"An Act relating to the qualifications of correctional officers, parole officers, and probation officers; authorizing the Department of Corrections to enter into lease-purchase agreements with municipalities for new or expanded public correctional facilities in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Bethel, the Municipality of Anchorage, and the City of Seward; relating to the development and financing of privately operated correctional facility space and services; authorizing the Department of Corrections to enter into a lease-purchase agreement with the City of Whittier for the confinement and care of prisoners in privately operated correctional facility space if the state cannot provide the same level of services required in state law or regulation for the same or less cost; giving notice of and approving, and authorizing the entry into and issuance of certificates of participation for, the upgrade, expansion, and replacement of certain jails in Dillingham and Kodiak; and providing for an effective date."

The State of Alaska suffers from serious overcrowding in our prison facilities. We need a responsible solution to address the serious issues that arise from overcrowding, deteriorating physical plants, and anticipated growth in prisoner population. CSSB 65 is the result of numerous conversations that revealed a need for compromise in order to pass a comprehensive, long-term correctional facility plan that adequately addresses public safety this session.

This bill ensures local involvement in the process and guarantees open and fair competition; creates a level playing field between the public and private sectors; requires the use of the state procurement process, a feasibility study, and approval of facility designs by the Commissioner of Corrections. The end result is consistency in facility design and operation.

This bill will allow the State of Alaska to bring its prisoners back from Arizona and will direct this money into the state economy, thereby providing jobs to hundreds of Alaskans.

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