HB 53: "An Act relating to the authority of the Department of Corrections to contract for facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners, and annulling a regulation of the Department of Corrections that limits the purposes for which an agreement with a private agency may be entered into; authorizing an agreement by which the Department of Corrections may, for the benefit of the state, enter into one lease of, or similar agreement to use, space within a correctional facility that is operated by a private contractor, and setting conditions on the operation of the correctional facility affected by the lease or use agreement; and giving notice of and approving a lease-purchase agreement or similar use-purchase agreement for the design, construction, and operation of a correctional facility, and setting conditions and limitations on the facility's design, construction, and operation."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 53 01 "An Act relating to the authority of the Department of Corrections to contract 02 for facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners, and annulling a regulation 03 of the Department of Corrections that limits the purposes for which an agreement 04 with a private agency may be entered into; authorizing an agreement by which 05 the Department of Corrections may, for the benefit of the state, enter into one 06 lease of, or similar agreement to use, space within a correctional facility that is 07 operated by a private contractor, and setting conditions on the operation of the 08 correctional facility affected by the lease or use agreement; and giving notice of 09 and approving a lease-purchase agreement or similar use-purchase agreement for 10 the design, construction, and operation of a correctional facility, and setting 11 conditions and limitations on the facility's design, construction, and operation." 12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 13 * Section 1. AS 33.30.031(a) is amended to read: 14 (a) The commissioner shall determine the availability of state correctional
01 facilities suitable for the detention and confinement of persons held under authority of 02 state law or under agreement entered into under (e) of this section. If the 03 commissioner determines that suitable state correctional facilities are not available, the 04 commissioner may enter into an agreement with a public or private agency to provide 05 necessary facilities, subject to the following: 06 (1) the commissioner may not enter into an agreement with an 07 agency that is unable to provide a degree of custody, care, and discipline to the 08 extent required by the laws of this state; 09 (2) correctional [. CORRECTIONAL] facilities provided through 10 agreement with an [A PUBLIC] agency for the detention and confinement of persons 11 held under authority of state law may be in this state or in another state; 12 (3) correctional [. CORRECTIONAL] facilities provided through 13 agreement with an [A PRIVATE] agency 14 (A) may provide for the detention and confinement of all 15 persons held by the commissioner under authority of state law, whether 16 charged with or convicted of felonies or misdemeanors, without regard to 17 the custody classifications for prisoners as determined by the 18 commissioner, unless the security of the facility is inconsistent with those 19 custody classifications; and 20 (B) may not by regulation be restricted or limited by the 21 commissioner to use only for prisoners involved in certain rehabilitative or 22 treatment programs authorized by law [MUST BE LOCATED IN THIS 23 STATE UNLESS THE COMMISSIONER FINDS IN WRITING THAT (1) 24 THERE IS NO OTHER REASONABLE ALTERNATIVE FOR DETENTION 25 IN THE STATE; AND (2) THE AGREEMENT IS NECESSARY BECAUSE 26 OF HEALTH OR SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS INVOLVING A 27 PARTICULAR PRISONER OR CLASS OF PRISONERS, OR BECAUSE AN 28 EMERGENCY OF PRISONER OVERCROWDING IS IMMINENT. THE 29 COMMISSIONER MAY NOT ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH AN 30 AGENCY UNABLE TO PROVIDE A DEGREE OF CUSTODY, CARE, AND 31 DISCIPLINE SIMILAR TO THAT REQUIRED BY THE LAWS OF THIS
01 STATE]. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 33.30 is amended by adding a new section to article 1 to read: 03 Sec. 33.30.043. Lease of or agreement to use space within municipal 04 correctional facility. (a) If the commissioner determines that it would be in the best 05 interest of the state, the commissioner may enter into an agreement with a municipality 06 of the state for the lease by the state of a correctional facility or a part of it or for the 07 use and operation of a correctional facility or a part of it for the benefit of the state. 08 (b) An agreement executed by the commissioner under (a) of this section must 09 provide that 10 (1) the state has the right to detain or confine a prisoner held under 11 authority of law in the correctional facility; 12 (2) the administrator of the correctional facility agrees to implement an 13 order concerning a prisoner issued by a court of the state; 14 (3) the administrator of the correctional facility shall comply with the 15 law and with regulations adopted by the commissioner relating to the custody, care, 16 and discipline of a prisoner detained or confined in the correctional facility; and 17 (4) the commissioner may inspect the correctional facility at any time 18 to determine the conditions under which a prisoner is detained or confined. 