The Arizona Department of Corrections Screening and Referral Process

In 1995 the Arizona Legislature enacted a statute to further protect the citizens of Arizona from repetitive, predatory sex offenders by enabling certain persons to be civilly committed to the Arizona State Hospital upon completion of a prison term. Arizona's statute is patterned after the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act, the constitutionality of which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court on June 23, 1997.

The Arizona statute requires the agency having custody of the offender to determine:

• If the offender has been convicted of a sexually violent offense or a sexually motivated offense in Arizona or any other state, and

• upon completion of a psychiatric/psychological report whether or not the person has a mental disorder and as a result of that mental disorder, the person is likely to engage in a sexually violent offense.

In anticipation of the Kansas decision, the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) further refined its sex offender identification and profile system, which was already operational due to state sex offender community notification statutes. The ADC internally implemented the Sex Offender Notification Law upon its effective date of June 1, 1996. The initial screening component undertaken by the Department of Corrections entails the completion of the Arizona Community Notification risk assessment instrument. This instrument categorizes offenders into three risk categories; Level 1 (lower risk), Level 2 (intermediate risk), Level 3 (high risk). This information, along with other pertinent criminal justice identification data related to each inmate who is subject to notification, is provided to the local law enforcement agencies via the Department of Public Safety. As a normal part of daily functioning, the Sex Offender Coordination Unit within ADC reviews packets on the inmates who are being released to the community with or without post prison community supervision. Staff complete this task to ascertain whether the inmates are subject to sex offender registration and/or community notification. It was reasonable to expand the existing process completed for community notification purposes and identify those inmates who are subject to the sexually violent persons law as determined by their past criminal offenses. Those inmates who are assessed to be in the Level 2 and 3 categories are referred for a mental health evaluation to determine if they meet the mental disorder requirement, and if, as a result of a mental disorder, they are likely to engage in a sexually violent offense.

The Department screened and referred the first sexually violent person to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in August 1997. During the time period from August 1, 1997 through July 31, 1998, a total of 899 inmates were released from ADC, whose criminal records indicated evidence of an arrest or conviction of a sex offense. Each inmate's case was reviewed by ADC staff, and a Community Notification Risk Assessment was completed on those inmates who were subject to the registration, notification or sexual predator laws.

Of this total, 512 inmates were determined to have one or more of the convictions enumerated in ARS 36-3701 Sexually Violent Persons; ARS 13-3821 Sex Offender Registration or ARS 13-3825 Sex Offender Community Notification.

The Community Notification Risk Assessment instrument was completed on each of these inmates, and 302 of them were determined to be in the Level I risk category, or had not been convicted of sexually violent offenses as enumerated in the law. Another 210 inmates were determined to be in either the Level 2 or Level 3 risk categories.

210 sex offenders convicted of sexually violent offenses were referred to psychologists/psychiatrists for completion of a mental health evaluation (due to their Level 2 and 3 risk categories).

After evaluation, 67 of these offenders were found to meet the requirements of the statute and were referred to the local county attorneys for a civil commitment petition.

49 offenders were referred to the courts by the local county attorneys after review and screening.

Certain modifications to the statute became effective August 21, 1998 and will allow the Arizona Department of Corrections to begin screening and evaluating sex offenders sooner; ten months in advance of the inmate's release date. ADC can refer these cases to the county attorneys six months prior to the release date.

As of April 30, 1998, there were 5,219 sex offenders incarcerated in the ADC. Each of these inmates was convicted in Arizona or another state of one or more sex offenses or sexually motivated offenses. Of the 5,219 inmates, 2,406 were convicted in Arizona for a sexually violent offense.

Arizona's sexually violent persons law continues to be refined through a collaborative effort by the Department, county attorneys, the court and mental health professionals statewide to protect the public and implement the law in the most balanced and effective manner.

 

Updated on August 05, 1999