Sectional Analysis for HB 53

Sectional Analysis for HB 53

Senate Finance Committee Substitute

Section 1. Expresses Legislative intent to work with the administration to reduce the population in state prisons. It recognizes the February 5, 1998, court order in the Cleary case and requests the administration to work to terminate the Cleary Final Settlement Agreement. It suggests four means of reducing prison population that the legislature believes should be pursued.

Section 2. Authorizes municipalities to provide or enter into agreements to provide prison services.

Section 3. Adds provision of facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of municipalities.

Section 4. States findings of special circumstances and needs and:

Authorizes the Department of Corrections to contract with the City of Delta Junction for prison space at a facility on Fort Greely,
Requires the lease for the facilities with the City of Delta be for a minimum of 20 years,
Requires operator of the facility be a private third party contractor,
Specifies the facility should be at least 800 beds,
allows the Commissioner of Corrections to terminate the operating contractor for cause,
Provides that the commissioner may not enter into a contract if the agency is unable to provide the level of custody required by law, and
Requires Delta Junction to use a procurement process similar to the State Procurement Code.

Section 5. Authorizes the Department of Corrections to lease from the Municipality of Anchorage a replacement for the Sixth Avenue Jail, with the following conditions:

Maximum capacity of 400 beds;
Maximum capital cost of $146,000 per bed or a total of $56,000,000;
Maximum annual lease of $16,700 per bed or a total of $6,400,000 with total maximum 20 year lease cost of $128,000,000;
Maximum initial annual operating cost increase of $6,000,000; and
A clause in the lease that allows the commissioner to terminate an operating contract for cause.

Section 6. Provides that when contracting as authorized in Section 4 the Commissioner is exempt from AS 33.30.031 (a) which means:

(a) the Commissioner of Corrections is not required to make a finding that suitable state facilities are not available, and the specification of the ability to provide services is waived. The requirement of ability to serve the level of care required by law is maintained by language in Section 4 (c) (3).

Section 5. Provides an immediate effective date.

Last updated 03-25-98

Sectional Analysis for CS HB 53 Rules Title Amended

Section 2. Authorizes municipalities to provide or enter into agreements to provide prison services.

Section 3. Adds provision of facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners to the extraterritorial jurisdiction of municipalities.

Section 4. States findings of special circumstances and needs and:

Authorizes the Department of Corrections to contract with the City of Delta Junction for prison space at a facility on Fort Greely.
Requires the lease with the City of Delta be for a minimum of 20 years.
Requires operator of the facility be a private third party contractor
Specifies the facility should be at least 800 beds
allows the Commissioner of Corrections to terminate the operating contractor for cause.
Provides that the commissioner may not enter into a contract if the agency is unable to provide the level of custody required by law.

Section 5. Authorizes the Department of Corrections to lease from the Municipality of Anchorage a replacement for the Sixth Avenue Jail, with the following conditions:

Maximum capacity of 400 beds;
Maximum capital cost of $50,000,000;
Maximum annual lease of $4,800,000 with total maximum 20 year lease cost of $95,000,000;
Maximum initial annual operating cost increase of $6,000,000; and
A clause in the lease that allows the commissioner to terminate an operating contract for cause.

Section 6. provides that when contracting as authorized in Section 4 the Commissioner is exempt from AS 33.30.031 (a) which means:

(a) the Commissioner of Corrections is not required to make a finding that suitable state facilities are not available, and the specification of the ability to provide services is waived. The requirement of ability to serve the level of care required by law is maintained by language in Section 4 (c) (3).

Section 7. Provides an immediate effective date.

LEGAL SERVICES
DIVISION OF LEGAL AND RESEARCH SERVICES
LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS AGENCY
STATE OF ALASKA

(907) 465-3867 or 465-2450
FAX (907) 465-2029 130 Seward Street, Suite 409
Mail Stop 3101 Juneau, Alaska 99801-2105

M E M O R A N D U M
January 24, 1997

SUBJECT: House Bill 53, authorizing contracted operation of correctional facilities, and approving a lease or similar agreement to use or a lease-purchase or similar use-purchase agreement for construction and operation of a new correctional facility -- sectional analysis (Work Order No. 20-LS0194\K)

TO: Representative Eldon Mulder, ATTN: Dennis DeWitt

FROM: Jack Chenoweth, Legislative Counsel

Current law authorizes the commissioner of corrections to enter into agreements with third parties to provide certain rehabilitative and treatment services in conjunction with the department's detention responsibilities. The bill contains provisions revising and expanding that authority and annuls an administrative regulation that limits the use of private third party contractors.

