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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Aragon		DATE TYPED:	01/30/02		HB
SHORT TITLE:		Expand Corrections Industries Enterprises				SB	SJM 51
					ANALYST:		Trujillo

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY02	FY03	FY02	FY03
		$0.1 Minimal		Non-Recurring	OSF

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in The General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received

Corrections Department (CD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Joint Memorial 51 requests the CD and the Corrections Commission report to an appropriate interim legislative committee regarding strategies to expand corrections industries enterprises. It also requires that the Corrections Department and the Corrections Commission report their findings to an appropriate Interim Legislative Committee no later than November 1, 2002.

The memorial also makes a finding that in order to address high rates of recidivism among inmates, the vocational programming should provide them with viable job skills that they can use to gain employment after they complete their term of incarceration.

Significant Issues

CD reports there are a number of factors which limit the department’s ability to provide meaningful Corrections Industries programs to large numbers of inmates: 1) cost and 2) the high frequency of inmate transfers between department facilities that is necessitated by inadequate bed space.

Currently the New Mexico Corrections Industries employment is slightly higher than the national average. Otherwise, New Mexico Corrections Industries programs are comparable to most states in the United States.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no appropriation in the Memorial. The Memorial will result in a minor increase in costs to the Department.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The memorial will result in a minor increase in the administrative burden upon CD personnel.

LAT/ar