Louisiana § RS 15:574.4.4 - Intensive incarceration program; eligibility

§ RS 15:574.4.4. Intensive incarceration program; eligibility

            A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a defendant convicted of a nonviolent first felony offense and committed to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, or of a nonviolent second felony offense and committed to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, may be eligible to participate in the intensive incarceration program. In addition, any person convicted of a first or second offense for possession of amphetamine or methamphetamine or cocaine or oxycodone or methadone or of a first offense for distribution, dispensing, or possession with intent to produce, manufacture, distribute, or dispense amphetamine or methamphetamine or cocaine or oxycodone or methadone, in violation of R.S. 40:967(B)(1) or 967(B)(4)(b) when the amount of amphetamine or methamphetamine or cocaine or oxycodone or methadone involved was twenty-eight grams or less, may be eligible to participate in the intensive incarceration program. The intensive incarceration program shall be established and administered by the department. The offender may be considered for participation in the program if all of the following conditions are met:

            (1) The offender is sentenced to be committed to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to serve ten years or less.

            (2) The department, through the division of probation and parole within the office of adult services, recommends to the sentencing court that the offender is particularly likely to respond affirmatively to participation in the program.

            (3) The court at sentencing recommends that the offender be considered for participation in the program.

            (4) The secretary of the department, or his designee, finds, after an evaluation, that the offender is particularly likely to respond affirmatively to participation in the program.

            (5) The offender voluntarily enrolls in the program after having been advised by the department of the rules and regulations governing participation in the program.

            (6) The court sentences an offender in the drug division probation program pursuant to R.S. 13:5304.

            B. For purposes of this Section, a "first offender" shall not have been convicted previously of another felony as provided in R.S. 15:572(C) and shall not have been granted an automatic pardon as provided in R.S. 15:572(B).

            C. The duration of intensive incarceration shall not be less than one hundred eighty calendar days.

            D. The participating offender shall be evaluated by the program staff on a continual basis throughout the entire period of intensive incarceration. The evaluation shall include the offender's performance while incarcerated. Violation of any institutional or program rules or regulations may subject the participant to removal from the program by the department.

             E.(1) If an offender is denied entry into the intensive incarceration program for physical or mental health reasons or for failure to meet the department's suitability criteria, the department shall notify the sentencing court, and based upon the court's order, shall either return the offender to court for resentencing in accordance with the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 881.1 or return the offender to a prison to serve the remainder of his sentence as provided by law.

            (2) If an offender enters the intensive incarceration program and is subsequently removed for physical or mental health reasons or for failure to meet the department's suitability criteria, the department shall notify the sentencing court and, based upon the court's order, shall either return the offender to court for resentencing in accordance with the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 881.1 or return the offender to a prison to serve the remainder of his sentence as provided by law. If an offender enters the intensive incarceration program and is removed for violating any institutional or program rules or regulations, the offender shall be assigned to the general population to serve the remainder of his sentence as provided by law.

            F. In cases in which the court sentences a defendant in the drug division probation program for a technical violation of probation, the offender shall return to active supervised probation with the drug division probation program for a period as ordered by the court, subject to any additional conditions imposed by the court.

            Acts 2008, No. 266, §2; Acts 2008, No. 337, §1; Acts 2009, No. 168, §2; Acts 2009, No. 182, §2; Acts 2010, No. 241, §2; Acts 2012, No. 714, §8; Acts 2019, No. 369, §2.