I.
AUTHORITY;
The Board of Correction is vested with the authority to
promulgate administrative regulations by Act 50 of 1968, First Extraordinary
Session, as amended; authority to release terminally ill inmates is granted
through Act 771 of 1991, Regular Session.
II.
PURPOSE:
Establishes the criteria for determination of terminal illness,
and the procedures for considering the release of terminally ill
inmates.
III.
APPLICABILITY:
To those convicted felons not under sentence of death who have
been identified by the medical authority as having terminal illness; medical
staff and staff filling positions listed as being on the screening committee;
the Director and such staff as are involved with the release of inmates.
IV.
DEFINITIONS:
A.
Terminal illness - An illness which, in the
independent opinion of two physicians, can be expected, on the average, to
result in death within 12 months of the date of the medical
examination.
B.
Reasonable risk - An assessment made by the screening
committee, with the assistance of any professional advice sought by the
committee, that the risk to the community of releasing a particular individual
is minimal based on the incapacitation of that individual due to ongoing
physical debility and/or based on the rehabilitated status of the
individual.
C.
Screening Committee - A committee the specific
composition of which may vary at the discretion of the Director, which would
typically include:
1. the Deputy Director, as
Committee Chair
2. a representative
of Mental Health Services
3. the
Administrator of Medical Services
4. a Unit Warden
5. a representative of Parole
Services.
D.
Emergency - A condition which may be declared, by the
Director, to exist when the death of an inmate is imminent, so that certain
procedural aspects of staffing and due process can be accelerated or
waived.
V.
POLICY:
It shall be the policy of the Department of Correction to
establish a screening committee to collect and evaluate information on any
inmate identified as having a terminal illness and to recommend to the Director
the release of terminally ill inmates who can be returned to the community with
minimal risk.
VI.
PROCEDURE:
A. The
medical director will furnish to the Administrator of Medical Services, on a
quarterly basis, a list of inmates suffering chronic debilitation and/or acute
irreversible illness or injury. A prognosis will be given for each inmate, and
if that prognosis is terminal, an expected life span will be stated. This list
may also be issued on an emergency basis.
B. The Administrator of Medical Services will
notify the other members of the screening committee established by the
Director. Those members will request reports, as needed, and assemble available
information pertinent to the condition and risk of release of the
inmate.
C. The screening committee
will meet, and staff the inmate to complete and to check the accuracy of the
information. The inmate will be given notification of the staffing, at least 10
working days prior, unless emergency conditions prevail, and will be allowed to
testify and to present the documentary testimony of others during the course of
the staffing.
D. The staffing
report, signed by members of the screening committee, will be submitted to the
Director. The staffing report will state the recommendation of the screening
committee and the evidence on which that recommendation is based. All documents
collected for the screening process will be appended to the report. Any member
of the screening committee voting against the majority recommendation may
include, along with those documents, a dissent to the recommendation.
E. The Director will provide the staffing
report and attached documentation to the Board of Correction for any individual
recommended for release under Act 771. Should an emergency situation exist, the
Director may ask the Chairman of the Board to poll the members by
phone.
F. The Board will recommend
continued incarceration, or set a release date for the inmate. Should continued
incarceration be recommended, the Board will determine the circumstances, if
any, under which further consideration may be given.
Board of Correction Approval Date: 8/28/91
Attorney General Review Date: 8/28/91
Date Filed Secy, of State: 8/29/91
