State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title54 > Chap969 > Sec54-259aSec. 54-259a. Risk Assessment Board. Development and use of risk assessment scale. Report. (a) There is established a Risk Assessment Board consisting of the Commissioner of Correction, the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Chief State's Attorney, the Chief Public Defender, the chairperson of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the executive director of the Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Department and the chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and public safety, or their designees, a victim advocate with experience working with sexual assault victims and sexual offenders appointed by the Governor, a forensic psychiatrist with experience in the treatment of sexual offenders appointed by the Governor and a person trained in the identification, assessment and treatment of sexual offenders appointed by the Governor.
(b) The board shall develop a risk assessment scale that assigns weights to various risk factors including, but not limited to, the seriousness of the offense, the offender's prior offense history, the offender's characteristics, the availability of community supports, whether the offender has indicated or credible evidence in the record indicates that the offender will reoffend if released into the community and whether the offender demonstrates a physical condition that minimizes the risk of reoffending, and specifies the risk level to which offenders with various risk assessment scores shall be assigned.
(c) The board shall use the risk assessment scale to assess the risk of reoffending of each person subject to registration under this chapter, including incarcerated offenders who are within one year of their estimated release date, and assign each such person a risk level of high, medium or low.
(d) The board shall use the risk assessment scale to determine which offenders should be prohibited from residing within one thousand feet of the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school or a facility providing child day care services, as defined in section 19a-77.
(e) Not later than October 1, 2007, the board shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly on the judiciary in accordance with section 11-4a setting forth its findings and recommendations concerning: (1) Whether information about sexual offenders assigned a risk level of high, medium or low should be made available to the public through the Internet; (2) the types of information about sexual offenders that should be made available to the public through the Internet which may include, but not be limited to, (A) the name, residential address, physical description and photograph of the registrant, (B) the offense or offenses of which the registrant was convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect that required registration under this chapter, (C) a brief description of the facts and circumstances of such offense or offenses, (D) the criminal record of the registrant with respect to any prior convictions or findings of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for the commission of an offense requiring registration under this chapter, and (E) the name of the registrant's supervising correctional, probation or parole officer, and contact information for such officer; (3) whether any of the persons assigned a high risk level by the board pursuant to subsection (c) of this section meets the criteria for civil commitment pursuant to section 17a-498; (4) whether additional restrictions should be placed on persons subject to registration under this chapter such as curfews and intensive monitoring on certain holidays; (5) whether persons convicted of a sexual offense who pose a high risk of reoffending should be required to register under this chapter regardless of when they were convicted or released into the community; and (6) whether persons determined to be guilty with adjudication withheld in any other state or jurisdiction of any crime the essential elements of which are substantially the same as any of the crimes specified in subdivisions (2), (5) and (11) of section 54-250 should be required to register under this chapter.
(P.A. 06-187, S. 30; 06-196, S. 295; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4, S. 99.)
History: P.A. 06-187 effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 06-196 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing "the Victim Advocate" with "a victim advocate with experience working with sexual assault victims and sexual offenders appointed by the Governor", effective July 1, 2006; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4 added new Subsec. (d) to require board to use risk assessment scale to determine which offenders should be prohibited from residing within 1,000 feet of public or private elementary or secondary school or child day care facility, redesignated existing Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (e) and amended same to extend the reporting deadline from February 1, 2007, to October 1, 2007, and to add Subdiv. (6) re whether persons determined to be guilty with adjudication withheld in any other state or jurisdiction of a crime substantially the same as a crime specified in Sec. 54-250(2), (5) or (11) should be required to register, effective June 29, 2007.
