Reentry Programs in Nevada

NRS 209.4871 thru 209.4889 – Overview of Policies Related to Reentry Programs in Nevada

When an inmate is returned to the community with no reentry program, they’re at a disadvantage. A “reentry program” is a program set in place to help offenders to re-enter their community smoothly after release. Without it, some end up with no place to live, no job, and facing the same pressures they faced before being arrested upon leaving prison. This can lead to reincarceration; one study said as many as 76% of released prisoners end up back in prison within five years!

Two avenues to access a reentry program are through parole or probation. Another way is to obtain it yourself upon release, and as some prisoners don’t qualify for parole, they may not be aware of the programs in their community or simply choose not be willing to put forth the energy. They may not realize, however, how important this investment of their time and effort is.

A reentry program can be vital to their success.

What’s So Great About a Reentry Program?

A reentry program may offer the following benefits to a released offender:

1. Job skills or vocational training
2. Transitional Housing
3. Mental Health or Substance Abuse Treatment
4. Referrals and Additional, Helpful Information
5. Training in Life Skills

Two Types of Reentry Programs

Judicial Program

The Judicial Program is a reentry program for parolees and offenders that can be established by each judicial district. If the prisoner meets the criteria for the judicial program, the Director of the prison will refer him or her to the reentry court for a hearing. The court will determine if he or she is eligible for parole or as an offender. Upon approval into the judicial program, the Director will refer the prisoner to the Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety for supervision.

Sometimes offenders already on parole are referred to the reentry court by the Chair of the State Board of Parole Commissioners to seek an order to establish participation in the program as a condition of an offender’s parole (NRS 213.625). A parolee may not, however, participate in the judicial program as a condition of his parole without the approval of the court.

Correctional Program

The correctional program is a reentry program for parolees and offenders that may be established by the Director of each prison. He will determine any parolee’s suitability for the program, decide whether to require participation as a condition of parole, and request the Chair of the State Board of Parole Commissioners assign select parolees or prisoners to the program.

Conditions to Participate in Reentry Programs

To participate in either reentry program, the offender must demonstrate:

• A willingness to participate successfully in the program;
• That he’ll benefit from it;
• A willingness to work or participate in job skills training or vocational rehabilitation;
• A willingness to complete the victim restitution obligation for his crime; and
• He must be two years or less from his probable release date.

An offender is not eligible if:

• His sentence is shorter than the program;
• He has recently violated a significant prison rule;
• He’s not been doing his assigned duties at the prison;
• Has a conviction of a crime of violence or has threatened violence against another person within the previous year resulting in a crime punishable as a felony;
• Has any sexual offense conviction that’s punishable as a felony in his past; or
• Has attempted to or succeeded at escape from jail or prison as an adult.

The Director will establish set standards to determine who is eligible to be put into the Division of Parole and Probation’s custody to participate in the programs.

Satisfying the Requirements of a Reentry Program

By Violation

At any time, if the prisoner violates the conditions and terms the Chair and Director agreed upon, the prisoner may be returned to prison, thus ending his participation in the program.

By Completion

The parolee or prisoner will have to reimburse the reentry court, Department of Corrections, and Division for their expenses. Any offender released to transitional housing as a part of the judicial program is still a prisoner and not a parolee and not permitted to receive the benefits or programs a parolee would be entitled to. A prisoner not on parole will return to the prison at the end of the program.