| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to illegal or undocumented aliens; |
| 3 | requiring the Department of Corrections and the Parole |
| 4 | Commission to establish agreements to implement a federal |
| 5 | deportation program for state inmates; specifying the |
| 6 | goals of the program; amending s. 947.146, F.S., relating |
| 7 | to the Control Release Authority; requiring the authority |
| 8 | to implement a program to execute an immediate deportation |
| 9 | order; creating s. 947.1461, F.S.; relating to control |
| 10 | release for removal and deportation; requiring the |
| 11 | department to identify eligible inmates at the reception |
| 12 | process; specifying eligibility criteria; requiring the |
| 13 | department to coordinate with federal authorities to |
| 14 | determine immigration status and eligibility for removal; |
| 15 | specifying that eligible inmates waive administrative and |
| 16 | appellate rights; requiring the Control Release Authority |
| 17 | to establish control release dates; authorizing the |
| 18 | control release dates to be set after the alien has served |
| 19 | a minimum 50 percent of his or her court-imposed sentence; |
| 20 | requiring the Control Release Authority to give notice to |
| 21 | aliens concerning reentering the United States; |
| 22 | prohibiting aliens from benefiting from control release |
| 23 | awards when removal is not reasonably foreseeable; |
| 24 | requiring the department to compile and report certain |
| 25 | statistics; providing an effective date. |
| 26 |
|
| 27 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 28 |
|
| 29 | Section 1. The Department of Corrections and the Parole |
| 30 | Commission shall immediately initiate, coordinate, and establish |
| 31 | agreements among multiple state, local, and federal authorities |
| 32 | to implement the United States Immigration and Customs |
| 33 | Enforcement Rapid Removal of Eligible Parolees Accepted for |
| 34 | Transfer (REPAT) program. The goals of this effort shall be to: |
| 35 | (1) Ensure that deportable aliens are not released from |
| 36 | prison to the community; |
| 37 | (2) Reduce the number of criminal aliens incarcerated in |
| 38 | the state prison system; |
| 39 | (3) Provide for the mandatory revocation of control |
| 40 | release and the confinement of criminal aliens who reenter the |
| 41 | United States; |
| 42 | (4) Allow eligible inmates to be released for deportation |
| 43 | purposes before the expiration of the sentence; |
| 44 | (5) Expedite the deportation process; and |
| 45 | (6) Improve information-sharing procedures between the |
| 46 | Immigration and Customs Enforcement Section of the United States |
| 47 | Department of Homeland Security and the department. |
| 48 | Section 2. Subsections (2), (5), and (7) of section |
| 49 | 947.146, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 50 | 947.146 Control Release Authority.- |
| 51 | (2) The authority shall implement a system for determining |
| 52 | the number and type of inmates who must be released into the |
| 53 | community under control release in order to maintain the state |
| 54 | prison system between 99 and 100 percent of its total capacity |
| 55 | as defined in s. 944.023 or to execute an immediate deportation |
| 56 | order from federal immigration authorities. An No inmate does |
| 57 | not have has a right to control release. Control |
| 58 | administrative function solely used to manage the state prison |
| 59 | population within total capacity and to expedite the deportation |
| 60 | process. An inmate may not receive an advancement of his or her |
| 61 | control release date by an award of control release allotments |
| 62 | for any period of time before the date the inmate becomes |
| 63 | statutorily eligible for control release or before the |
| 64 | subsequent date of establishment of the inmate's advanceable |
| 65 | control release date. |
| 66 | (5) Whenever the inmate population drops below 99 percent |
| 67 | of total capacity and remains below 99 percent for 90 |
| 68 | consecutive days without requiring the release of inmates under |
| 69 | this section, all control release dates shall become void and an |
| 70 | no inmate is not shall be eligible for release under any |
| 71 | previously established control release date. However, control |
| 72 | release dates for deportation purposes do not become void when |
| 73 | the inmate population changes. An inmate does shall not have a |
| 74 | right to a control release date, and nor shall the authority is |
| 75 | not be required to establish or reestablish any additional |
| 76 | control release dates except under the provisions of subsection |
| 77 | (2). |
| 78 | (7) The authority has the power and duty to: |
| 79 | (a) Extend or advance the control release date of any |
| 80 | inmate for whom a date has been established pursuant to |
| 81 | subsection (2), based upon one or more of the following: |
| 82 | 1. Recently discovered information of: |
| 83 | a. Past criminal conduct; |
| 84 | b. Verified threats by inmates provided by victims, law |
| 85 | enforcement, or the department; |
| 86 | c. Potential risk to or vulnerability of a victim; |
| 87 | d. Psychological or physical trauma to the victim due to |
| 88 | the criminal offense; |
| 89 | e. Court-ordered restitution; |
