S-4063               _______________________________________________

 

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6658

                        _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

 

By Senators Thorsness, Talmadge and Patrick

 

 

Read first time 1/19/90 and referred to Committee on  Law & Justice.

 

 


AN ACT Relating to creation of an inmate housing authority board; amending RCW 70.48.020, 70.48.100, 70.48.440, and 70.48.071; adding new sections to chapter 70.48 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 70.48 RCW to read as follows:

          There is created a board to be known as the inmate housing authority board which shall:

          (1) Advise the cities and counties operating inmate housing facilities, the department of corrections, the governor, and the legislature;

          (2) Provide technical assistance to cities and counties operating inmate housing facilities;

          (3) Adopt rules for the submission and approval of jail population management plans; and

          (4) Monitor through the office of financial management the reporting of all inmates as required in RCW 10.98.130 for the purpose of forecasting jail bed space.

 

        Sec. 2.  Section 2, chapter 316, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. as last amended by section 6, chapter 462, Laws of 1987 and RCW 70.48.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this chapter the words and phrases in this section shall have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

          (1) "Holding facility" means a facility operated by a governing unit primarily designed, staffed, and used for the temporary housing of adult persons charged with a criminal offense prior to trial or sentencing and for the temporary housing of such persons during or after trial and/or sentencing, ((but in no instance shall the housing exceed)) for a period of between six hours and no more than thirty days.

          (2) "Detention facility" means a facility operated by a governing unit primarily designed, staffed, and used for the temporary housing of adult persons charged with a criminal offense prior to trial or sentencing and for the housing of adult persons for purposes of punishment and correction after sentencing or persons serving terms not to exceed ninety days.

          (3) "Special detention facility" means a minimum security facility operated by a governing unit primarily designed, staffed, and used for the housing of special populations of sentenced persons who do not require the level of security normally provided in detention and correctional facilities including, but not necessarily limited to, persons convicted of offenses under RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504.

          (4) "Correctional facility" means a facility operated by a governing unit primarily designed, staffed, and used for the housing of adult persons serving terms not exceeding one year for the purposes of punishment, correction, and rehabilitation following conviction of a criminal offense.

          (5) (("Jail" means any holding, detention, special detention, or correctional facility as defined in this section.

          (6))) "Inmate housing facility" means any holding, detention, special detention, or correctional facility, either as a separate facility or segregated areas in a facility for adults and juveniles as defined in this section.

          (6) "Regional inmate housing facility" means a facility operated by the department of corrections for the housing of adult persons serving terms of thirty days or more following conviction of a criminal offense.

          (7) "Health care" means preventive, diagnostic, and rehabilitative services provided by licensed health care professionals and/or facilities; such care to include providing prescription drugs where indicated.

          (((7))) (8) "Governing unit" means the city and/or county or any combinations of cities and/or counties responsible for the operation, supervision, and maintenance of ((a jail)) an inmate housing facility.

          (((8))) (9) "Major urban" means a county or combination of counties which has a city having a population greater than twenty-six thousand based on the 1978 projections of the office of financial management.

          (((9))) (10) "Medium urban" means a county or combination of counties which has a city having a population equal to or greater than ten thousand but less than twenty-six thousand based on the 1978 projections of the office of financial management.

          (((10))) (11) "Rural" means a county or combination of counties which has a city having a population less than ten thousand based on the 1978 projections of the office of financial management.

          (((11))) (12) "Inmate housing facility management plan" means a plan that includes but is not limited to a description of the existing correctional resources, goals, objectives, needs, and problems for local and state correctional services in the county.

          (13) "Office" means the office of financial management.

          (14) "Board" means the inmate housing authority board.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 70.48 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The inmate housing authority board shall consist of nine voting members, including the secretary of corrections, who shall serve ex officio.  The governor shall appoint two county sheriffs, two county commissioners, two county prosecutors, one jail manager, and one member who shall be an elected or appointed city or town official.  In addition, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall each appoint two nonvoting members, one from each of the two largest caucuses in their respective houses.

          (2) The members of the board, with the exception of the secretary of corrections, shall serve four-year staggered terms.  Of the remaining eight members, initially four shall be appointed to two-year terms, and four shall be appointed to four-year terms.  The legislative members shall serve two-year terms, or until they cease to be members of the house from which they were appointed, whichever occurs first.

          (3) The voting membership of the board shall be divided so that two-thirds of the members reside west of the Cascade mountains and one-third reside east of the Cascade mountains.  The board shall include women and members of "minority groups" as that term is commonly understood.

          (4) The members of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240 and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses under RCW 44.04.120 for legislative members.

          (5) The chairperson of the board shall be appointed by the governor and shall serve as chairperson at the governor's pleasure.  A vice-chairperson shall be elected by the board.  The board shall meet on call of the chairperson or on request of a majority of its voting members, but not less than four times per year.

