Broadens the court's discretion to use extended terms of interim probation on consent of the defendant to avoid incarceratory outcomes

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Zellnor Myrie says this is needed

Interim probation is a court-ordered trial period of monitoring, where a convicted person lives in the community under the supervision of the local probation department before final sentencing. Courts have used this as a tool to support such justice-involved individuals as they undergo treatment, especially in areas that lack established non-govern- mental partners who could otherwise coordinate treatment. Under current law, interim probation may initially be imposed for up to one year from the date of the conviction and may be extended only for one additional year where the defendant consents and is participating in a treatment program in connection with a designated treatment court. At that point, sentence must be imposed. Interim probation is typically utilized by diversion courts in cases where the defendant has entered into a conditional plea agreement, but for the most challenging of those cases, one or two years may not provide enough time for a defendant to successfully achieve all that is required under the court's mandate. Treatment-court pleas, for example, often involve setbacks. The avail- ability of longer terms of interim probation will provide courts with greater flexibility in avoiding imposition of a harsher often carceral agreed-upon alternative sentence. In addition, broadening the applicability of the current provision to defendants who are in treatment in connection with any court under a conditional plea agreement instead of only officially designated treat- ment courts would allow more "problem-solving mode" resolutions to matters that are not being handled by traditional mental health or substance use parts, which is consistent with the UCS's overall vision for our criminal courts. A recent example of how this bill could be effectively utilized if it were enacted occurred in a case where the court wished to use interim probation in felony matters as part of conditional plea agreements. The district attorney's office was open to the idea but wanted the defendant to serve more than one year of interim probation, which is not possible under current law (because the court in this example was not a treatment court). This proposal would support this collaborative, problem-solving approach, which could keep defendants out of jail and avoid felony convictions while simultaneously promoting public safety by allowing extended supervision. 6.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.