PRESS RELEASE: REP. LAWLOR: STATE NEEDS TO MOVE FORWARD ON COMPLETION OF PLANNED SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT FACILITY

1-7-2010 Connecticut:

State Representative Mike Lawlor (D-East Haven), co-chairman of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, is urging the governor to allow the Department of Corrections (DOC) to continue with a plan it initiated in 2008 as required under Public Act 08-1 to construct a staff secure sex offender treatment facility to house sex offenders who are finishing or have finished their prison sentences.

Included in legislation adopted during the January 2008 special session, when a number of major initiatives focusing on repeat violent criminals were approved, was a provision requiring both the DOC and the Court Support Services Division (CSSD) of the Judicial Branch to each have “twelve beds in staff secure residential sex offender treatment facilities for occupancy not later than July 1, 2008.” Funding for the 24 beds was also approved at the time and continues to be included in the current biennial budget.

Since then, despite the mandated deadline having passed, the project has not been completed and the state continues to lack this type of facility, which most other states in the country have.

Following the adoption of the legislation two years ago, the DOC and CSSD decided to pool their appropriated money and the DOC became the lead agency on the project. The DOC then selected a contractor, The Connection, Inc. based in Middletown, and chose to locate the facility using existing DOC property in Uncasville, adjacent to the existing Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center.

The DOC was then ordered to put the project on hold, where it still remains, and the governor recommended rescinding its budget allocations in the form of lapses due to the ongoing budget crisis.

“The legislature and the governor have understandably had to make many cuts over the past year, but this should not be one of them. Serious, violent sex offenders finishing long prison sentences must not be released directly to the streets,” said Lawlor, who has been a strong supporter of constructing such a facility.

Lawlor explained that this facility would be reserved for high-risk sex offenders who have finished serving long prison sentences. He stressed that this is not an alternative to incarceration. An example of the type of offender who would be put into this facility is someone who is finishing a twenty-five-year sentence, has no place to live after his release, and intends on sleeping at nights in a homeless shelter.

He said, “A nighttime bed in a homeless shelter and unsupervised roaming of our city neighborhoods during the daytime is simply not an acceptable strategy for protecting the public. Every study has shown that serious violent offenders are most likely to reoffend during the first few months following their release from prison.”

He continued, “I am urging the governor to order the commissioner of Corrections to immediately move forward with this initiative. The legislature has left the money and mandate intact throughout the various budget adjustments enacted since the budget crisis began. The governor should also reconsider her decision to block changes in the Judicial Branch budget – including her September 2009 veto – to ensure that CSSD continues to have the funding necessary for its share of this initiative. If the governor were to do this tomorrow, this facility could be up and running by the beginning of the summer. We have no time to waste.”

Lawlor also announced that he and his co-chairman, State Senator Andrew J. McDonald (D-Stamford), have scheduled an oversight hearing of the Judiciary Committee on January 19 at 10:00 a.m. for the committee to review the impacts that the budget deficit has had on the judicial system, including the criminal justice reforms adopted in 2008, and to also inquire about the status of the courthouse closures, the law library closures, and staffing shortages. It will be similar to the oversight hearing the committee held in October 2008, with officials representing several state agencies invited to testify. ..Source.. Rep. Lawlor's Press Release