          (6) The board shall appoint an executive director to assist the board in carrying out its functions under this chapter.  As authorized by the board, the executive director shall hire inmate housing facility inspectors and other staff necessary to assist the board.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 70.48 RCW to read as follows:

          The board shall have the following responsibilities with respect to the cities and counties which operate inmate housing facilities:

          (1) Within six months of the governor's appointment of the voting board members, the board shall adopt such advisory inmate housing facilities standards as it determines are necessary to:

          (a) Meet federal and state constitutional requirements relating to health, safety, security, and welfare of inmates and staff or specific state or federal statutory requirements; and

          (b) Provide for the public's health, safety, and welfare.  In carrying out this responsibility, the board shall consider the standards of the former corrections standards board, the standards adopted by the cities and counties pursuant to RCW 70.48.071, and the standards of the American correctional association.  The standards shall address both physical plant and operational aspects of all city and county inmate housing facilities.

          (2) Within twelve months of the governor's appointment of the voting board members, the board shall adopt a maximum rated capacity for all city and county inmate housing facilities.  This capacity will be based on but not limited to, the number of inmates the facilities were originally designed to house, and the modifications made to the facilities based on a change in their intended use.  The standards used to determine if a facility is overcrowded may include, but not be limited to:  Amount of time inmates are allowed to be out of their cells, availability of recreational and other programs opportunities, length of stay of inmates in specific areas, and limitations set by the courts.

          (3) The standards adopted by the board shall be advisory only and may not be enforced by the board.  However, the awarding of funds for new construction, remodeling, or operational cost sharing, may be contingent upon the formation of a local inmate management plan and substantial compliance with the advisory standards adopted by the board.

          (4) In December of each even-numbered year, the board shall issue a report to the cities and counties, the governor, the legislature, and the respective elected official associations, and the department of corrections which shall contain:

          (a) All standards adopted by the board;

          (b) The degree of compliance by cities and counties with those advisory standards; and

          (c) Recommendations for legislative change and/or state funding necessary for the bed space in city and county inmate housing facilities to achieve compliance to those advisory standards.

          (5) The board shall cause all state, city, and county inmate housing facilities to be inspected at least annually by designated inmate housing facility inspectors.  The inspectors shall have access to all portions of all inmate housing facilities, and all records maintained by all facilities for their report.

          (6) The board shall issue a certificate of compliance to each facility which is found to satisfactorily meet the recommendations of the board's advisory standards.  Certificates of substantial compliance may be issued under the following circumstances:

          (a) The inmate housing facility meets all applicable standards;

          (b) The inmate housing facility has been granted a variance by the board in areas of noncompliance, and the chief law enforcement officer or chief corrections official and the county executive body or person have supplied a plan acceptable to the board for correcting the noncompliance and a time for achieving the correction.

          The board shall be responsible for coordinating a planning process between local government, department of corrections, administrator for the courts, sentencing guidelines commission, office of financial management, and others, that develops a criminal justice forecasting master plan, immediately addressing short, medium, and long-term needs.  This shall be an ongoing function of the board.

          (7) The board shall provide technical assistance to city and county inmate housing facilities, and oversee the capacity-setting, sighting, and construction of all new or remodeled inmate housing facilities.

 

        Sec. 5.  Section 10, chapter 316, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. and RCW 70.48.100 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) A department of corrections or chief law enforcement officer responsible for the operation of a jail shall maintain a jail register, open to the public, into which shall be entered in a timely basis:

          (a) The name of each person confined in the jail with the hour, date and cause of the confinement; and

          (b) The hour, date and manner of each person's discharge.

          (2) The records of a person confined in jail shall be held in confidence and shall be made available only to criminal justice agencies as defined in RCW 43.43.705; or

          (a) For use in inspections made pursuant to ((RCW 70.48.070)) section 4 of this 1990 act;

          (b) In jail certification proceedings;

          (c) For use in court proceedings upon the written order of the court in which the proceedings are conducted; or

          (d) Upon the written permission of the person.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6.  A new section is added to chapter 70.48 RCW to read as follows:

          Discretionary funds shall be distributed to local governments as follows:

          Discretionary grant funds shall be awarded on the basis of applications submitted to the board by jurisdictions operating inmate housing facilities.  Each local government applying for funds shall have an inmate housing facility management plan.  The plan shall review ways to maximize resources and avoid duplications of services.  Areas to be addressed in the plan include, but are not limited to:  Voluntary services for offenders and mental health services; ways to share administrative costs between local and state government; and the development of alternatives to pretrial and posttrial confinement.  The applications may be for funding of programs which directly impact the jurisdiction's ability to comply with inmate housing facility standards, for funding of programs to forecast the need for and plan future inmate housing facilities, alternatives to incarcerations programs, or such other criminal justice programs or purposes as the board may designate.  The board may establish priorities for the awarding of such grants, and shall fund one or more projects each year within its appropriated allocation.  The board shall award such funds only to jurisdictions which are in compliance, or which, in the opinion of the board, will achieve compliance upon implementation of the proposed program.