19 (c) The agreement executed by the commissioner under (a) of this section may 20 require the administrator of the correctional facility to comply with requirements that 21 the commissioner considers necessary for the protection of the public or for the quality 22 of care and programs for prisoners required by this chapter and regulations adopted by 23 the commissioner. 24 * Sec. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO LEASE, OR FOR USE OF, CORRECTIONAL 25 FACILITY SPACE WITH THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTOR OPERATION. (a) To relieve 26 overcrowding of existing correctional facilities, the Department of Corrections may enter into 27 no more than one agreement to lease space or for use of space within a correctional facility 28 that will house persons who are committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections. 29 The agreement to lease or for use entered into under this section is predicated upon and must 30 provide for an agreement under which a private third-party contractor operates the facility by 31 providing for custody, care, and discipline services for persons held by the commissioner of
01 corrections under authority of state law. 02 (b) The authorization given by (a) of this section is subject to the conditions of (c) 03 - (e) of this section and to the further limitation that the total payments for the full term of 04 the agreement to lease or for use may not exceed $150,000,000 and the anticipated annual 05 amount of the rental obligation to be paid by the Department of Corrections under the 06 agreement to lease or for use must be reasonably commensurate with that total. 07 (c) A lease of space or agreement for use of space authorized by (a) of this section 08 may not involve a correctional facility that 09 (1) contains a total population of less than 500 or more than 800 prisoners; or 10 (2) is to be operated by the state or a municipality except that the state or a 11 municipality may operate the correctional facility temporarily if, in a correctional facility that 12 is to be operated by a third-party contractor with whom the state or a municipality has entered 13 into an agreement to operate the correctional facility, the private third-party contractor with 14 whom the state or a municipality has entered into the agreement to operate the correctional 15 facility defaults in performance under the contract and operation of the correctional facility 16 by the state or the municipality is reasonably necessary to ensure the facility's continued 17 operation. 18 (d) If required by the commissioner of corrections as a condition of the correctional 19 facility's operation, in the award of a contract for the operation of the correctional facility to 20 be operated under the authorization set out in (a) of this section, the Department of 21 Corrections shall require that persons employed by the contractor as correctional officers in 22 the facility meet the requirements of AS 18.65.130 - 18.65.290 that are applicable to 23 correctional officers. 24 (e) The Department of Corrections may not, under this section, enter into an 25 agreement to lease space or for the use of space in a correctional facility if, under sec. 4 of 26 this Act, the Department of Administration, on behalf of the Department of Corrections, enters 27 into a lease-purchase agreement, use-purchase agreement, or other agreement to use a facility 28 that has a nominal purchase option. 29 * Sec. 4. NOTICE AND APPROVAL OF LEASE-PURCHASE AGREEMENT OR 30 SIMILAR USE-PURCHASE AGREEMENT. (a) To provide for the design, construction, and 31 operation of a new correctional facility in order to relieve overcrowding of existing
01 correctional facilities, the Department of Administration, on behalf of the Department of 02 Corrections, may enter into an agreement under AS 33.30.031, in the form of a lease-purchase 03 agreement, use-purchase agreement, or other agreement to use a facility that has a nominal 04 purchase option, for the design, construction, and operation of a correctional facility that will 05 house persons who are committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections. The 06 project approval given by this subsection is subject to the conditions of (b) - (e) and (g) of 07 this section and to the following limitations: 08 (1) the anticipated total construction, acquisition, and related costs of 09 establishing the correctional facility may not exceed $90,000,000; 10 (2) the total lease or use payments for the full term of the agreement may not 11 exceed $180,000,000 and the anticipated annual amount of the rental obligation to be paid by 12 the Department of Corrections under the lease or use agreement must be reasonably 13 commensurate with that total; and 14 (3) at the end of the term of the lease-purchase agreement or use-purchase 15 agreement, the state shall own the correctional facility. 