Florida Senate - 2023             CONFERENCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 7018
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì1067262Î106726                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                 Floor: AD/CR          .           Floor: AD            
             05/05/2023 09:34 AM       .      05/05/2023 10:43 AM       
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       The Conference Committee on SB 7018 recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Conference Committee Amendment (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 1. Subsection (1) and paragraphs (b) and (c) of
    7  subsection (2) of section 945.215, Florida Statutes, are amended
    8  to read:
    9         945.215 Inmate welfare and employee benefit trust funds.—
   10         (1) INMATE PURCHASES; DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.—
   11         (a) The net proceeds from operating inmate canteens,
   12  vending machines used primarily by inmates and visitors, hobby
   13  shops, and other such facilities must be deposited into the
   14  State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund or, as
   15  provided in paragraph (2)(b), into the General Revenue Fund;
   16  however, funds necessary to purchase items for resale at inmate
   17  canteens and vending machines must be deposited into local bank
   18  accounts designated by the department.
   19         (b) All proceeds from contracted telephone commissions must
   20  be deposited into the State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare
   21  Trust Fund or, as provided in paragraph (2)(b), into the General
   22  Revenue Fund. The department shall develop and update, as
   23  necessary, administrative procedures to verify that:
   24         1. Contracted telephone companies accurately record and
   25  report all telephone calls made by inmates incarcerated in
   26  correctional facilities under the department’s jurisdiction;
   27         2. Persons who accept collect calls from inmates are
   28  charged the contracted rate; and
   29         3. The department receives the contracted telephone
   30  commissions.
   31         (c) Any funds that may be assigned by inmates or donated to
   32  the department by the general public or an inmate service
   33  organization must be deposited into the State-Operated
   34  Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund or, as provided in
   35  paragraph (2)(b), into the General Revenue Fund; however, the
   36  department may shall not accept any donation from, or on behalf
   37  of, any individual inmate.
   38         (d) All proceeds from the following sources must be
   39  deposited into the State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare
   40  Trust Fund or, as provided in paragraph (2)(b), into the General
   41  Revenue Fund:
   42         1. The confiscation and liquidation of any contraband found
   43  upon, or in the possession of, any inmate;
   44         2. Disciplinary fines imposed against inmates;
   45         3. Forfeitures of inmate earnings; and
   46         4. Unexpended balances in individual inmate trust fund
   47  accounts of less than $1;
   48         5.Copayments made by inmates for nonemergency visits to a
   49  health care provider pursuant to s. 945.6037;
   50         6.Any proceeds obtained through the collection of damages
   51  pursuant to s. 960.293(2); and
   52         7.Cost of incarceration liens pursuant to s. 960.292(2).
   53         (e) Items for resale at inmate canteens and vending
   54  machines maintained at the correctional facilities shall be
   55  priced comparatively with like items for retail sale at fair
   56  market prices.
   57         (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, inmates
   58  with sufficient balances in their individual inmate bank trust
   59  fund accounts, after all debts against the account are
   60  satisfied, shall be allowed to request a weekly draw of up to an
   61  amount set by the Secretary of Corrections, not to exceed $100,
   62  to be expended for personal use on canteen and vending machine
   63  items.
   64         (2) STATE-OPERATED INSTITUTIONS INMATE WELFARE TRUST FUND.—
   65         (b) Deposits into the trust fund may not exceed a total of
   66  $32 $2.5 million in any fiscal year. Any proceeds or funds that
   67  would cause deposits into the trust fund to exceed this limit
   68  must be deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
   69         (c) Funds in the trust fund shall be used exclusively to
   70  provide for or operate any of the following at correctional
   71  facilities operated by the department:
   72         1. Literacy programs, vocational training programs, and
   73  educational programs, including fixed capital outlay for
   74  educational facilities.
   75         2. Inmate chapels, faith-based programs, visiting
   76  pavilions, visiting services and programs, family services and
   77  programs, and libraries.
   78         3. Inmate substance abuse treatment programs and transition
   79  and life skills training programs.
   80         4. The purchase, rental, maintenance, or repair of
   81  electronic or audiovisual equipment, media, services, and
   82  programming used by inmates.
   83         5. The purchase, rental, maintenance, or repair of
   84  recreation and wellness equipment.
   85         6. The purchase, rental, maintenance, or repair of bicycles
   86  used by inmates traveling to and from employment in the work
   87  release program authorized under s. 945.091(1)(b).
   88         7. Environmental health upgrades to facilities, including
   89  fixed capital outlay for repairs and maintenance that would
   90  improve environmental conditions of the correctional facilities.
   91         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 945.6037, Florida
   92  Statutes, is amended to read:
   93         945.6037 Nonemergency health care; inmate copayments.—
   94         (1)(a) For each nonemergency visit by an inmate to a health
   95  care provider which is initiated by the inmate, the inmate must
   96  make a copayment of $5. A copayment may not be charged for the
   97  required initial medical history and physical examination of the
   98  inmate.
