§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.

           Added by 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, eff. August 15, 2009; Acts 2011, No. 186, §3, eff. August 15, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 181, §1, eff. August 1, 2012; Acts 2013, No. 183, §1, eff. August 1, 2013; Acts 2017, No. 280, §3, eff. November 1, 2017; Acts 2021, No. 5, §1, eff. August 1, 2021; Acts 2024, No. 168, §1, eff. May 23, 2024.