IN RE: EXPEDITING THE REMEDIES PROVIDED IN MacPHEAT and Promoting Judicial Economy. (2000)

ORDER

On March 9, 2000, this Court entered an order, MacPheat v. Mahoney, 2000 MT 62, 299 Mont. 46, 997 P.2d 753, decreeing that when persons are held in county or other local jails prior to trial based upon their inability to post bail, they must be given the same good time credit for the time spent in jail as they would be given if they were imprisoned during that time.   The procedure set forth in MacPheat for determining eligibility for such good time credit involved the filing of a petition for habeas corpus with this Court, followed by this Court's remand of the case to the sentencing court for a factual determination of whether the person had been offered bail and, if so, whether the sole reason for inability to post bail was the person's indigence, followed by a determination of the amount of good time credit to which the person is entitled.   In Eisenman v. State, 2000 MT 170, ¶ 31, 300Mont. 322, ¶ 31, 5 P.3d 542, ¶ 31, 57 St.Rep. 704, ¶ 31, we clarified that it was not our intent to burden the district courts with the task of computing the amount of actual good time credit that may be applied to reduce a person's sentence;  “[t]hat is an administrative function which the [Department of Corrections] must perform.”

Since MacPheat was issued, a remarkably large number of filings have been made pursuant thereto, resulting in what has become an excessive burden upon this Court and the district courts of this State.

Therefore, IT IS NOW ORDERED that for purposes of judicial economy and to expedite the remedy grounded in MacPheat, the procedure for determining eligibility for good time credit under MacPheat shall be as described below:

 1. From the date of this Order, the determination of credit for good time pursuant to MacPheat shall be determined administratively by the Department of Corrections and the warden in charge of the prisoner's confinement facility, in compliance with this Order.

 2. Upon receipt of a written request from a prisoner for good time credit pursuant to MacPheat, the Department of Corrections and the warden in charge of the prisoner's confinement facility shall review the same.   There shall be a presumption that the prisoner was confined in a county or other local jail prior to conviction solely because of his or her inability to make bail because of indigence.   In the event the State chooses to overcome that presumption, it must within ten (10) days after the request from the prisoner present to the Department and the warden proof establishing that the prisoner is not entitled to good time under MacPheat.   In the absence of such proof, the Department and the warden shall, by an internal administrative order, credit the prisoner for the amount of good time credit to which he or she is entitled.   The Department and the warden shall promptly notify the prisoner in writing of such credit, if any, or of the reason for denial of the credit.

3. Any petitions for writ of habeas corpus or other extraordinary relief based solely upon MacPheat or its progeny now pending before this Court shall be dismissed sua sponte and remanded for administrative processing by the Department of Corrections and the proper warden, as set forth above.

4. Any petitions for writ of habeas corpus or other extraordinary relief based solely upon MacPheat or its progeny now pending before a district court of this State shall be dismissed and remanded for administrative processing by the Department of Corrections and the proper warden, as set forth above.

5. Henceforth from the date of this Order, any new petitions filed for writ of habeas corpus or other extraordinary relief based solely upon MacPheat or its progeny shall be summarily dismissed sua sponte and remanded to the Department of Corrections and the proper warden for administrative processing as set forth above.

The Clerk of this Court is directed to provide copies of this Order to the Department of Corrections with the request that it be made available to the men and women inmates of the Montana State Prison system;  to the wardens of Montana state prisons;  to each District Judge of the State of Montana;  to the Office of the Montana Attorney General;  and to the State Reporter Publishing Company and West Group with the request that it be published in the State Reporter, Montana Reports, and the Pacific Reporter.

/s/ J.A. Turnage

/s/ Chief Justice

/s/ William E. Hunt, Sr.

/s/ Jim Regnier

/s/ Terry Trieweiler

/s/ W. William Leaphart

/s/ Justices