Repeals provisions that assess costs for women in the community corrections program for women offenders.
Summary
S0296 amends Rhode Island law governing the Department of Corrections’ community correctional program for women offenders. The bill removes the statutory requirement that defendants convicted of prostitution-related offenses under chapter 11-34.1 pay additional assessments, including a $500 assessment for felony offenses or $350 for misdemeanors, or 10% of any fine imposed, whichever is greater. Under current law, those assessments are deposited into general revenues; this bill repeals that cost provision while leaving the rest of the women’s community correctional program intact.
The underlying program remains available for eligible women sentenced to two years or less, or those awaiting trial, and continues to allow individualized rehabilitation plans involving employment, education, housing, restitution, community service, and counseling. The bill does not alter the program’s supervision, eligibility, or violation consequences; it only eliminates the added financial penalty tied to prostitution-related convictions for women in the program context.
Impact
The bill narrows Rhode Island’s corrections statutes by striking the special cost-assessment provision in § 42-56-20.3(e) for prostitution-related offenses. As a result, courts would no longer impose the additional mandatory assessments described in that section, and the state would no longer collect those amounts as general revenue under this provision. The remainder of the community correctional program for women offenders, including eligibility, release procedures, supervision, and sanctions for violations, is unchanged.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislature. It passed the Senate 36-0 and later passed the House in concurrence 66-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. With no committee transcript available, the voting record suggests a consensus that the repeal of these assessments was appropriate.
Contention
No recorded committee debate is available, and the unanimous votes suggest little visible opposition. The only likely point of policy contention would be whether removing the assessments reduces a source of state revenue or changes the financial consequences for prostitution-related offenses. Supporters likely viewed the repeal as eliminating a punitive cost burden tied to women in the community corrections program, while any concern would center on the loss of the statutory penalty and its revenue effect.