§ 94.3. Procedures for participation in prerelease programs.
(a) The criteria for eligibility for prerelease programs are as follows:
(1) Inmates who have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment or other offenses specified by the Department in the Department of Corrections Inmate Handbook, DC-ADM 805—Policy and Procedures for Obtaining Pre-release—or any Department document that is disseminated to inmates are not eligible.
(2) Time-served requirements are as follows:
(i) To be time-eligible for placement in a community corrections center or group home, the inmate shall have completed at least one-half of the inmate’s minimum sentence, be within 1 year of completing his minimum sentence, have no outstanding detainers, and have served at least 9 months in a facility. Exceptions may be made with written approval of the Secretary or a designee, when early transfer is necessary to assist in the inmate’s access to medical or mental health care or to provide longer period of participation for an inmate who has been confined for an unusually long period of time. A contact may not be made with the court until the approval is obtained.
(ii) For other prerelease programs, the inmate is time-eligible after the inmate has completed one-half of the inmate’s minimum sentence or one-half of the period ending with anticipated release date of an indeterminate sentence and has served at least 9 months in a facility. The inmate may have no detainers lodged against him for an untried offense or for a sentence with a maximum term in excess of 2 years. Inmates who are otherwise time-eligible who have detainers lodged against them for less than 2 years can be time-eligible for a prerelease program except community corrections center or group home upon written approval of the Secretary or a designee. No contact may be made with the court until the approval is obtained.
(3) The inmate shall have favorable recommendation of the correctional facility staff—for example, counselor, work supervisor, housing officer, education/vocational supervisor and deputy facility managers for treatment and operations.
(4) The inmate may have had no Class I misconduct and no more than one Class II misconduct during the 9 months prior to application, and have sustained no Class I misconduct and no more than one Class II misconduct from the time of application to the time of transfer.
(5) The inmate shall obtain a medical clearance by the facility medical officer.
(6) The inmate’s application shall be approved by the facility manager and by the Secretary or regional director of the Department, or both, if an inmate is serving a sentence for an offense specified in the Department of Corrections Inmate Handbook, or any Department document that is disseminated to inmates that requires approval.
(7) If the inmate has not completed his minimum sentence, the notice process in § 94.5 (relating to notification process) shall be followed.
(8) Applications for transfer to community corrections require evaluation and concurrence by the staff of the appropriate region of community corrections and approval by the Director of Community Corrections.
(9) The inmate shall execute a written acknowledgement that he is required to abide by the rules and regulations of the prerelease program. In the case of community corrections placement, the written agreement shall be signed prior to transfer.
(10) After transfer into a prerelease program, the inmate may continue to participate in the program only while adequate resources are available to provide care, custody and control for the inmate within the program to which the inmate has been admitted. The inmate’s privilege to participate in prerelease programs may be suspended or revoked for administrative or disciplinary reasons. The Department will establish procedures to govern the revocation of prerelease privileges.
(b) The process of obtaining prerelease transfer is initiated when an inmate submits an application to the inmate’s counselor for participation in work/educational/vocational release, or for a temporary home furlough or for transfer to a community corrections placement. An inmate will not be granted prerelease transfer for any purpose unless the inmate satisfies all of the criteria in this section. Satisfying the eligibility criteria for prerelease transfer does not mean the inmate will automatically be permitted to participate in prerelease programs. Other considerations such as the staff’s evaluation of the inmate’s progress, the relevancy of the particular prerelease program to the inmate’s reintegration, the safety of the community and the victim of the inmate’s crime and the availability of space will be taken into consideration. Approval for participation in one prerelease program does not imply clearance for, or preclude application for participation in any other program. The application must specify a particular prerelease program.
(c) Special exception to subsection (a) or (b), other than subsection (a)(1), (2)(ii) and (6)—(9), may be recommended in writing by a facility manager to the Secretary or a designee.
(d) Inmates serving Federal sentences in facilities shall be eligible for prerelease transfer under rules and regulations established by the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and subject to subsections (a) and (b), and the subsequent approval of Federal and State authorities.
(e) Inmates serving sentences from other jurisdictions under the Interstate Corrections Compact (61 P. S. § § 1061—1063) are eligible subject to subsections (a) and (b) and the sending state’s written approval.
Authority The provisions of this § 94.3 amended under section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 186).
Source The provisions of this § 94.3 adopted February 17, 1984, effective February 18, 1984, 14 Pa.B. 534; amended December 21, 2001, effective December 22, 2001, 31 Pa.B. 6932; amended April 15, 2005, effective April 16, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 2279. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (286447) to (286449).
Notes of Decisions Authority of Officials
Denial of an inmate’s request for admission to a prerelease program was not based on his classification as a dangerous offender and sexual predator by the Department of Corrections, where the Department exercised its lawful discretion and denied the inmate’s request for admission to a prerelease program based upon the belief that the inmate’s violent criminal history rendered him ineligible, at that time, for admission to such a program. Hugie v. Horn, 730 A.2d 1042 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999).
Corrections officials’ consideration of prisoners convictions and history in denying prisoner’s application for prerelease status was a proper exercise of professional judgment and not an arbitrary action which would establish denial of equal protection. Reider v. Bureau of Correction, 502 A.2d 272 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1985).
Constitutional Right to Participate
The fact that one’s temporary home furlough was approved and then arbitrarily revoked does not alter the well settled proposition that one has no constitutional right to participate in a pre-release program. Auberzinski v. Board of Probation and Parole, 690 A.2d 776 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1997).
Drug Testing
Because petitioner failed to establish a liberty interest with due process protection, petitioner had no clear legal right to relief and mandamus was unavailable when petitioner claimed that positive drug urinalysis was the result of heart medication rather than cocaine abuse. Wilder v. Department of Corrections, 673 A.2d 30 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996); appeal denied 681 A.2d 1344 (Pa. 1996).
Rights of Prisoners
Since the prerelease transfer regulations did not give rise to an expectation of prerelease, a prisoner had no liberty interest which was violated by denial of prerelease even though the minimum eligibility criteria have been satisfied. Reider v. Bureau of Correction, 502 A.2d 272 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1985).
Cross References This section cited in 37 Pa. Code § 94.4 (relating to application process); and 37 Pa. Code § 94.6 (relating to staff responsibilities).
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