Bill > HB2555

This bill establishes the Family Sentencing Alternative Program, a permanent initiative designed to provide an alternative sentencing approach for certain parents or pregnant defendants. The program allows eligible defendants who are facing at least one year of imprisonment and are either pregnant or have physical custody of a minor child to potentially receive probation instead of standard imprisonment. Eligibility requires the defendant to be eligible for a downward dispositional departure, and the court may consider participation in the program as a mitigating factor. If accepted into the program, defendants may be required to comply with additional probation conditions such as geographical restrictions, electronic surveillance, vocational training, parenting classes, drug or alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, and life skills classes. The Department of Corrections will select participating counties, and the Department of Human Services must collaborate in implementing the program. The bill mandates that services provided should be culturally specific and gender-responsive whenever possible. Additionally, the departments are required to submit an annual report to legislative committees detailing program outcomes and efficacy. The bill declares an emergency, making it effective immediately upon passage, and is intended to be retroactively operative from June 30, 2025.

Budget and Finance, Justice

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/HB2555