2020 -- H 7140

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LC003261

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS - RESIDENCE OF THOSE IN GOVERNMENT CUSTODY

ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Williams, Almeida, Caldwell, Alzate, and McEntee

     Date Introduced: January 16, 2020

     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 § 17-1-3.1 provides: "A person's residence for voting purposes is his or her 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, 2021. 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); and

     (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 § 17-30-5. The data prepared by the secretary of

state pursuant to § 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

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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 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; and

     (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; and

     (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 in chapter 171 of the Pub L. of 1994 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 § 17-30-5 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.

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     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 the state use the actual residences of persons in government

custody 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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