The measure also contains permanent law and uncodified provisions authorizing use of leases or similar agreements to use space within municipal correctional facilities, authorizes development of a new correctional facility through a lease-purchase agreement or similar mechanism, and sets limits and conditions on use of each of the two mechanisms.

Revision and expansion of contracting authority:

Bill section 1: The language changes are to AS 33.30.031(a). The proposed changes necessitate a reformatting of material within the paragraph. Proposed paragraph (a)(1) carries forward a limitation of the last sentence of the subsection wherein the commissioner may contract with an agency for detention and confinement services if the degree of custody, care, and discipline to be provided meet standards required by state law. Proposed paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) eliminate the distinction in law as to use of a private or public agency as a contractor, eliminate a presumption that limits use of contracted facilities to those within the state, and generally authorizes use of facilities provided by an agency under contract, extending beyond rehabilitation and treatment to add detention and confinement, so long as the security of the facility is not inconsistent with prisoner custody classification requirements.

Bill section 6 annuls a regulation based on current law limiting the department's use of contract facilities to rehabilitation and treatment-related facilities and for incarceration for offenses punishable as misdemeanors.

Space use arrangements and their financing:

Bill section 2: Existing law, AS 33.30.041, spells out a relationship between the state, as lessor of space within a correctional facility, and a municipality, as the lessee. This section addresses the situation in which the parties stand in an opposite relationship. It proposes to add a new section, AS 33.30.043, under which the commissioner may lease, as the lessee, space within, arrange for the use of space within, or use and operate, a correctional facility within a municipality of the state. Subsections (b) and (c) set out particular provisions that must operate for the benefit of the department and the prisoners for which it is responsible within an agreement to lease.

Bill section 3: This uncodified provision supplements the permanent law change in which the state may agree to use space within a correctional facility operated by another. Subsection (a) of the bill section authorizes the state's entry into no more than one agreement for lease or use of space, in a facility operated by a third-party contractor, subject to the particular conditions and constraints set out in (b) - (d).

Bill section 4: AS 36.30.085 spells out specific requirements under which the state may use a lease-purchase or similar use-purchase agreement in order to finance a new facility to which the state eventually obtains title. Subsection (a) of this bill section, offered as uncodified law, gives the notice and approval necessary for a lease-purchase agreement to initiate the project and sets out, in general terms, parameters applicable to the project's financing. Subsection (b) sets out particulars applicable to other facets of the project including population housing perspectives and a prohibition on direct state operation of the correctional facility with specific exceptions. Subsection (c) permits a division of the lease-purchase or use-purchase agreement into segments, dividing the construction phase from the operating phase and including a requirement within the operating phase for periodic rebidding or reoffering of the agreement in five year blocks in order to meet federal tax code concerns. Subsection (d) concerns inclusion of a resident hire incentive as a part of bid evaluation. Subsection (e) describes the circumstances under which persons employed by the contractor as correctional officers may be required to meet the requirements of the Alaska Police Standards Council (AS 18.65) that are applicable to correctional officers employed by the state and its municipalities. Subsection (f) formally declares that the provision "constitutes the notice and approval required by AS 36.30.085" for lease-purchase agreements that are entered into by the state.

Bill section 5: The bill section imposes a requirement that, in any correctional facility to be constructed, the facility is to be constructed under a public construction project labor agreement setting out particular requirements to be incorporated into the agreement.

A choice of space use financing arrangements is required. Persons interested in the legislation should note that, as between bill section 3 (specifically authorizing lease or use of space within the facility of another) and bill section 4 (giving legislative approval of lease-purchase or similar use-purchase agreement), section 3(e) and section 4(g), taken together, authorize state involvement in just one correctional facility, and that the choice of the use of one method--lease or lease-purchase--bars the state's subsequent use of the other--lease-purchase or lease, respectively--to secure subsequent facilities under the uncodified provisions that are a part of this measure.

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