Sec. 53a-39c. Community service labor program. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 53a-39c. Community service labor program. (a) There is established, within available appropriations, a community service labor program for persons charged with a violation of section 21a-267 or 21a-279 who have not previously been convicted of a violation of section 21a-267, 21a-277, 21a-278 or 21a-279. Upon application by any such person for participation in such program the court may grant such application and (1) if such person has not previously been placed in the community service labor program, the court may either suspend prosecution and place such person in such program or, upon a plea of guilty without trial where a term of imprisonment is part of a stated plea agreement, suspend any sentence of imprisonment and make participation in such program a condition of probation or conditional discharge in accordance with section 53a-30; or (2) if such person has previously been placed in such program, the court may, upon a plea of guilty without trial where a term of imprisonment is part of a stated plea agreement, suspend any sentence of imprisonment and make participation in such program a condition of probation or conditional discharge in accordance with said section 53a-30. No person may be placed in such program who has twice previously been placed in such program.

      (b) Any person who enters such program shall pay to the court a participation fee of two hundred five dollars, except that no person may be excluded from such program for inability to pay such fee, provided (1) such person files with the court an affidavit of indigency or inability to pay, (2) such indigency is confirmed by the Court Support Services Division, and (3) the court enters a finding thereof. All program fees collected shall be deposited into the alternative incarceration program account.

      (c) Any person for whom prosecution is suspended and who is placed in the community service labor program pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall agree to the tolling of the statute of limitations with respect to such crime and to a waiver of such person's right to a speedy trial. A pretrial community service labor program established under this section for persons for whom prosecution is suspended shall include a drug education component. If such person satisfactorily completes the program of community service labor to which such person was assigned, such person may apply for dismissal of the charges against such person and the court, on reviewing the record of such person's participation in such program and on finding such satisfactory completion, shall dismiss the charges. If the program provider certifies to the court that such person did not successfully complete the program of community service labor to which such person was assigned or is no longer amenable to participation in such program, the court shall enter a plea of not guilty for such person and immediately place the case on the trial list.

      (d) The period of participation in a community service labor program shall be a minimum of fourteen days for a first violation and thirty days for a second violation involving a plea of guilty and conviction.

      (P.A. 90-213, S. 3, 56; P.A. 97-248, S. 11, 12; P.A. 99-148, S. 2, 4; P.A. 03-2, S. 50.)

      History: P.A. 97-248 amended Subsec. (a) to make ineligible for the program persons who have previously participated in the drug education program established under Sec. 54-56i, and amended Subsec. (b) to require a pretrial community service labor program established for persons for whom prosecution is suspended to include a drug education component, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-148 amended Subsec. (a) to make eligible for the program persons charged with a violation of Sec. 21a-267, to make ineligible for the program persons who have previously been convicted of a violation of Sec. 21a-267 and to delete the provision that made persons who previously participated in the drug education program established under Sec. 54-56i ineligible for the program, amended Subsec. (c) to replace provisions that specified differing periods of participation in the program depending upon whether the violation was of subsection (a), (b) or (c) of Sec. 21a-279 with provisions requiring a period of participation consisting of a minimum of 14 days for a first violation and 30 days for a second violation involving a plea of guilty and conviction, and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 03-2 added new Subsec. (b) to establish a participation fee of $205, prohibit the exclusion of a person from the program for inability to pay such fee and require that all program fees collected be deposited into the alternative incarceration program account and redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) and (c) as new Subsecs. (c) and (d), respectively, effective February 28, 2003.

      Program intended to avoid unnecessary trials and expenditures of resources, so defendant's application for program when trial nearly complete is justification for denying application. 51 CA 126.