Equity Partnership Grant Program, the fund may now be used to cover costs associated with supporting the Release Preparation Volunteer Services Program. The law takes effect October 1, 2026.
The bill adds a new section to the Correctional Services Article creating a formal volunteer access program in state correctional facilities and modifies the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article to expand the permitted purposes of the Cannabis Regulation and Enforcement Fund. It affects the Division of Correction, the Office of the Attorney General, and volunteers seeking access to prisons, while also creating a new funding pathway tied to cannabis-related revenues for program support.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no detailed public debate reflected in the provided materials. Based on the bill’s structure and enactment, the measure appears to have been treated as a constructive reentry and rehabilitation initiative, with the Governor approving it as Chapter 519. The inclusion of formerly incarcerated people as volunteers and the use of cannabis fund revenues suggest a policy emphasis on reintegration and social equity.
The bill’s main points of potential contention are the access of formerly incarcerated individuals to correctional facilities, the requirement that the Division of Correction maintain records and submit a protocol for Attorney General approval, and the provision allowing public disclosure of volunteer names unless the volunteer opts out. Another possible issue is the use of the Cannabis Regulation and Enforcement Fund to support a correctional-services program, which could raise questions about fund priorities and whether cannabis-related revenue should be directed to prison reentry programming. The bill also preserves institutional control by allowing denial of a volunteer schedule if it interferes with normal facility operations.