House hearing examines bill to restore correction department's rehabilitation certificate and ease municipal hiring of ex-inmates

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Lawmakers on the House Commission on Municipal Affairs heard Feb. 19 testimony and questions about Proyecto de la Ce1mara 6, a bill that would restore the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation's (DCR) authority to issue a "Certificado de Rehabilitacif3n y Capacitación para Trabajar" and carve that certificate into the municipal hiring rules so some formerly incarcerated people could obtain municipal public-service jobs.

The measure drew broad, conditional support from agency witnesses but prompted detailed questions about eligibility criteria, municipal autonomy, appeals and oversight. The Department of Justice and the Department of Labor recommended technical changes and consultation with other agencies; DCR said the bill offers an additional tool for reinsertion but that implementing rules and resources will determine results.

The bill would amend Article 2.048 of Law 107-2020 (the Puerto Rico Municipal Code), Section 6.8 of Law 8-2017 (Law for the Administration and Transformation of Human Resources in the Government of Puerto Rico), add a new Article 10-B to the DCR's 2011 reorganization plan, and amend provisions of Law 254 of July 27, 1974 to change how criminal records are displayed in certain certificates.

"Entendemos que dicha omisif3n fue por inadvertencia y no es la intencif3n del legislador proponente," said Viviana Catale1 Dedaz of the Department of Justice while reading the agency's written comments, noting the bill as drafted omits anti-discrimination language previously in…