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2006 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 115
Directing the Virginia State Crime Commission to study the need for additional institutional programming at the Department of Corrections. Report.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 10, 2006
Agreed to by the Senate, February 28, 2006

 

WHEREAS, there were 13,265 sex offenders on Virginia’s Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry as of May 2005; and

WHEREAS, recent studies indicate that sex offenders recidivate at a rate of 26% when recidivism is measured as any new arrest for a sex offense or other crime against the person; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections' Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment (SORT) Program, which provides comprehensive assessment and treatment services to inmates who have been identified as being at moderate to high risk for sexual reoffending, currently has 78 persons actively receiving treatment and 42 persons in the pending wing; and

WHEREAS, the SORT program only serves 1.7% of the sex offender population at the Department of Corrections; and

WHEREAS, it is believed that public safety will be enhanced by expanding the treatment options for sex offenders prior to their release from incarceration; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Virginia State Crime Commission be directed to study the need for additional institutional programming at the Department of Corrections.

In conducting its study, the Virginia State Crime Commission shall examine the number of sex offenders housed at each facility, the current availability of instructional staff at each facility, the required additional staff and accompanying costs for expanding the SORT program, and the recidivism rate for sex offenders who have participated in the SORT program before their release.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the Virginia State Crime Commission by the Department of Corrections. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Virginia State Crime Commission for this study, upon request.

The Virginia State Crime Commission shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2006, and the Chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2007 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the Virginia State Crime Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.