Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1278
       
       
        
       By Senator Martin
       
       
       
       
       
       33-00969-24                                           20241278__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to Department of Corrections; amending
    3         s. 944.31, F.S.; providing additional authority for
    4         law enforcement officers of the office of the
    5         inspector general concerning department and private
    6         correctional facilities; amending s. 957.04, F.S.;
    7         providing that correctional privatization contracts
    8         are not exempt from specified state contracting
    9         provisions unless otherwise specified; providing
   10         construction; amending s. 957.07, F.S.; revising
   11         terminology; removing provisions concerning
   12         development of consensus per diem rates by the Prison
   13         Per-Diem Workgroup; amending s. 957.12, F.S.; revising
   14         provisions concerning contact with the department by
   15         specified persons; amending s. 957.15, F.S.; removing
   16         a provision concerning department control over certain
   17         funds appropriated for private correctional
   18         facilities; providing an effective date.
   19          
   20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   21  
   22         Section 1. Section 944.31, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   23  read:
   24         944.31 Inspector general; inspectors; power and duties.—
   25         (1) The inspector general shall be responsible for prison
   26  inspection and investigation, internal affairs investigations,
   27  and management reviews. The office of the inspector general
   28  shall be charged with the duty of inspecting the penal and
   29  correctional systems of the state.
   30         (2) The office of the inspector general shall inspect each
   31  correctional institution or any place in which state prisoners
   32  are housed, worked, or kept within the state, with reference to
   33  its physical conditions, cleanliness, sanitation, safety, and
   34  comfort; the quality and supply of all bedding; the quality,
   35  quantity, and diversity of food served and the manner in which
   36  it is served; the number and condition of the prisoners confined
   37  therein; and the general conditions of each institution.
   38         (3) The office of inspector general shall see that all the
   39  rules and regulations issued by the department are strictly
   40  observed and followed by all persons connected with the
   41  correctional systems of the state. The office of the inspector
   42  general shall coordinate and supervise the work of inspectors
   43  throughout the state.
   44         (4) The inspector general and inspectors may enter any
   45  place where prisoners in this state are kept and shall be
   46  immediately admitted to such place as they desire and may
   47  consult and confer with any prisoner privately and without
   48  molestation.
   49         (5)(a) The inspector general and inspectors shall be
   50  responsible for criminal and administrative investigation of
   51  matters relating to the Department of Corrections.
   52         (b) The secretary may designate persons within the office
   53  of the inspector general as law enforcement officers to conduct
   54  any criminal investigation that occurs on property owned or
   55  leased by the department or involves matters over which the
   56  department has jurisdiction. All criminal investigations,
   57  involving matters over which the department has jurisdiction at
   58  private correctional facilities, as defined in s. 944.710, may
   59  be conducted by the law enforcement officers of the office of
   60  the inspector general.
   61         (c) A person designated as a law enforcement officer must
   62  be certified pursuant to s. 943.1395 and must have a minimum of
   63  3 years’ experience as an inspector in the inspector general’s
   64  office or as a law enforcement officer.
   65         (d) The department shall maintain a memorandum of
   66  understanding with the Department of Law Enforcement for the
   67  notification and investigation of mutually agreed-upon predicate
   68  events that shall include, but are not limited to, suspicious
   69  deaths and organized criminal activity.
   70         (e) During investigations, the inspector general and
   71  inspectors may consult and confer with any prisoner or staff
   72  member privately and without molestation and persons designated
   73  as law enforcement officers under this section shall have the
   74  authority to arrest, with or without a warrant, any prisoner of
   75  or visitor to a state correctional institution for a violation
   76  of the criminal laws of the state. Law enforcement officers
   77  under this section shall have the authority to arrest, with or
   78  without a warrant, any prisoner of or visitor to any state
   79  correctional institution, as defined in s. 944.02, including all
   80  private correctional facilities, for any violation of the
   81  criminal laws of the state involving matters over which the
   82  department has jurisdiction, involving an offense classified as
   83  a felony that occurs on property owned or leased by the
   84  department and may arrest offenders who have escaped or
   85  absconded from custody.
   86         (f) Persons designated as law enforcement officers have the
   87  authority to arrest with or without a warrant a staff member of
   88  the department, including any contract employee, subcontractor,
   89  or volunteer, for a violation of the criminal laws of the state
   90  that occurs involving an offense classified as a felony under
   91  this chapter or chapter 893 on property owned or leased by the
   92  department, or any private correctional facility staff member,
   93  contract employee, subcontractor, or volunteer, for a violation
   94  of the criminal laws of the state involving matters over which
   95  the department has jurisdiction at any private correctional
   96  facility. A person designated as a law enforcement officer under
   97  this section may make arrests of persons against whom arrest
   98  warrants have been issued, including arrests of offenders who
   99  have escaped or absconded from custody. The arrested person
  100  shall be surrendered without delay to the sheriff of the county
  101  in which the arrest is made, with a formal complaint
  102  subsequently made against her or him in accordance with law.
  103         Section 2. Present paragraphs (a) through (h) of subsection
  104  (1) of section 957.04, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
