Sec. 1. 34-A MRSA §3036-A, sub-§2, ¶¶B and C, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 845, §4, are amended to read:

B. A prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement until the prisoner has served at least 2/3 of the term of imprisonment imposed or, in the case of a split sentence, at least 2/3 of the unsuspended portion, after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253, if the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, the unsuspended portion is more than 5 years.__A prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement until the prisoner has served at least 1/2 of the term of imprisonment imposed or, in the case of a split sentence, at least 1/2 of the unsuspended portion, after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253, if the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, the unsuspended portion is 5 years or less.

C. A prisoner may not be transferred to supervised community confinement unless the prisoner has no more than one year 18 months remaining on the term of imprisonment or, in the case of a split sentence, on the unsuspended portion, after consideration of any deductions that the prisoner has received and retained under Title 17-A, section 1253.

Sec. 2. 34-A MRSA §3036-A, sub-§10 is enacted to read:

10.__Terminally ill prisoner.__With the consent of the prisoner, the commissioner may permit a prisoner committed to the department to be transferred from a correctional facility to supervised community confinement without meeting the requirements of subsection 2, paragraphs B and C if the facility's treating physician has determined that the prisoner is terminally ill and that care in a hospital or hospice for the remainder of the prisoner's illness is medically preferable.__The prisoner shall live in a hospital or hospice that is approved by the commissioner but may be exempted from any other condition made mandatory by subsection 3 if determined by the commissioner to be inapplicable.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the supervised community confinement law by