2016 -- H 7400

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LC003287

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS - RESIDENCE OF THOSE IN GOVERNMENT CUSTODY

ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Williams, Regunberg, Ajello, Costa, and Lombardi

     Date Introduced: January 28, 2016

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 17 of the General Laws entitled "ELECTIONS" is hereby amended by

adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 30

RESIDENCE OF THOSE IN GOVERNMENT CUSTODY ACT

     17-30-1. Title. – This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Residence of

Those in Government Custody Act."

     17-30-2. Legislative declaration and findings. – The purpose of this chapter is to ensure

that persons in government custody within the state are counted at their actual residence for

redistricting purposes. The general assembly notes that Rhode Island general laws §17-1-3.1

provides: "A person's residence for voting purposes is their fixed and established domicile… A

person can have only one domicile, and the domicile shall not be considered lost solely by reason

of absence for any of the following reasons:… Confinement in a correctional facility…"

Investigation has shown that, despite these provisions, the census classifies incarcerated persons

as residents of their places of incarceration rather than of their home addresses. The provisions of

this act are necessary to provide procedures and duties to correct this discrepancy.

     17-30-3. Electronic record. – The department of corrections shall collect and maintain

an electronic record of the legal residence, presumptively outside of the facility, and other

demographic data, for any person entering its custody after January 1, 2017. At a minimum, this

record shall contain the last known complete street address prior to incarceration, the person's

race, whether the person is of Hispanic or Latino origin, and whether the person is over the age of

eighteen (18).

     17-30-4. Reports to the secretary of state. – (a) In each year in which the federal

decennial census is taken but in which the United States Bureau of the Census allocates

incarcerated persons as residents of correctional facilities, the department of corrections shall, by

May 1 of that same year, deliver to the secretary of state:

     (1) The street address of the correctional facility in which such person was incarcerated at

the time of such report;

     (2) The last known address of such person prior to incarceration or other legal residence

(if known);

     (3) The person's race, whether the person is of Hispanic or Latino origin, and whether the

person is over the age of eighteen (18), if known;

     (4) Any additional information as the secretary of state may request pursuant to law.

     (b) The department shall provide the information specified in §17-30-4(a) in such form as

the secretary of state shall specify.

     (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general or public laws to the contrary, the

information required to be provided to the secretary of state pursuant to this section shall not

include the name of any incarcerated person and shall not allow for the identification of any such

person therefrom, except to the department of corrections. The information shall be treated as

confidential, and shall not be disclosed by the secretary of state except as redistricting data

aggregated by census block for purposes which they may require.

     17-30-5. Federal facilities. – The secretary of state shall request each agency that

operates a federal facility in this state that incarcerates persons convicted of a criminal offense to

provide the secretary of state with a report including the information listed in §17-30-4.

     17-30-6. Requiring use of data in redistricting. – The secretary of state shall prepare

redistricting population data to reflect incarcerated persons at their residential address, pursuant to

§17-30-4 and §17-30-5. The data prepared by the secretary of state pursuant to §17-30-4 and §17-

30-5 shall be the basis of state house of representative districts, state senate districts, and all local

government districts that are based on population. Incarcerated populations residing at unknown

geographic locations within the state, as determined under §17-30-5 shall not be used to

determine the ideal population of any set of districts, wards, or precincts.

     17-30-7. Determinations and data publication by the secretary of state. – (a) For each

person included in a report received under this chapter, the secretary of state shall determine the

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geographic units for which population counts are reported in the federal decennial census that

contain the facility of incarceration and the legal residence as listed according to the report.

     (b) For each person included in a report received under this chapter, if the legal residence

is known and in this state, the secretary of state shall:

     (1) Ensure that the person is not represented in any population counts reported by the

secretary of state for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was

incarcerated, unless that geographic unit also includes the person's legal residence.

     (2) Ensure that any population counts reported by the secretary of state reflect the

person’s residential address as reported pursuant to this chapter.

     (c) For each person included in a report received under this chapter for whom a legal

residence is unknown or not in this state, and for all persons reported in the census as residing in a

federal correctional facility for whom a report was not provided, the secretary of state shall:

     (1) Ensure that the person is not represented in any population counts reported by the

secretary of state for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was

incarcerated.

     (2) Allocate the person to a state unit not tied to a specific determined geography, as

other state residents with unknown state addresses are allocated, including, but not limited to,

military and federal government personnel stationed overseas.

     (d) The data prepared by the secretary of state pursuant to this section shall be completed

and published no later than thirty (30) days from the date that federal decennial data as provided

for under Pub. L. 94-171 is published for the state of Rhode Island or forty-five (45) days after

passage of this act, whichever is later.

     17-30-8. Use in aid. – The data prepared by the secretary of state as required by §17-30-4

and §17-30-5 shall not be used in the distribution of any state or federal aid.

     17-30-9. Severability. – If any provision of this act or the application of any provision of

this act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other

provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or

application, and for this purpose the provisions of this act are severable.

     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 ELECTIONS - RESIDENCE OF THOSE IN GOVERNMENT CUSTODY

ACT

***

     This act would require that persons in government custody use their actual residence for

census and redistricting purposes. Such information would be determined by the department of

corrections and the secretary of state, and forwarded to the United States census bureau.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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