| 90 | f. History of abuse or addiction to a chemical substance |
| 91 | verified by a presentence or postsentence investigation report; |
| 92 | g. The inmate's ties to organized crime; |
| 93 | h. A change in the inmate's sentence structure; |
| 94 | i. Cooperation with law enforcement; |
| 95 | j. Strong community support; and |
| 96 | k. A documented mental condition as a factor for future |
| 97 | criminal behavior. |
| 98 | 2. The recommendation of the department regarding: |
| 99 | a. A medical or mental health-related condition; or |
| 100 | b. Institutional adjustment of the inmate, which may |
| 101 | include refusal by the inmate to sign the agreement to the |
| 102 | conditions of the release plan. |
| 103 | 3. Total capacity of the state prison system. |
| 104 | 4. Arrangements for the transfer of custody pending |
| 105 | deportation. |
| 106 | (b) Authorize an individual commissioner to postpone a |
| 107 | control release date for not more than 60 days without a hearing |
| 108 | for any inmate who has become the subject of a disciplinary |
| 109 | proceeding, a criminal arrest, an information, or an indictment; |
| 110 | who has been terminated from work release; or about whom there |
| 111 | is any recently discovered information as specified in paragraph |
| 112 | (a). |
| 113 | (c) Determine the terms, conditions, and period of time of |
| 114 | control release for persons released under pursuant to this |
| 115 | section. |
| 116 | (d) Determine violations of control release and what |
| 117 | actions shall be taken with reference thereto. |
| 118 | (e) Provide for victim input into the decisionmaking |
| 119 | process which may be used by the authority as aggravation or |
| 120 | mitigation in determining which persons shall be released on |
| 121 | control release. |
| 122 | (f) Make such investigations as may be necessary for the |
| 123 | purposes of establishing, modifying, or revoking a control |
| 124 | release date. |
| 125 | (g) Contract with a public defender or private counsel for |
| 126 | representation of indigent persons charged with violating the |
| 127 | terms of control release. |
| 128 | (h) Adopt such rules as the authority deems necessary to |
| 129 | implement for implementation of the provisions of this section. |
| 130 | Section 3. Section 947.1461, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 131 | to read: |
| 132 | 947.1461 Control release for removal and deportation |
| 133 | only.- |
| 134 | (1) The Department of Corrections shall begin during the |
| 135 | inmate reception process a procedure to identify eligible aliens |
| 136 | and determine if deportation is feasible and in the best |
| 137 | interests of the state. Aliens who are ineligible for the |
| 138 | federal deportation process under this section are inmates who |
| 139 | are ineligible for control release under s. 947.146(3)(a)-(m). |
| 140 | (2) The department shall coordinate with federal |
| 141 | authorities to determine the immigration status and eligibility |
| 142 | for removal and to obtain the final removal order. |
| 143 | (3) The department shall identify aliens for removal who |
| 144 | have voluntarily waived all administrative and judicial |
| 145 | appellate rights in writing and who have agreed in writing to |
| 146 | fully cooperate with federal authorities to obtain valid travel |
| 147 | documentation and facilitate removal. |
| 148 | (4) Upon acceptance into the federal deportation program, |
| 149 | the Control Release Authority shall establish a control release |
| 150 | date for the alien to be transferred into federal custody. |
| 151 | Notwithstanding s. 944.275(4)(b)3., the Control Release |
| 152 | Authority may establish a control release date after the alien |
| 153 | has served a minimum of 50 percent of his or her court-imposed |
| 154 | sentence. |
| 155 | (5) The department shall maintain exclusive control and |
| 156 | responsibility for the custody and transportation of an alien |
| 157 | who is accepted into the federal deportation program until the |
| 158 | alien is physically transferred to federal custody. |
| 159 | (6) The Control Release Authority shall provide notice and |
| 160 | obtain acknowledgement in writing that notice was given to each |
| 161 | alien who is eligible for deportation that reentry into the |
| 162 | United States requires the return of the alien to the custody of |
| 163 | the department to complete the remainder of his or her court- |
| 164 | imposed sentence. The alien must also waive in writing all |
| 165 | rights of extradition which would challenge the alien's return |
| 166 | to the department and Control Release Authority to complete the |
| 167 | remainder of his or her sentence. |
| 168 | (7) An alien may not under any circumstances receive the |
| 169 | benefits of control release awards if the federal authorities |
| 170 | determine that the alien's removal is not reasonably |
| 171 | foreseeable. |
| 172 | (8) The department shall compile statistics on this |
| 173 | program, including the number of aliens who are transferred to |
| 174 | federal custody, the number of aliens who are actually removed |
| 175 | from the United States, the number of aliens who reenter the |
| 176 | United States, and the annualized cost-avoidance achieved. |
| 177 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |