2014 -- S 2286 SUBSTITUTE A | |
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LC003614/SUB A | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Metts, Crowley, Pichardo, and Jabour | |
Date Introduced: February 04, 2014 | |
Referred To: Senate Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Title 17 of the General Laws entitled "ELECTIONS" is hereby amended by |
2 | adding thereto the following chapter: |
3 | CHAPTER 30 |
4 | RESIDENCE OF THOSE IN GOVERNMENT CUSTODY ACT |
5 | 17-30-1. Title. – This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Residence of |
6 | Those in Government Custody Act". |
7 | 17-30-2. Legislative declaration and findings. – The purpose of this chapter is to ensure |
8 | that persons in government custody within the state are counted at their actual residence for |
9 | redistricting purposes. The general assembly notes that Rhode Island general laws section 17-1- |
10 | 3.1 provides: "A person's residence for voting purposes is his or her fixed and established |
11 | domicile… A person can have only one domicile, and the domicile shall not be considered lost |
12 | solely by reason of absence for any of the following reasons:… Confinement in a correctional |
13 | facility…" Investigation has shown that, despite these provisions, the census classifies |
14 | incarcerated persons as residents of their places of incarceration rather than of their home |
15 | addresses. The provisions of this act are necessary to provide procedures and duties to correct this |
16 | discrepancy. |
17 | 17-30-3. Electronic record. – The department of corrections shall collect and maintain |
18 | an electronic record of the legal residence, presumptively outside of the facility, and other |
19 | demographic data, for any person entering its custody after January 1, 2015. At a minimum, this |
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1 | record shall contain the last known complete street address prior to incarceration, the person's |
2 | race, whether the person is of Hispanic or Latino origin, and whether the person is over the age of |
3 | eighteen (18). |
4 | 17-30-4. Reports to the secretary of state. – (a) In each year in which the federal |
5 | decennial census is taken but in which the United States bureau of the census allocates |
6 | incarcerated persons as residents of correctional facilities, the department of corrections shall, by |
7 | May 1st of that same year, deliver to the secretary of state: |
8 | (1) The street address of the correctional facility in which such person was incarcerated at |
9 | the time of such report; |
10 | (2) The last known address of such person prior to incarceration or other legal residence |
11 | (if known); |
12 | (3) The person's race, whether the person is of Hispanic or Latino origin, and whether the |
13 | person is over the age of eighteen (18) (if known); |
14 | (4) Any additional information as the secretary of state may request pursuant to law. |
15 | (b) The department shall provide the information specified in subsection 17-30-4(a) in |
16 | such form as the secretary of state shall specify. |
17 | (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general or public laws to the contrary, the |
18 | information required to be provided to the secretary of state pursuant to this section shall not |
19 | include the name of any incarcerated person and shall not allow for the identification of any such |
20 | person therefrom, except to the department of corrections. The information shall be treated as |
21 | confidential, and shall not be disclosed by the secretary of state except as redistricting data |
22 | aggregated by census block for purposes which they may require. |
23 | 17-30-5. Federal facilities. – The secretary of state shall request each agency that |
24 | operates a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons convicted of a criminal offense to |
25 | provide the secretary of state with a report including the information listed in section 17-30-4. |
26 | 17-30-6. Requiring use of data in redistricting. – The secretary of state shall prepare |
27 | redistricting population data to reflect incarcerated persons at their residential address, pursuant to |
28 | section 17-30-5. The data prepared by the secretary of state pursuant to section 17-30-5 shall be |
29 | the basis of state house of representative districts, state senate districts, and all local government |
30 | districts that are based on population. Incarcerated populations residing at unknown geographic |
31 | locations within the state, as determined under section 17-30-5 shall not be used to determine the |
32 | ideal population of any set of districts, wards, or precincts. |
33 | 17-30-7. Determinations and data publication by the secretary of state. – (a) For each |
34 | person included in a report received under this chapter, the secretary of state shall determine the |
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1 | geographic units for which population counts are reported in the federal decennial census that |
2 | contain the facility of incarceration and the legal residence as listed according to the report. |
3 | (b) For each person included in a report received under this chapter, if the legal residence |
4 | is known and in this state, the secretary of state shall: |
5 | (1) Ensure that the person is not represented in any population counts reported by the |
6 | secretary of state for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was |
7 | incarcerated, unless that geographic unit also includes the person's legal residence. |
8 | (2) Ensure that any population counts reported by the secretary of state reflect the |
9 | person’s residential address as reported pursuant to this chapter. |
10 | (c) For each person included in a report received under this chapter for whom a legal |
11 | residence is unknown or not in this state, and for all persons reported in the census as residing in a |
12 | federal correctional facility for whom a report was not provided, the secretary of state shall: |
13 | (1) Ensure that the person is not represented in any population counts reported by the |
14 | secretary of state for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was |
15 | incarcerated. |
16 | (2) Allocate the person to a state unit not tied to a specific determined geography, as |
17 | other state residents with unknown state addresses are allocated, including, but not limited to, |
18 | military and federal government personnel stationed overseas. |
19 | (d) The data prepared by the secretary of state pursuant to this section shall be completed |
20 | and published no later than thirty (30) days from the date that federal decennial PL94-171 data is |
21 | published for the state of Rhode Island. |
22 | 17-30-8. Use in aid. – The data prepared by the secretary of state as required by section |
23 | 17-30-5 shall not be used in the distribution of any state or federal aid. |
24 | 17-30-9. Severability. – If any provision of this act or the application of any provision of |
25 | this act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other |
26 | provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or |
27 | application, and for this purpose the provisions of this act are severable. |
28 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT | |
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1 | This act would require that persons in government custody use their actual residence for |
2 | census and redistricting purposes. Such information would be determined by the department of |
3 | corrections and the secretary of state, and forwarded to the United States census bureau. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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