Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
I.
AUTHORITY:
The authority to promulgate this administrative rule is vested in
Act 549 of 1993, Regular Session, and Act 536 of 1993, Regular Session; A.C.A.
12-29-201
--205.
II.
PURPOSE:
To ensure a uniform method of awarding meritorious good time in
accordance with Arkansas codes.
III.
APPLICABILITY:
Directors of the Department of Correction and Department of
Community Punishment; respective staff of the Department of Correction and
Department of Community Punishment responsible for administering meritorious
good time; and inmates.
IV.
POLICY:
It shall be the policy of the Board of Correction and Community
Punishment to award inmates meritorious good time as a result of good
discipline, behavior, work practices, job responsibilities, and involvement in
rehabilitative activities while in the custody or supervision of the Department
of Correction or Department of Community Punishment.
V.
DEFINITIONS:
A.
Meritorious Good
Time - a reduction in an inmate's parole or transfer eligibility
date up to 30 days for each month incarcerated after imposition of
sentence.
B.
Inmate - persons sentenced by court order to the
Department of Correction, to the Department of Correction but judicially
transferred to the Department of Community Punishment, or to a Department of
Community Punishment facility.
VI.
PROCEDURES:
An inmate may be entitled to meritorious good time reducing their
parole or transfer eligibility date up to 30 days for each month incarcerated
after imposition of sentence in one of the units, facilities, or centers
maintained by the Department of Correction or the Department of Community
Punishment.
A. Release Eligibility
1. Meritorious good time will not be applied
to reduce an inmate's length of sentence.
2. Meritorious good time shall apply to an
inmate's parole or transfer eligibility date from the Department of Correction
or the Department of Community Punishment.
a.
Meritorious good time shall under no circumstances reduce an inmate's time
served by more than one-half of the percentage required by law for transfer
eligibility.
b. Meritorious good
time shall under no circumstances reduce an inmate's confinement in a community
punishment facility by more than one-half.
3. The Department of Correction or the
Department of Community Punishment shall determine a date at which the inmate
who has acquired the maximum amount of meritorious good time necessary is to be
administratively transferred to a less restrictive placement or supervision
level within the Department of Community Punishment.
B. Class Status
1. Inmates may be reclassified as often as
necessary in accordance with applicable rules and/or policies in order to carry
out the purposes of the law and to maintain good discipline, order, and
efficiency at the units, facilities, and centers.
2. Inmates who are reduced to the lowest
class as a result of disciplinary action shall not be entitled to earn
meritorious good time.
3. Inmates
serving a punitive disciplinary sentence shall not earn meritorious good
time.
C. Reduction in
Class Status
Reduction in class status may occur:
1. as a result of disciplinary action;
or
2. as an administrative
reassignment or demotion after a hearing conducted by a designated
committee.
D. Forfeiture
and Restoration of Meritorious Good Time
1.
Earned meritorious good time may be forfeited in accordance with the
appropriate departmental policies upon conviction of a violation of
departmental rules and rules.
2.
The Director of either the Department of Correction or the Department of
Community Punishment may restore lost good time in accordance with applicable
procedures.
E. Good Time
Earned Pending Transfer to Department of Correction or Department of Community
Punishment.
Any person who is sentenced by a circuit court to the Department
of Correction or Department of Community Punishment and is awaiting transfer
may earn meritorious good time.
F. Statutory Good Time
Inmates sentenced to the Department of Correction prior to April
2, 1971, shall be entitled to "statutory good time" as provided in Act 50 of
1968, provided no inmate shall ever receive a reduction of more than 30 days
for each month served.
G.
Effective Date
1. Inmates whose offense date
is prior to January 1, 1994, shall earn good time (including good time applied
to the length of sentence) in accordance with the good time law in effect on
the date of the offense.
2. Inmates
whose offense date is on or after January 1, 1994, shall earn good time in
accordance with Act 549 and Act 536 of 1993, Regular Session.
VII.
A.C.A. REFERENCE:
Board Approval Date: 12/30/93
Effective Date: 1/1/94
