GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1038

Short Title:  Regional Prisons Act of 1995/Funds.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Pate; Aldridge, Brawley, J. Brown, Buchanan, Cansler, Capps, Carpenter, Cocklereece, Culp, Cummings, Davis, Eddins, Grady, Hiatt, Ives, Kiser, Owens, Rayfield, Russell, Sexton, Sharpe, Sherrill, Warner, Weatherly, and G. Wilson.

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Referred to:  Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety.

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May 8, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SIX NEW REGIONAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES TO CONSOLIDATE THE POPULATIONS OF PRISON FIELD UNITS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTRACTING OF PRIVATE PRISONS, TO PROVIDE FOR ANY SUITABLE FACILITIES REMAINING AT THE FIELD UNITS AFTER CONSOLIDATION TO BE USED TO HOUSE PRISONERS ON WORK RELEASE, AND TO PROVIDE THAT PROFITS FROM PRISON ENTERPRISES NOW GOING TO THE GENERAL FUND SHALL BE USED TO ASSIST IN THE OPERATION OF THESE WORK RELEASE FACILITIES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The Department of Correction shall consolidate the populations of prison field units into six new regional prison facilities.  The field units consolidated shall include those units that the Government Performance Audit Committee, the Governor, and the General Assembly have recommended be closed.  Of the six new facilities, one medium custody 700-bed unit and two close custody 700-bed units shall be constructed with funds appropriated to the Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration in Section 5 of this act.  The remaining three facilities shall be 700-bed medium custody facilities provided pursuant to contracts between the Department of Correction and private for-profit or nonprofit firms for the provision and operation of confinement facilities, as authorized in Section 4 of this act.
Sec. 2.  The Department of Correction shall provide for any suitable facilities at any of the prison field units consolidated pursuant to this act to be made available to the county in which the facility is located to house prisoners on work release.  Pursuant to its authority under G.S. 148-33.1(f), the Department of Correction shall arrange for disbursement to the county of the work release earnings of prisoners housed in any such facilities to assist in funding the operation of the facility.
Sec. 3.  G.S. 148-2(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	All revenues from the sale of articles and commodities manufactured or produced by prison enterprises shall be deposited with the State Treasurer to be kept and maintained as a special revolving working-capital fund designated "Prison Enterprises Fund."Revenue in the Prison Enterprises Fund shall be applied first to capital and operating expenditures, including salaries and wages of supervisory personnel, necessary to develop and operate prison industrial and forestry enterprises to provide diversified employment for prisoners, and incentive wages for non-Prison Enterprises Inmates. Of the remaining revenue in the Fund, five percent (5%) of the net profits, before expansion costs, shall be credited to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund established in G.S. 15B-23 as soon as practicable after profits have been determined for the previous year, and at the direction of the Governor, the remainder shall be used for other purposes within the State prison system and to assist in the operation of county work release facilities. The provisions of this section shall not apply to revenues generated from private prison enterprises conducted pursuant to G.S. 148-70 except for lease and rental income."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 148-37 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( g)	The Secretary of Correction may contract with private for-profit or nonprofit firms for the provision and operation of confinement facilities in the State to house State prisoners when to do so would most economically and effectively promote the purposes served by the Department of Correction. Contracts entered under the authority of this subsection shall be for a period not to exceed 10 years, shall be renewable from time to time for a period not to exceed 10 years, and are subject to the approval of the Council of State and the Department of Administration. Contracts made under the authority of this subsection may provide the State with an option to purchase the confinement facility or may provide for the purchase of the confinement facility by the State. Prisoners housed in private confinement facilities pursuant to this subsection shall remain subject to the rules adopted for the conduct of persons committed to the State prison system.  The Secretary of Correction may review and approve the design and construction of private confinement facilities before housing State prisoners in these facilities.  The rules regarding good time, gain time, and earned credits, discipline, classification, extension of the limits of confinement, transfers, housing arrangements, and eligibility for parole shall apply to inmates housed in private confinement facilities pursuant to this subsection.  The operators of private confinement facilities may adopt any other rules as may be necessary for the operation of those facilities with the written approval of the Secretary of Correction.  Custodial officials employed by a private confinement facility are agents of the Secretary of Correction and may use those procedures for use of force authorized by the Secretary of Correction to defend themselves, to enforce the observance of discipline in compliance with confinement facility rules, to secure the person of a prisoner, and to prevent escape.  Private firms under this subsection shall employ inmate disciplinary and grievance policies of the North Carolina Department of Correction."
Sec. 5.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration the sum of one hundred twelve million nine hundred sixty-six thousand nine hundred dollars ($112,966,900) for the 1995-96 fiscal year for the construction of three new prison facilities pursuant to Section 1 of this act.
Sec. 6.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Correction the sum of forty-five million five hundred seventy-six thousand ninety dollars ($45,576,090) for the 1996-97 fiscal year to enter contracts with private for-profit or nonprofit firms for the provision of three private confinement facilities pursuant to Section 1 of this act.
Sec. 7.  The Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration may contract for and supervise all aspects of administration, technical assistance, design, construction, or demolition of facilities in order to implement the providing of the three prison facilities to be constructed by the Office of State Construction with funds appropriated in Section 5 of this act.
The facilities to be constructed with funds appropriated in Section 5 of this act shall be constructed in accordance with the provisions of general law applicable to the construction of State facilities.  If the Secretary of Administration, after consultation with the Secretary of Correction, finds that the delivery of facilities must be expedited for good cause, the Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration shall be exempt from the following statutes and rules implementing those statutes, to the extent necessary to expedite delivery: G.S. 143-135.26, 143-128, 143-129, 143-131, 143-132, 143-134, 113A-1 through 113A-10, 113A-50 through 113A-66, 133-1.1(g), and 143-408.1 through 143-408.7.
Prior to exercising the exemptions allowable under this section, the Secretary of Administration shall give reasonable notice in writing of the Department's intent to exercise the exemptions to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Justice and Public Safety, and the Fiscal Research Division.  The written notice shall contain at least the following information: (i) the specific statutory requirement or requirements from which the Department intends to exempt itself; (ii) the reason the exemption is necessary to expedite delivery of facilities; (iii) the way in which the Department anticipates the exemption will expedite the delivery of facilities; and (iv) a brief summary of the proposed contract for the project which is to be exempted.
The Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration shall have a verifiable ten percent (10%) goal for participation by minority- and women-owned businesses.  All contracts for the design, construction, or demolition of facilities shall include a penalty for failure to complete the work by a specified date.
The Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration shall involve the Department of Correction in all aspects of the projects to the extent that such involvement relates to the Department's program needs and to its responsibility for the care of the prison population.
The Office of State Construction of the Department of Administration shall provide quarterly reports to the Chairs of the Appropriations Committee and the Base Budget Committee in the Senate, the Chairs of the Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, and the Fiscal Research Division as to any changes in projects and allocations made under this act.  The report shall include any changes in the projects and allocations made pursuant to this act, information on which contractors have been selected, what contracts have been entered into, the projected and actual occupancy dates of facilities contracted for, the number of beds to be constructed on each project, the location of each project, and the projected and actual cost of each project.
The Department of Insurance and the Department of Correction shall report quarterly to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations on their involvement in the construction program.
Sec. 8.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1995.