PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor                             S.B. 222

WHEREAS, Over the past 10 years, the Maryland prison population has grown 72
percent, from 12,400 to 21,300 inmates, at a cost of more than $465 million in capital
funds and more than $206 million annually in operating funds, and a substantial portion
of the growth has been low level, nonviolent offenders and probation violators; and

WHEREAS, The criminal justice system often fails to adequately consider the
rights and concerns of victims of crime, and to require offenders to restore to the fullest
extent possible the damages they have inflicted on individuals and the community; and

WHEREAS, There exist effective intermediate punishments, such as boot camps
and homo detention, which protect public safety, which serve to punish and incapacitate
offenders, which hold offenders accountable to crime victims and the community, and
which, because of their emphasis on discipline and the work ethic, are perceived by many
offenders to be stricter punishment than incarceration; and

WHEREAS, The insufficient availability of intermediate punishments throughout
the State means that some offenders receive sentences that are too lenient while other
offenders occupy prison space that should be used to lengthen sentences for violent
offenders; and

WHEREAS, The development of a sentencing structure that provides for a full
continuum of intermediate punishments and sufficient determinacy in sentencing is
essential to the most effective allocation of correctional resources for the protection of
public safety; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article 41 - Governor - Executive and Administrative Departments

18-310.

(A) (1) IN THIS SECTION THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS
INDICATED.

(2)     "CHAIRPERSON" MEANS THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION.

(3)     "COMMISSION" MEANS THE MARYLAND COMMISSION ON CRIMINAL
SENTENCING REFORM POLICY.

(4) "CORRECTIONAL OPTIONS PROGRAM" MEANS A CRIMINAL SANCTION
OTHER THAN TRADITIONAL PROBATION, TRADITIONAL PAROLE, OR TOTAL
CONFINEMENT.

(4) (5) (I) "DESCRIPTIVE SENTENCING GUIDELINES" MEANS A
SENTENCING STRUCTURE THAT REFLECTS THE ACTUAL SENTENCING PRACTICES OF
JUDGES IN THE STATE OVER A SPECIFIED PERIOD.

(II) "DESCRIPTIVE SENTENCING GUIDELINES" INCLUDES THE
CURRENT MARYLAND SENTENCING GUIDELINES.

(5) (6) "GOOD TIME CREDITS" MEANS DEDUCTIONS FROM AN
INMATE'S TERM OF CONFINEMENT UNDER ARTICLE 27, § 700(D) OF THE CODE.

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