CSHB 53(RLS): "An Act expressing legislative intent without the force of law concerning correctional facility space and the Cleary v. Smith case; relating to the power of municipalities to provide for the confinement and care of prisoners; relating to authorizing the Department of Corrections to enter into agreements to lease facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners with the City of Delta Junction and with the Municipality of Anchorage; and providing for an effective date."
00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 53(RLS) 01 "An Act expressing legislative intent without the force of law concerning 02 correctional facility space and the Cleary v. Smith case; relating to the power of 03 municipalities to provide for the confinement and care of prisoners; relating to 04 authorizing the Department of Corrections to enter into agreements to lease 05 facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners with the City of Delta 06 Junction and with the Municipality of Anchorage; and providing for an effective 07 date." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. LEGISLATIVE INTENT. (a) It is the intent of the legislature to work with 10 the Department of Corrections to reduce the population in state prisons. 11 (b) The legislature recognizes the February 5, 1998, order by the superior court in 12 Cleary v. Smith, 3AN-S81-5274 Civ. 13 (c) The legislature appreciates and understands the court's analysis of the Department 14 of Corrections' submission of December 19, 1997.
01 (d) The legislature expects the governor to direct the attorney general to undertake all 02 available means to dissolve or modify the settlement agreements, orders, and decisions in 03 Cleary v. Smith, 3AN-S81-5274 Civ. 04 (e) The legislature intends to support the commissioner of corrections' actions to 05 secure additional capacity for the confinement and care of persons held under authority of 06 state law by 07 (1) acquiring additional capacity at reasonably priced community residential 08 centers; 09 (2) acquiring additional capacity in reasonably priced out-of-state facilities 10 under the authority granted in AS 33.30.031; 11 (3) using community jails more extensively as a temporary relief of 12 overcrowding of state institutions; 13 (4) using other reasonable and cost effective alternatives to confinement 14 reviewed and approved by the legislature. 15 * Sec. 2. AS 29.35.010 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 16 (15) provide facilities or services for the confinement and care of 17 prisoners and enter into agreements with the state, another municipality, or any person 18 relating to the confinement and care of prisoners. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 29.35.020(a) is amended to read: 20 (a) To the extent a municipality is otherwise authorized by law to exercise the 21 power necessary to provide the facility or service, the municipality may provide 22 facilities for the confinement and care of prisoners, parks, playgrounds, cemeteries, 23 emergency medical services, solid and septic waste disposal, utility services, airports, 24 streets (including ice roads), trails, transportation facilities, wharves, harbors and other 25 marine facilities outside its boundaries and may regulate their use and operation to the 26 extent that the jurisdiction in which they are located does not regulate them. A 27 regulation adopted under this section must state that it applies outside the municipality. 28 * Sec. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO LEASE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SPACE WITH 29 THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTOR OPERATION. (a) To take advantage of the unique 30 opportunity to use surplus military facilities on the road system that are becoming available 31 through the United States Army's realignment of Fort Greely's mission, to prevent and
01 ameliorate economic hardship in the Delta region occasioned by that realignment and the 02 consequent reduction in forces and civilian employment at Fort Greely, and to relieve 03 overcrowding of existing correctional facilities within the state and the extensive use of out-of- 04 state correctional facilities to house Alaska inmates, the Department of Corrections may enter 05 into an agreement with the City of Delta Junction to lease space within a correctional facility 06 in buildings currently located on the realigned Fort Greely military reservation that will house 07 persons who are committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections. The agreement 08 must provide that the state agrees to lease the space for a minimum of 20 years. 09 (b) The agreement to lease entered into under this section is predicated on and must 10 provide for an agreement between the City of Delta Junction and a private third-party 11 contractor under which the private third-party contractor operates the facility by providing for 12 custody, care, and discipline services for persons held by the commissioner of corrections 13 under authority of state law. The commissioner of corrections may require in the agreement 14 with the City of Delta Junction that the City of Delta Junction procure the private third-party 15 operator through a process similar to the procedures established in AS 36.30 (State 16 Procurement Code). 17 (c) The authorization given by (a) of this section is subject to the following 18 conditions: 19 (1) the lease must provide a minimum of 800 prison beds; 20 (2) the agreement to lease must contain terms providing that the commissioner 21 of corrections may terminate for cause a contract with a private third-party contractor 22 operating the facility in accordance with the provisions of (b) of this section; 23 (3) the commissioner may not enter into an agreement with an agency unable 24 to provide or cause to be provided a degree of custody, care, and discipline similar to that 25 required by the laws of this state. 26 * Sec. 5. AUTHORIZATION TO LEASE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY SPACE WITH 27 MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE. (a) To relieve overcrowding of existing correctional 28 facilities in the state, the extensive use of out-of-state correctional facilities, the specific 29 overcrowding of Anchorage pretrial facilities, and to replace the Sixth Avenue Correctional 30 Center, the Department of Corrections may enter into a lease agreement with the Municipality 31 of Anchorage for the replacement of the Sixth Avenue Correctional Center in Anchorage with
01 a new Anchorage jail facility. 02 (b) The authorization given by (a) of this section is subject to the following 03 conditions: 04 (1) the lease may provide for a maximum of 400 beds; 05 (2) the capital cost may not exceed $50,000,000; 06 (3) the annual lease payment should not exceed $4,800,000, with a total lease 07 payment over the 20-year lease not to exceed $95,000,000; 08 (4) the initial additional annual operating cost of the facility should not 09 increase more than $6,000,000 as a result of replacement; 10 (5) the agreement to lease must contain terms providing that the commissioner 11 of corrections may terminate for cause any contract for operating the facility. 12 * Sec. 6. APPLICABILITY. The provisions of AS 33.30.031(a) do not apply to an 13 agreement to lease a correctional facility in accordance with the provisions of sec. 4 of this 14 Act. 15 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).