HOUSE BILL No. 5297

 

 

November 30, 2017, Introduced by Rep. Howrylak and referred to the Committee on Law and Justice.

 

     A bill to amend 1953 PA 232, entitled

 

"Corrections code of 1953,"

 

by amending section 20i (MCL 791.220i), as amended by 2015 PA 49.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 20i. (1) If the correctional facility described in

 

section 20g is not utilized by the department for housing inmates

 

or detainees under the terms of section 20g, the private contractor

 

that operates that correctional facility may utilize the facility

 

for housing, custody, and care of detainees or inmates from any of

 

the following agencies, either by directly contracting with those

 

local, state, or federal agencies or by having 1 or more local,

 

state, or federal agencies enter into an interlocal agreement with

 

the township or county in which the facility is located, or the

 

county sheriff for the county in which the facility is located, who

 

in turn may contract with the private contractor for services to be


provided under the terms of the interlocal agreement, subject to

 

the requirements of this section:

 

     (a) Other local, state, or federal agencies.

 

     (b) The department if the detainees or inmates are older than

 

19 years of age and under the jurisdiction of the department.

 

     (2) If all contractual factors regarding potential inmates or

 

detainees are equal, the private contractor shall give preference

 

to the admission of inmates or detainees sent from agencies within

 

this state, including the department.

 

     (3) Any contract under this section for the housing, custody,

 

and care of detainees or inmates from other local, state, or

 

federal agencies shall must require all of the following:

 

     (a) The private contractor that operates the facility shall do

 

all of the following:

 

     (i) Obtain accreditation of the facility by the American

 

Correctional Association within 24 months after the private

 

contractor commences operations at the facility and maintain that

 

accreditation throughout the term of any contract for the use of

 

the facility.

 

     (ii) Operate the facility in compliance with the applicable

 

standards of the American Correctional Association.

 

     (b) The personnel employed by the private contractor in the

 

operation of the facility shall meet the employment and training

 

requirements set forth in the applicable standards of the American

 

Correctional Association, and also shall meet any higher training

 

and employment standards that may be mandated under a contract

 

between the private contractor and a local, state, or federal


agency that sends inmates or detainees to the facility.

 

     (c) Any serious incident that occurs at the facility shall

 

must be reported immediately to the sheriff of the county and the

 

state police.

 

     (4) An inmate or detainee housed at the facility shall not

 

participate in work release, a work camp, or another similar

 

program or activity occurring outside the secure perimeter of the

 

facility without the authorization of the initiating jurisdiction.

 

     (5) The facility shall allow the presence of on-site monitors

 

from any local, state, or federal agency that sends inmates or

 

detainees to the facility, for the purpose of monitoring the

 

conditions of confinement of those inmates or detainees. Whenever

 

the private contractor submits a written report to a local, state,

 

or federal agency that sends inmates or detainees to the facility,

 

the private contractor shall send copies of the written report to

 

the township supervisor, the board of county commissioners, the

 

county sheriff, and the department.

 

     (6) Personnel employed at the facility by the private

 

contractor who have met the employment and training requirements

 

set forth in the applicable standards of the American Correctional

 

Association have full authority to perform their duties and

 

responsibilities under law, including, but not limited to,

 

exercising the use of force in the same manner and to the same

 

extent as would be authorized if those personnel were employed in a

 

correctional facility operated by the department.

 

     (7) A contract with a local, state, or federal agency that

 

sends inmates or detainees to the facility shall must not require,


authorize, or imply a delegation of the authority or responsibility

 

to the private contractor to do any of the following:

 

     (a) Develop or implement procedures for calculating inmate

 

release and parole eligibility dates or recommending the granting

 

or denying of parole, although the private contractor may submit

 

written reports that have been prepared in the ordinary course of

 

business.

 

     (b) Develop or implement procedures for calculating and

 

awarding earned credits, including good time credits, disciplinary

 

credits, or similar credits affecting the length of an inmate's

 

incarceration, approving the type of work inmates may perform and

 

the wage or earned credits, if any, that may be awarded to inmates

 

engaging in that work, and granting, denying, or revoking earned

 

credits.

 

      (8) Inmates and detainees shall must be transferred to and

 

from the facility in a secure manner. Any inmate or detainee housed

 

at the facility who was sent from another state, a local agency

 

outside this state, or the federal government shall must be

 

returned to the agency that sent the inmate or detainee upon

 

completion of the inmate's or detainee's term of incarceration in

 

the facility and shall must not be released from custody within

 

this state.

 

     (9) The department of corrections is not responsible for

 

oversight of the facility. This state, or any department or agency

 

of this state, is not civilly liable for damages arising out of the

 

operation of the facility.

 

     (10) Beginning July 1, 2018, an inmate or detainee must not be


housed at the facility unless the security classification of the

 

inmate or detainee, as it would be determined by the department if

 

he or she were being housed in a state correctional facility, is

 

level II or below, and has never previously been above a level II.

 

     (11) (10) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Facility" means the former Michigan youth correctional

 

facility described in subsection (1).

 

     (b) "Security classification" means 1 of 6 levels of

 

restrictiveness enforced in housing units at each state

 

correctional facility, as determined by the department, with

 

security level I being the least restrictive and security level VI

 

being the most restrictive.

 

     (c) (b) "Serious incident" means a disturbance at the facility

 

involving 5 or more inmates or detainees, a death of an inmate or

 

detainee, a felony or attempted felony committed within the

 

facility, or an escape or attempted escape from the facility.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.