Legislature(2003 - 2004)
05/01/2003 03:35 PM Senate STA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 195-CERTIFICATES OF PARTICIPATION FOR JAILS
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced there was a proposed committee
substitute (CS) before the committee.
SENATOR JOHN COWDERY made a motion to adopt CSSB 195 \D version
as the working document. There was no objection.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS explained the bill would provide certificates
of participation (COP) for the upgrade and expansion of certain
jails that are in need of expansion or replacement.
There are 15 community jails throughout rural Alaska and four of
them are at the top of the needs list. The community jails in
Dillingham and Kotzebue are top priority due to the high demand
for their services while the North Slope Borough Community Jail
needs more beds and has no room to expand. The Kodiak Community
Jail needs to be replaced because it is old and in poor
condition.
The bill would provide COPs to be issued and each of the four
municipalities would receive $4,000,000 provided they agreed to
match the funds.
JERRY BURNETT, Director of Administrative Services for the
Department of Corrections, agreed that the four community jails
were of top priority. He pointed out that community jails are an
integral pre-trial component of the state correctional system
and that the need for expansion is critical. The department
requested federal funds for all four through both OMB (Office of
Management and Budget) and the Alaska Congressional Delegation.
They took no position as to whether COPs were the appropriate
financing method.
SENATOR GRETCHEN GUESS asked whether federal funds would be
available in the next year.
MR. BURNETT said they didn't know.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if the maintenance appropriations were for
the entire jail or just the additions.
MR. BURNETT replied the annual 3.3 million additional funding
would be for the additional capacity. The department currently
has about $4.8 million for community jails in the operating
budget and they currently operate 153 beds.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if they would try to standardize the size
and design of the facilities.
MR. BURNETT replied he was unaware of any standardized design.
Although they wouldn't oppose it, some of the jails were already
designed.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if there was a benefit to constructing
larger facilities initially.
MR. BURNETT said he couldn't speak to that, but this would
alleviate some of the overcrowding in the state facilities in
Bethel and Nome that are currently operating at over 100 percent
capacity.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if these were all pre-trial facilities.
MR. BURNETT said the primary use of community jails is for
pretrial or short sentences. The four community jails under
discussion are all in communities that have a superior court so
the people housed in those jails must appear in court in that
community.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if need is tied to population growth.
MR. BURNETT said the number of people in the state facilities
has increased at a higher rate than the population growth, but
there is a strong correlation.
SENATOR GRETCHEN GUESS asked if fewer inmate transfers would
result in a savings.
MR. BURNETT said there are bi-weekly transfers between community
jails and the facilities in Bethel and Nome and sometimes there
are more frequent transports due to overcapacity. Expanding the
jails would reduce transfer costs, but actual savings are
difficult to define.
SENATOR COWDERY asked for the average length of stay.
MR. BURNETT didn't have that data with him.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said the Kodiak City Manager probably had the
information.
DEVIN MITCHELL, Debt Manager for the Department of Revenue,
explained the bill authorizes the issue of up to four COPs. They
are leased back securities of the State of Alaska that are
subject to appropriation for repayment. They are A-rated and
garner low interest rates. They have a 15-year term and, with
the current low interest rates, they would probably return about
4.5 percent interest on the borrowed money. In the bill, this
correlates to about $1.6 million annually.
The community would have a trustee act on its behalf to take a
title-interest in the jail. In the event the state failed to
appropriate, the trustee would take the facility and attempt to
make bondholders whole. Also at issue is additional State of
Alaska debt as it correlates to its bond ratings. The state
recently issued $461 million in general obligation debt and
although it's unlikely that SB 195 would rise to the level that
it would impact state ratings, if much more money were involved
the department would probably ask that ongoing revenues match
ongoing expenditures.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted the total payments for the full term of
the COPs are estimated to be $24,000,000 rather than $30,000,000
as in previous years due to the change in interest rates.
MR. MITCHELL agreed then pointed out that the numbers in the
bill were estimated higher than the current rate. Because
today's interest rates are extraordinarily low, the department
cushioned the figures to avoid an underestimate.
SENATOR COWDERY asked if privatization would save the state
money.
MR. MITCHELL replied he know nothing about prison operations.
LINDA FREED, Kodiak City Manager, testified via teleconference
in strong support of SB 195. On behalf of the state, the City of
Kodiak operates a community jail for the entire region. Under
the current contract, the city is liable for any activity that
occurs in the jail and although they have a cooperative working
relationship with the Department of Corrections, the city's
liability is rising as the building ages.
Increasing the number of beds to 20 would provide expansion
capability into the future. They hope to be able to house
prisoners for up to 30 days in the new facility instead of just
10 days. The city would be able to house special needs prisoners
and operate more efficiently.
The city is unable to underwrite the entire cost of a jail for
the state, but they are happy to work through SB 195 and pay a
cost share. They are committing the land, the design and
engineering and they are willing to bond under their local
capacity as long as they have some commitment from the state to
pay back the debt service on the portion of the building that is
committed to the jail.
5:05 pm
SENATOR COWDERY asked if the current building is unsafe.
MS. FREED replied the building isn't unsafe, but the roof needs
to be replaced and there are problems with the foundation. The
city has determined it would be more cost efficient to replace
this and several other old city buildings rather than continuing
to make repairs.
TAPE 03-25, SIDE A
SENATOR COWDERY asked about prisoner escapes.
MS. FREED reported they have had no problems with escapes.
SENATOR FRED DYSON made a motion to move CSSB 195(STA)\D and the
attached fiscal notes from committee with individual
recommendations. There being no objection, it was so ordered.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|