3938

VETOES

sentenced to a local detention center. Consequently, a prisoner
with a 91 day sentence can be assigned to the State, while a
prisoner with a ten year sentence can be assigned to a local
jail. As introduced, House Bill 354 revised Maryland's
sentencing of criminal offenders to require long sentences (over
18 months) to be served in the State correctional system and
short sentences (less than six months) to be served in local
detention centers. As passed by the House of Delegates on March
23, 1985, House Bill 354 was expanded to provide a gradual
extension of the minimum State sentence limitation so that on
July 1, 1988 only prisoners with sentences exceeding one year
could be housed at a State correctional facility. The maximum
sentence for a local detention center remained at 18 months as of
the effective date of the bill. Therefore, as House Bill 354
left the House of Delegates there would have been clear
jurisdictional guidelines for the housing of prisoners.
Virtually all correctional officials, State and local, agree that
this restructuring of responsibilities would be highly beneficial
to both the inmates and the correctional system. Accordingly,
House Bill 354 was vigorously supported by my Administration.

In recognition of the increased inmate population that would
thus be imposed upon many local jurisdictions, House Bill 354
also was amended to authorize a new State assistance program to
mitigate the additional operating and capital costs of housing
new prisoners required under the bill.

Unfortunately, on the last day of the legislative Session
the Senate approved a floor amendment that in my judgment
significantly undermines the bill's benefits.

The amended language in question, adding a new subsection
(h) to Article 27, § 690 of the enrolled bill, states as follows:

(H) IF THE CONFINEMENT OF PRISONERS SENTENCED UNDER
SUBSECTION (C) OF THIS SECTION IN A LOCAL DETENTION CENTER,
INCLUDING A LOCAL JAIL, OF A COUNTY OR BALTIMORE CITY WOULD
CAUSE THE RATED PRISONER CAPACITY OF THE DETENTION CENTER TO
BE EXCEEDED, THE PRISONERS SHALL BE IN THE CUSTODY OF THE
COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTIONS UNTIL THE COUNTY OR BALTIMORE
CITY HAS COMPLETED CONSTRUCTION OR ENLARGEMENT OF ITS
DETENTION FACILITIES UNDER § 705 OF THIS ARTICLE TO
ACCOMMODATE THE ADDITIONAL PRISONERS, OR UNTIL THE
COMPLETION OF THEIR SENTENCE, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.

The effect of this amendment would be to require the
Commissioner of Correction to accept custody of an inmate,
regardless of sentence length, if that inmate is sentenced to a
local detention center whose inmate population exceeds its rated
capacity. The local detention center in Baltimore City and, to a
lesser degree, in several other jurisdictions, currently have
inmate populations above their capacities. Thus, enactment of
House Bill 354 would have the immediate effect of diverting some