  105  paragraphs (b) through (i), respectively, a new paragraph (a) is
  106  added to that subsection, and present paragraphs (a) and (e) of
  107  that subsection are amended, to read:
  108         957.04 Contract requirements.—
  109         (1) A contract entered into under this chapter for the
  110  operation of private correctional facilities shall maximize the
  111  cost savings of such facilities and shall:
  112         (a) Unless otherwise specified herein, contracts entered
  113  into under this chapter are not exempt from chapter 287,
  114  including the competitive solicitation requirements thereof.
  115  However, to the extent of a direct conflict between this chapter
  116  and chapter 287, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
  117  Contracts entered into under this chapter for the operation of
  118  private correctional facilities are not considered to be an
  119  outsource as defined in s. 287.012. The specific outsourcing
  120  requirements in s. 287.0571 are not required under this section.
  121         (b)(a) Be executed negotiated with the contractor firm
  122  found most qualified. However, a contract for private
  123  correctional services may not be entered into by the department
  124  unless the department determines that the contractor has
  125  demonstrated that it has:
  126         1. The qualifications, experience, and management personnel
  127  necessary to carry out the terms of the contract.
  128         2. The ability to expedite the siting, design, and
  129  construction of correctional facilities.
  130         3. The ability to comply with applicable laws, court
  131  orders, and national correctional standards.
  132         (f)(e) Establish operations standards for correctional
  133  facilities subject to the contract. However, if the department
  134  and the contractor disagree with an operations standard, the
  135  contractor may propose to waive any rule, policy, or procedure
  136  of the department related to the operations standards of
  137  correctional facilities which is inconsistent with the mission
  138  of the contractor to establish cost-effective, privately
  139  operated correctional facilities. The department shall be
  140  responsible for considering all requests proposals from the
  141  contractor to waive any rule, policy, or procedure and shall
  142  render a final decision granting or denying such request.
  143         Section 3. Subsections (4) and (5) of section 957.07,
  144  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  145         957.07 Cost-saving requirements.—
  146         (4) The department shall provide a report detailing the
  147  state cost to design, finance, acquire, lease, construct, and
  148  operate a facility similar to the private correctional facility
  149  on a per diem basis. This report shall be provided to the
  150  Auditor General in sufficient time that it may be certified to
  151  be included in the competitive solicitation request for
  152  proposals.
  153         (5)(a) At the request of the Speaker of the House of
  154  Representatives or the President of the Senate, the Prison Per
  155  Diem Workgroup shall develop consensus per diem rates for use by
  156  the Legislature. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
  157  Government Accountability and the staffs of the appropriations
  158  committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives
  159  are the principals of the workgroup. The workgroup may consult
  160  with other experts to assist in the development of the consensus
  161  per diem rates. All meetings of the workgroup shall be open to
  162  the public as provided in chapter 286.
  163         (b) When developing the consensus per diem rates, the
  164  workgroup must:
  165         1. Use data provided by the department from the most recent
  166  fiscal year to determine per diem costs for the following
  167  activities:
  168         a. Custody and control;
  169         b. Health services;
  170         c. Substance abuse programs; and
  171         d. Educational programs;
  172         2. Include the cost of departmental, regional,
  173  institutional, and program administration and any other fixed
  174  costs of the department;
  175         3. Calculate average per diem rates for the following
  176  offender populations: adult male, youthful offender male, and
  177  female; and
  178         4. Make per diem adjustments, as appropriate, to account
  179  for variations in size and location of correctional facilities.
  180         (c) The consensus per diem rates determined by the
  181  workgroup may be used to assist the Legislature in determining
  182  the level of funding provided to privately operated prisons to
  183  meet the 7-percent savings required of private prisons by this
  184  chapter.
  185         (d) If a private vendor chooses not to renew the contract
  186  at the appropriated level, the department shall terminate the
  187  contract as provided in s. 957.14.
  188         Section 4. Section 957.12, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  189  read:
  190         957.12 Prohibition on contact.—Except in writing to the
  191  procurement office or as provided in the solicitation documents,
  192  a bidder or potential bidder is not permitted to have any
  193  contact with any member or employee of or consultant to the
  194  department regarding a competitive solicitation request for
  195  proposal, a proposal, or the evaluation or selection process
  196  from the time a request for proposals for a private correctional
  197  facility is issued until the time a notification of intent to
  198  award is announced, except if such contact is in writing or in a
  199  meeting for which notice was provided in the Florida
  200  Administrative Register.
  201         Section 5. Section 957.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  202  read:
  203         957.15 Funding of contracts for operation, maintenance, and
  204  lease-purchase of private correctional facilities.—The request
  205  for appropriation of funds to make payments pursuant to
  206  contracts entered into by the department for the operation,
  207  maintenance, and lease-purchase of the private correctional
  208  facilities authorized by this chapter shall be included in its
  209  budget request to the Legislature as a separately identified
  210  item. After an appropriation has been made by the Legislature to
  211  the department for the private correctional facilities, the
  212  department shall have no authority over such funds other than to
  213  pay from such appropriation to the appropriate private vendor
  214  such amounts as are certified for payment by the department.
  215         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.