16 (b) The correctional facility to be designed, constructed, and operated under the notice 17 and approval given in (a) of this section 18 (1) must be designed and constructed so as to house, in separate housing, 19 female prisoners and male prisoners; 20 (2) may not contain a total population of more than 1,000 prisoners, but must 21 be designed and constructed so as to allow expansion of the facility to a greater capacity; and 22 (3) may not be operated by the state except temporarily when 23 (A) the private third-party contractor with whom the state has entered 24 into an agreement to operate defaults in performance under the contract and state 25 operation is reasonably necessary to ensure the facility's continued operation; or 26 (B) the state is unable to contract with a private third-party contractor. 27 (c) The lease-purchase or use-purchase agreement entered into under this section must 28 provide for 29 (1) an agreement under which the correctional facility is designed, constructed, 30 and, except for services to prisoners described in (2) of this subsection, operated by a private 31 third-party contractor; the agreement described in this subsection is made for the purpose of
01 acquiring, improving, and maintaining the correctional facility structure under AS 36.30.085, 02 and is exclusive of one or more agreements for the custody, care, and discipline of prisoners 03 housed in the facility as may be authorized by AS 33.30.031(a)(1) and (3); 04 (2) an operating agreement, separate from the agreement described in (1) of 05 this subsection, under which a private third-party contractor operates the facility by providing 06 for custody, care, and discipline services for persons held by the commissioner of corrections 07 under authority of state law; the operating agreement described in this paragraph shall 08 (A) for its initial period, not to exceed five years, be entered into with 09 a private third-party contractor that is the same person as the third-party contractor 10 described in (1) of this subsection; and 11 (B) for the duration of the period of the lease-purchase or use-purchase 12 agreement, be rebid or reoffered at intervals of not more than five years and may be 13 entered into with a private third-party contractor other than the person described in (A) 14 of this paragraph. 15 (d) In the evaluation of a bid submitted to construct and operate the correctional 16 facility described in this section, the Department of Administration may provide incentive to 17 the maker of a bid that pledges to employ state residents as far as practicable. 18 (e) If required by the commissioner of corrections as a condition of the correctional 19 facility's operation, in the award of a contract for the operation of the correctional facility to 20 be designed, constructed, and operated under the notice and approval given in (a) of this 21 section, the Department of Administration shall require that persons employed by the 22 contractor as correctional officers in the facility meet the requirements of AS 18.65.130 - 23 18.65.290 that are applicable to correctional officers. 24 (f) Subsection (a) of this section constitutes the notice and approval required by 25 AS 36.30.085. 26 (g) The Department of Administration, on behalf of the Department of Corrections, 27 may not, under this section, enter into a lease-purchase agreement, use-purchase agreement, 28 or other agreement to use a facility that has a nominal purchase option if, under sec. 3 of this 29 Act, the Department of Corrections enters into an agreement to lease space or for the use of 30 space in a correctional facility. 31 * Sec. 5. CONSTRUCTION OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITY UNDER PROJECT
01 LABOR AGREEMENT. (a) The purpose of this section is to enable the state to meet its 02 obligation to improve the care and custody of the prisoners for which it is responsible at an 03 early date through the completion of construction of a major correctional facility by structuring 04 labor relations at the job site of the correctional facility in the interests of industrial harmony 05 and in a way that makes optimal use of construction resources. 06 (b) Notwithstanding any restrictions that may be applicable under AS 36.30, the 07 correctional facility described in sec. 4 of this Act may be constructed only under a public 08 construction project labor agreement between the building construction contractor and one or 09 more building trade unions; the labor agreement must provide 10 (1) a no-strike and no-slowdown pledge by the union or unions; 11 (2) a commitment on the part of the construction contractor to hire through 12 local union hiring halls; and 13 (3) a provision allowing not more than 15 percent of the construction 14 contractor's workforce on the public construction project to be composed of persons who are 15 not members of the union or unions. 16 * Sec. 6. 22 AAC 05.300(e) is annulled.