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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3527
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE COLLINS.
7522H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 217.692, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to
eligibility for parole.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 217.692, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 217.692, to read as follows:
217.692. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary , any of fender
2 incarcerated in a correctional institution serving any sentence [ of life with no parole for fifty
3 years or life without parole, whose plea of guilt was entered or whose trial commenced prior
4 to December 31, 1990, ] and who:
5 (1) Pleaded guilty to or was found guilty of [ a homicide of a spouse or domestic
6 partner ] an offense stemming direc tly fro m the offender's history of abuse by a spouse,
7 domestic partner , intimate partner , household member , or sexual or labor trafficker
8 including, but not limited to, homicide of such abuser ;
9 (2) Has no prior violent felony convictions;
10 (3) No longer has a cognizable legal claim or legal recourse; and
11 (4) Has a history of being a victim of continual and substantial physical ,
12 psychological, or sexual domestic violence [ that was not presented as an af firmative defense
13 at trial or sentencing ] or sexual or labor trafficking within five years prior to or on the
14 date of the offense for which he or she was convicted and such violence or trafficking
15 was a contributing factor to the behavior underlying his or her criminal conviction and
16 such history can be corroborated with evidence of facts or circumstances which existed at the
17 time of the alleged physical , psychological, or sexual domestic violence or sexual or labor
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 trafficking of the of fender , including but not limited to witness statements, hospital records,
19 social services records, and law enforcement records;
20
21 shall be eligible for parole after having served [ fifteen years ] the lesser of five years or one-
22 third of such sentence when the parole board determines by using the guidelines established
23 by this section that there is a strong and reasonable probability that the person will not
24 thereafter violate the law .
25 2. The parole board shall give a thorough review of the case history and prison record
26 of any of fender described in subsection 1 of this section. At the end of the parole board's
27 review , the parole board shall provide the of fender with a copy of a statement of reasons for
28 its parole decision. If the parol e board denies paro le, the offender may reap ply for board
29 r eview under this section once every two years.
30 3. Any of fender released under the provisions of this section shall be under the
31 supervision of the division of probation and parole for an amount of time to be determined by
32 the parole board.
33 4. The parole board shall consider , but not be limited to the following criteria when
34 making its parole decision:
35 (1) Length of time served;
36 (2) Prison record and self-rehabilitation effor ts;
37 (3) Whether the history of the case included corroborative material of physical,
38 sexual, [ mental, ] or [ emotional ] psychological abuse or sexual or labor trafficking of the
39 of fender , including but not limited to witness statements, hospital records, social service
40 records, and law enforcement records;
41 (4) [If an of fer of a plea bar gain was made and if so, why the of fender rejected or
42 accepted the of fer;
43 (5) ] Any victim information outlined in subsection 10 of section 217.690 and section
44 595.209;
45 [ (6) The of fender's continued claim of innocence;
46 (7) ] (5) The age and maturity of the of fender at the time of the parole board's
47 decision;
48 [ (8) ] (6) The age and maturity of the of fender at the time of the crime and any
49 contributing influence af fecting the of fender's judgment;
50 [ (9) ] (7) The presence of a workable parole plan; and
51 [ (10) ] (8) Community and family support.
52 5. It shall not be consider ed a negative factor for determining par ole eligibility if
53 an offender was unable to participate in tr eatment or other progr amming while
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54 incar cerated despite the willingness of the offender to participate in such tr eatment or
55 pr ogramming.
56 6. Nothing in this section shall limit the review of any of fender's case who is eligible
57 for parole prior to [ fifteen ] five years, nor shall it limit in any way the parole board's power to
58 grant parole prior to [ fifteen ] five years.
59 [ 6. ] 7. Nothing in this section shall limit the review of any of fender's case who has
60 applied for executive clemency , nor shall it limit in any way the governor's power to grant
61 clemency .
62 [ 7. ] 8. It shall be the responsibility of the of fender to petition the parole board for a
63 hearing under this section. Ther e shall be a presum ption in favor of granting a hearing on
64 a petition filed under this section. A hearing for an offender described in subsection 1 of
65 this section shall be denied only if the parol e board determines that ther e is an inher ent
66 lack of rel iability of the facts asserted in the petition or a deficiency in the factual
67 allegations in the petition. If the par ole board determines that the offender is not
68 entitled to a hearing, the board shall provi de written findings of fact outlining the
69 r easons for such decision.
70 [ 8. A person commits the crime of perjury if he or she, with the purpose to deceive,
71 knowingly makes a false witness statement to the parole board. Perjury under this section
72 shall be a class D felony .]
73 9. In cases where witness statements alleging physical , psychological, or sexual
74 domestic violence or sexual or labor trafficking are in conflict as to whether such violence
75 occurred or was continual and substantial in nature, the history of such alleged violence shall
76 be established by other corroborative evidence in addition to witness statements, as provided
77 by subsection 1 of this section. A contradictory statement of the victim shall not be deemed a
78 conflicting statement for purposes of this section.
✔
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