§14-14-5. Medical release application; eligibility factors; notice; determination.

(a) An inmate, or any concerned person, including, but not limited to, the inmate's attorney, family, physician, or an employee or official of the department may initiate consideration for medical furlough by submitting to the department an initial medical release application form along with supporting documentation.

(b)(1) The initial application form shall include the report of a physician or physicians employed by the department or its health care provider and a notarized report of at least one other duly licensed physician who is board certified in the field of medicine for which the inmate is seeking a medical furlough and who is not an employee of the department. These reports shall each be of the opinion that the inmate is either terminally ill, permanently incapacitated, or that the inmate suffers from a chronic infirmity, illness, or disease related to aging.

(2) The commissioner shall provide the initial application and medical authorization forms to all department medical care providers, and the forms shall be available at every correctional facility for distribution to inmates.

(c) Consideration for medical furlough shall be initiated by the submission of an application from the department, the inmate, or the inmate's representative, along with the department's supporting documentation to the commissioner.

(d) If the appropriate medical documentation pursuant to subsection (b) has indicated that the inmate is permanently incapacitated or terminally ill, the commissioner, within 30 days of receipt of an initial application form, shall make a decision. The initial application form and supporting document of inmates, who have been diagnosed by a physician as suffering from a chronic illness or disease related to aging, shall be submitted to the commissioner within 60 days of receipt of the application by the department. Supporting documentation shall include information concerning the inmate's medical history and prognosis, age, and institutional behavior. At the inmate's request, the department shall also provide a copy of all supporting documentation to the inmate.

(e) In determining eligibility factors for a medical furlough, the commissioner shall take into consideration all of the following factors:

(1) Risk for violence.

(2) Criminal history.

(3) Institutional behavior.

(4) Age of the inmate, currently and at the time of the offense.

(5) Severity of the illness, disease, or infirmities.

(6) All available medical and mental health records.

(7) Release plans, which include alternatives to caring for terminally ill or permanently incapacitated inmates in traditional prison settings.

(f) The commissioner shall notify the district attorney of the jurisdiction where the inmate was last sentenced of the consideration of an inmate for a medical furlough and afford the district attorney where the crime was prosecuted a reasonable opportunity to object. The commissioner shall also notify the victim or victims of the crimes listed in paragraphs a. to i., inclusive, of subdivision (1) of subsection (e) of Section 15-22-36, for which the defendant is currently incarcerated, of the review to consider a medical furlough. Notice shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the victim or victims named in the indictment.

(g) The commissioner shall make a determination whether to grant medical furlough for terminally ill inmates within 30 days of receipt of an initial application and supporting documentation.

(h) The commissioner shall make a determination whether to grant medical furlough for permanently incapacitated inmates within 30 days of receipt of an initial application and supporting documentation.

(i) The commissioner shall make a determination on whether to grant medical furlough for geriatric inmates within 30 days of receipt of the application and supporting documentation from the department.

(Act 2008-550, p. 1193, §5.)