   99         (b) The copayment for an inmate’s health care must be
  100  deducted from any existing balance in the inmate’s bank account.
  101  If the account balance is insufficient to cover the copayment,
  102  50 percent of each deposit to the account must be withheld until
  103  the total amount owed has been paid.
  104         (c) The proceeds of each copayment must be deposited into
  105  the State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund
  106  pursuant to s. 945.215(1)(d) or into in the General Revenue Fund
  107  as provided in s. 945.215(2)(b).
  108         (d) The department may waive all or part of the copayment
  109  for an inmate’s visit to a health care provider if the health
  110  care:
  111         1. Is provided in connection with an extraordinary event
  112  that could not reasonably be foreseen, such as a disturbance or
  113  a natural disaster;
  114         2. Is an institutionwide health care measure that is
  115  necessary to address the spread of specific infectious or
  116  contagious diseases;
  117         3. Is provided under a contractual obligation that is
  118  established under the Interstate Corrections Compact or under an
  119  agreement with another jurisdiction which precludes assessing
  120  such a copayment;
  121         4. Was initiated by the health care provider or consists of
  122  routine follow-up followup care;
  123         5. Is initiated by the inmate to voluntarily request an HIV
  124  test;
  125         6. Produces an outcome that requires medical action to
  126  protect staff or inmates from a communicable disease; or
  127         7. When the inmate is referred to mental health evaluation
  128  or treatment by a correctional officer, correctional probation
  129  officer, or other person supervising an inmate worker.
  130         Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  131  made by this act to section 945.215, Florida Statutes, in a
  132  reference thereto, subsection (5) of section 944.516, Florida
  133  Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  134         944.516 Money or other property received for personal use
  135  or benefit of inmate; deposit; disposition of unclaimed trust
  136  funds.—The Department of Corrections shall protect the financial
  137  interest of the state with respect to claims which the state may
  138  have against inmates in state institutions under its supervision
  139  and control and shall administer money and other property
  140  received for the personal benefit of such inmates. In carrying
  141  out the provisions of this section, the department may delegate
  142  any of its enumerated powers and duties affecting inmates of an
  143  institution to the warden or regional director who shall
  144  personally, or through designated employees of his or her
  145  personal staff under his or her direct supervision, exercise
  146  such powers or perform such duties.
  147         (5) When an inmate is transferred between department
  148  facilities, is released from the custody of the department,
  149  dies, or escapes during incarceration, and the inmate has an
  150  unexpended inmate trust fund account balance of less than $1,
  151  that balance shall be transferred to the State-Operated
  152  Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund or, as provided in s.
  153  945.215(2)(b), into the General Revenue Fund.
  154         Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  155  made by this act to section 945.215, Florida Statutes, in a
  156  reference thereto, subsection (2) of section 944.73, Florida
  157  Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  158         944.73 State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust
  159  Fund.—
  160         (2) Moneys shall be deposited and the expenditures made
  161  from the trust fund as provided in s. 945.215.
  162         Section 5. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  163  made by this act to section 945.215, Florida Statutes, in a
  164  reference thereto, paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
  165  946.002, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  166         946.002 Requirement of labor; compensation; amount;
  167  crediting of account of prisoner; forfeiture; civil rights;
  168  prisoner not employee or entitled to compensation insurance
  169  benefits.—
  170         (4)
  171         (b) When any prisoner escapes, the department shall
  172  determine what portion of the prisoner’s earnings shall be
  173  forfeited, and such forfeiture shall be deposited in the State
  174  Treasury in the State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust
  175  Fund of the department or, as provided in s. 945.215(2)(b), into
  176  the General Revenue Fund.
  177         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
  178  
  179  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  180  And the title is amended as follows:
  181         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  182  and insert:
  183                        A bill to be entitled                      
  184         An act relating to the inmate welfare trust fund;
  185         amending s. 945.215, F.S.; adding additional funding
  186         sources from which all proceeds must be deposited into
  187         the State-Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust
  188         Fund or the General Revenue Fund; deleting a
  189         limitation on the maximum amount that inmates are
  190         allowed to request in a weekly withdrawal from their
  191         individual inmate bank trust fund accounts; increasing
  192         the maximum amount of funds which the State-Operated
  193         Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund may not exceed
  194         in any fiscal year; adding to the purposes for which
  195         the trust fund must be used at correctional facilities
  196         to include fixed capital outlays for educational
  197         facilities and environmental health upgrades to
  198         facilities; amending s. 945.6037, F.S.; requiring that
  199         the proceeds from nonemergency health care visit
  200         copayments be deposited into the State-Operated
  201         Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund or into the
  202         General Revenue Fund; reenacting ss. 944.516(5),
  203         944.73(2), and 946.002(4)(b), F.S., relating to the
  204         disposition of unexpended trust funds, the State
  205         Operated Institutions Inmate Welfare Trust Fund, and
  206         forfeiture of a prisoner’s earned funds, respectively,
  207         to incorporate the amendment made to s. 945.215, F.S.,
  208         in references thereto; providing an effective date.