§ 15:828 — Classification and treatment programs; qualified sex offender programs; reports;

§828. Classification and treatment programs; qualified sex offender programs; reports;
earned credits
A.(1) Persons committed to and in the physical custody of the department shall be
treated in a humane manner, and the department shall direct efforts toward the rehabilitation
of such persons in order to effect their return to the community as promptly as practicable.
In order to accomplish this purpose, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and
Corrections shall establish programs of classification and diagnosis, education, casework,
counseling and psychotherapy, vocational training and guidance, work, library and religious
services, and such other rehabilitation programs as are consistent with available resources,
physical custody, and appropriate classification criteria. Such programs shall include but not
be limited to the prison rehabilitation pilot program as set forth in R.S. 15:828.1.
Additionally, he shall institute procedures to provide for the study and classification of all
inmates of penal or correctional institutions under the jurisdiction of the department.
(2)(a) In cases where the offender has been convicted of a violation of a sex offense
as defined in R.S. 15:541 and, in accordance with the penalty provisions of the particular
statute, has been sentenced to hard labor in the custody of the Department of Public Safety
and Corrections and is housed in a state correctional facility, the department, subject to the
availability of resources and appropriate individual classification criteria, should provide
counseling and therapy by institutional mental health staff in a sex offender program until
successfully completed or until expiration of sentence, release on parole in accordance with
and when permitted by R.S. 15:574.4, or other release in accordance with law, whichever
comes first.
(b) For purposes of this Paragraph, a "sex offender program" means one which
includes either or both group and individual therapy and may include arousal reconditioning.
Group therapy should be conducted by two therapists, one male and one female, and, subject
to availability of staff, at least one of whom should be licensed as a psychologist, board-certified as a psychiatrist, or a clinical social worker.
(c) The social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist shall provide the committee on
parole with progress reports and information in accordance with R.S. 15:574.4(C)(2).
(3)(a) All Department of Public Safety and Corrections adult detention facilities shall
offer both a General Education Development (GED) test training program and at least one
vocational training program as an option for inmates. Participation in the Prison
Rehabilitation Pilot Program, the Transitional Residential Pilot Program, or a regional
reentry program shall satisfy this requirement if those programs provide both a GED training
program and a vocational training program.
(b) Beginning on July 1, 2025, the department shall pay the sum of two dollars per
day to each parish sheriff, or to the governing authority of those parishes in which the
governing authority operates the parish jail, if the sheriff or parish offers programming that
meets the requirements for a General Education Development (GED) training program.
B. The secretary shall adopt rules and regulations for local jail facilities and state
correctional institutions to encourage voluntary participation by offenders in certified
treatment and rehabilitation programs, including but not limited to basic education, job skills
training, values development and faith-based initiatives, therapeutic programs, and treatment
programs. When funds are provided, such educational programs shall be available at each
penal or correctional institution under the jurisdiction of the department. The rules and
regulations may include provisions for furloughs or the awarding of earned credits toward
the reduction of the projected good time parole supervision date. Offenders may be awarded
up to three hundred sixty days total earned credits toward the reduction of the projected good
time parole supervision date for program participation.
C. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any offender in the
custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, including those sentenced as an
habitual offender pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 15:529.1, may earn additional good time
for participation in certified treatment and rehabilitation programs as provided for in
Subsection B of this Section, unless the offender's instant offense is one of the following:
(1) A sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541.
(2) A crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) and the offender has more than one
prior conviction of a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) or a sex offense as defined
in R.S. 15:541.
D. Offenders who are otherwise eligible under this Section who are participating in
the workforce development work release program pursuant to R.S. 15:1199.9, shall be
eligible to earn an additional one hundred eighty days of credit toward the reduction of the
projected good time parole supervision date.
E. Offenders who are otherwise eligible under this Section who earn a bachelor's
degree from a regionally accredited and a department-approved educational institution while
incarcerated shall be eligible to earn an additional ninety days of credit toward the reduction
of the projected good time parole supervision date.
F. Offenders who are otherwise eligible under this Section who earn a master's
degree from a regionally accredited and a department-approved educational institution while
incarcerated shall be eligible to earn an additional ninety days of credit toward the reduction
of the projected good time parole supervision date.

Legislative History

Acts 1968, No. 192, §1; Acts 1989, No. 336, §1; Acts 1991, No. 51, §1; Acts 1991, No. 766, §1; Acts 1992, No. 723, §1; Acts 1993, No. 484, §1, eff. June 10, 1993; Acts 1993, No. 671, §1; Acts 1993, No. 872, §1; Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 110, §1; Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 138, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1206, §1; Acts 2006, No. 61, §1; Acts 2009, No. 266, §1; Acts 2011, No. 186, §3; Acts 2012, No. 181, §1; Acts 2012, No. 714, §8; Acts 2013, No. 183, §1; Acts 2017, No. 280, §3, eff. Nov. 1, 2017; Acts 2021, No. 5, §1; Acts 2024, No. 168, §1, eff. May 23, 2024.