House Bill 3711c1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 3711

        By the Committee on Governmental Operations and
    Representative Lacasa





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to a feasibility study

  3         involving corrections; requiring the Office of

  4         Program Policy Analysis and Government

  5         Accountability (OPPAGA) to conduct a study on

  6         the feasibility of the Department of

  7         Corrections submitting a bid and operating its

  8         prisons in a manner similar to that provided by

  9         law for private contractors; requiring the

10         study to be submitted to the presiding officers

11         of the Legislature; providing an effective

12         date.

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14         WHEREAS, an inmate's discomfort resulting from austere

15  imprisonment conditions not only deters the specific

16  individual from committing further criminal offenses, but also

17  has a general deterrent effect upon those in society

18  contemplating similar activities, and

19         WHEREAS, many citizens are often appalled when they

20  become aware of the comforts that prisoners in prisons enjoy

21  when many of our citizens can not afford these luxuries, and

22         WHEREAS, the no-frills prison movement in Florida

23  resulted in the Legislature eliminating or restricting many

24  diverse inmate privileges, and the ability of correctional

25  managers in the public prisons to purchase with non-tax

26  dollars recreation equipment and televisions, and

27         WHEREAS, there is substantial agreement among

28  corrections experts regarding the legitimacy of eliminating or

29  restricting free weights and personal clothing and

30  establishing medical copayments, and there also is

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 3711

    192-997-98






  1  considerable agreement that eliminating all access to

  2  television and recreational opportunities is imprudent, and

  3         WHEREAS, the no-frills prison movement in Florida has

  4  had an unintended consequence of making it more difficult and

  5  costly for prison officials in the public prisons to maintain

  6  security, and

  7         WHEREAS, an ideal prison system should use both

  8  incentives and disincentives to control and change inmate

  9  behavior, and

10         WHEREAS, the dedicated correctional officers working in

11  our public prisons deserve to be protected from harm by having

12  the ability to appropriately punish and reward inmates under

13  their control, and

14         WHEREAS, there is a public safety benefit in the

15  successful rehabilitation and return of deserving inmates back

16  into society, and

17         WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature to

18  establish a two-tier correctional system in which both private

19  and public correctional facilities are given the necessary

20  management tools to effectively punish and reward inmates,

21  NOW, THEREFORE,

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23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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25         Section 1.  The Office of Program Policy Analysis and

26  Government Accountability (OPPAGA) shall study the feasibility

27  of the Department of Corrections submitting a bid and

28  operating its prisons in a similar manner as provided by law

29  in chapter 957, Florida Statutes, for private firms and other

30  private contractors.  The study shall be submitted to the

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 3711

    192-997-98






  1  Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the President

  2  of the Senate by January 1, 1999.

  3         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  4  law.

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