Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 6, March 26, 2024
A. Each FTC submits a proposed list of names
of juveniles to be placed on the agenda to the panel at least forty days prior
to the next regularly scheduled release consideration meeting dates. The FTC
shall provide the release panel with the release consideration summary at least
ten (10) days before the release consideration meeting.
(1) A client may appear on the panels' agenda
by:
(a) an MDT recommendation for
release;
(b) personally petitioning
the panel any time sixty days after commitment or after a denial of
release;
(c) a board request to be
placed on the agenda after a denial of release.
(2) The final agenda is prepared and approved
by the JJS director/designee.
(3)
The JJS director/designee distributes copies of the final agenda to the
department's facilities sufficiently in advance so that the facilities may
arrange for the juvenile offenders and the employees who will present their
cases to be present.
(4) For
purposes of victim notification and representation, the JJS director/designee
notifies the administrative office of the district attorneys of the upcoming
agenda at least ten days prior to the release consideration meeting and
provides notice if there are changes made to the agenda. After the release
consideration meeting, the AODA, the committing judge, and the NM public
defender department are promptly notified of the juvenile offenders who were
granted or denied supervised release and the reasons therefore.
(5) The JJS director/deputy director/designee
provides a copy of the panel's agenda to the JPSAB at least thirty five (35)
days before the release consideration meeting.
B. At least ten (10) days prior to a release
consideration meeting, the members of the panel receive an updated supervised
release recommendation report from the facility transition coordinator for each
juvenile offender on the agenda. For special supervised release hearings or for
juvenile offenders who are added to the agenda, the panel receives the updated
supervised release recommendation report as soon as practicable. The updated
supervised release recommendation report must include the following
information:
(1) for the commitment period,
summaries of:
(a) behavior at the facility,
including any disciplinary actions;
(b) mental health/medical
interventions;
(c) extra-curricular
activity;
(d) academic/vocational
progress;
(e) family involvement
while in commitment, including family involvement in any community services
offered or recommended;
(2) home study that includes the status of
the juvenile offender's siblings and juvenile/adult relatives known to law
enforcement authorities and includes the JPO's assessment of the juvenile
offender's home situation, including an update if the home study is more than
60 days old or circumstances have changed significantly since the completion of
the home study;
(3) for the
proposed supervised release period, the plan for:
(a) living arrangements; if the supervised
release plan involves independent living, a full description of the proposed
living and financial arrangements, including a budget breakdown; if an
out-of-state release is proposed, all information required under applicable
interstate compact provisions; if RTC, foster care, or other alternative living
arrangement is proposed, how the placement will be funded and the estimated
length of stay;
(b) education,
including but not limited to, written confirmation from school officials or the
juvenile offender's JPO as to anticipated school acceptance and grade level;
any special educational programs should be outlined in the home study
update;
(c) employment, including a
letter from an employer setting forth the place of work, the beginning date if
known, the number of hours, work schedule and rate of pay; information about
employment arrangements should be made in the home study update;
(d) community service, including the name and
location of the program and the number of hours of service recommended; the
panel may consider such service as a complement or alternative to
employment;
(e) community resources
to be utilized to help the juvenile offender, including but not limited to
alcohol, substance, drug, individual therapy, group therapy, mental health, sex
offenders and family counseling programs; the counseling information shall
specify particular programs and costs when possible;
(f) court ordered restitution or community
service, which is to be arranged and coordinated through the department prior
to supervised release;
(g)
information provided by the victim, if any; and
(h) such additional information that the
panel or facility may request in the particular case.
C. The panel interviews each
juvenile offender and the juvenile's primary caregiver(s), if in attendance, at
the release consideration meeting at which his or her supervised release is
under consideration before making a decision to grant or deny supervised
release. If the juvenile or the primary caregivers are unavailable to attend
the meeting in person, vide or teleconferencing may be arranged.
D. Juvenile offenders are permitted to have
legal counsel present at release consideration meetings.
E. Other than the juvenile, the juvenile's
primary caregivers, and department representatives, the panel has sole
discretion and authority to determine who may be present at release
consideration meetings, which are not open to the public.
F. Official minutes of release consideration
meetings are prepared by the panel.
G. Any decision regarding supervised release
shall be approved by a majority of the panel. If the action of the panel is not
unanimous, the dissenting member may have the reasons for his or her dissent
set forth in the official minutes of the release consideration
meeting.
H. The panel shall grant
release when:
(1) the client has reached, or
will reach before the next regularly scheduled release consideration meeting,
his or her 90 day mandatory release date, as determined by the length of
commitment ordered by the court;
(2) the client meets release
criteria;
(3) the purpose of the
commitment has been achieved; or
(4) the department is unable to adequately
meet the client's needs in any of its facilities or programs, a suitable
facility or program is available in the community where the juvenile has been
accepted for placement, and supervised release to that placement would not pose
a substantial risk to the public safety.
I. The panel's decision is announced to the
juvenile offender, the juvenile's family, and their placement (if out of home)
within forty eight (48) hours of the conclusion of the release consideration
meeting.
(1) If the panel decides to grant
supervised release, the juvenile offender is immediately informed of the
panel's decision and of the general and special conditions of release.
(a) The juvenile offender must agree and sign
a written statement of the general and special conditions of release (the
release agreement) in order for release to commence. The panel provides a copy
of the proposed release agreement to the juvenile at the release hearing, and
mails a copy to the juvenile's parent, guardian or custodian within five (5)
days, if release is granted.
(b) A
certificate of supervised release is prepared, and a copy is provided to the
juvenile.
(2) If the
panel decides to deny supervised release, the panel provides the juvenile
offender, their family, and their placement (if out of home) with a written
statement of reasons for denial. A copy of the statement is mailed to the
juvenile offender's parent, guardian or custodian within five (5) days after
the decision is made to deny release. The panel may deny supervised release
when, based on information presented at the release consideration meeting, a
juvenile is not in a mandatory release period and:
(a) there is substantial risk to the public
safety if he or she is released;
(b) there is a substantial likelihood the
juvenile offender will not follow the conditions of supervised
release;
(c) continued programming
at the facility would be beneficial to the juvenile; or
(d) there exists any other reasons the panel
deems sufficient and reasonable to deny supervised release.
J. Special release
consideration meetings. Special release consideration meetings are scheduled at
the discretion of the panel. Time frames applicable to the regularly scheduled
release consideration meetings do not apply; however, the panel will coordinate
receipt of any proposed agenda and distribution of the finalized agenda so that
all interested parties and agencies receive as much notice as practicable.
Notices of special release consideration meetings and agendas are provided to
the AODA and the NM public defender department at least five days prior to the
meeting.
K. If circumstances
substantially change between a future release date and the date that release is
approved by the panel, the panel may reconsider the decision to release and
defer or deny release. If the panel decides to defer or deny release, it shall
do so at a release consideration meeting, following all regular procedures,
provided however, that supervised release may be temporarily deferred by the
JJS director and the juvenile kept at the facility pending the convening of a
release consideration meeting. Substantially changed circumstances include, but
are not limited to:
(1) the juvenile's
behavior in the period between approval and actual release is such that
releasing him or her would pose a threat to his or her safety or the public
safety;
(2) the placement that the
juvenile is scheduled to be released to is not approved, cancelled, or
otherwise modified such that releasing the juvenile would not be in his or her
best interests; or
(3) any other
credible information that comes to the attention of the panel that leads to a
determination that the juvenile should not be released.