 

        Sec. 7.  Section 5, chapter 235, Laws of 1984 and RCW 70.48.440 are each amended to read as follows:

          The ((office of financial management)) inmate housing authority board shall establish a uniform equitable rate for reimbursing cities and counties for the ((care of sentenced felons who are the financial responsibility of the department of corrections and are detained or incarcerated in a city or county jail.

          Until June 30, 1985, the rate for the care of sentenced felons who are the financial  responsibility of the department of corrections shall be ten dollars per day.)) cost associated with the care and custody of inmates serving time in an inmate housing facility as a convicted felon or a convicted felon serving time for violation of community supervision or work release.

          The cost of extraordinary emergency medical care incurred by ((prisoners)) inmates who are ((the financial responsibility of the department of corrections under this chapter shall be reimbursed)) convicted felons who are serving time in an inmate housing authority as a convicted felon or felons held for violations of community supervision or work release shall be the financial responsibility of the department of corrections.  The department of corrections shall be advised as far in advance as practicable by competent medical authority of the nature and course of treatment required to ensure the most efficient use of state resources to address the medical needs of the offender.  In the event emergency medical care is needed, the department of corrections shall be advised as soon as practicable after the offender is treated.

          ((Prior to June 30, 1985, the office of financial management shall meet with the corrections standards board to establish criteria to determine equitable rates regarding variable costs for sentenced felons who are the financial responsibility of the department of corrections after June 30, 1985.  The office of financial management shall re-establish these rates each even-numbered year beginning in 1986.))  The office of financial management, after consultation with the inmate housing authority board, shall reestablish these rates each even-numbered year.

 

        Sec. 8.  Section 17, chapter 462, Laws of 1987 and RCW 70.48.071 are each amended to read as follows:

          All units of local government that own or operate ((adult correctional)) inmate housing facilities shall, individually or collectively, adopt advisory standards for the operation of those facilities no later than January 1, ((1988)) 1991.  Cities and towns shall adopt the advisory standards after considering guidelines established collectively by the cities and towns of the state; counties shall adopt the advisory standards after considering guidelines established collectively by the counties of the state.  These advisory standards shall be the minimums necessary to meet federal and state constitutional requirements relating to health, safety, and welfare of inmates and staff, and specific state and federal statutory requirements, and to provide for the public's health, safety, and welfare.  Local ((correctional)) inmate housing facilities shall be operated in accordance with these advisory standards.

          This section shall expire upon the board's adoption of advisory standards pursuant to section 4 of this 1990 act, or on July 1, 1991, whichever occurs first.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9.     The inmate housing facility improvement and construction account is created in the state treasury.  All receipts from legislative appropriations for the purposes of this act shall be deposited into the account.  Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.  Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purpose of providing funds to units of local government for new construction, remodeling, for leasing alternative housing, or other housing alternatives as deemed by the board to reduce overcrowding in inmate housing facilities and compliance with all applicable plant and custodial standards.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10.    The sum of thirty-four million one hundred forty-four thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the department of community development for the purposes of this act.  The following limitations shall apply:

          In order to provide immediate relief to county inmate housing facility overcrowding, the department shall award grants for the construction, remodeling, or leasing of alternative housing facilities.  The grants awarded under this section shall be administered by the department of community development until such time that the inmate housing authority board becomes functional and is able to administer this grant money.  The department of community development shall use an advisory council to help administer the grant funds.  The makeup of the advisory council shall include law enforcement and local jail manager representation.

          Counties and cities operating inmate housing facilities may receive reimbursement for operating costs at the rate of sixty percent of the cost of the care and custody of an inmate serving time as a convicted felon and for any convicted felon serving time in an inmate housing facility for violation of community supervision or work release.

          Immediate relief for construction or remodeling is estimated at approximately $32,000 per bed space, and the appropriation made by this section shall be distributed as follows:

 

!tp1     (1) Chelan county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr832,000

          (2) Clark county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr2,080,000

          (3) Franklin county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr768,000

          (4) King county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr13,728,000

          (5) Mason county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr544,000

          (6) Pierce county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr6,816,000

          (7) Snohomish county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr2,976,000

          (8) Spokane county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr736,000

          (9) Thurston county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr1,760,000

          (10) Whatcom county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr768,000

          (11) Yakima county!w×!tr$!sc ,12

!ae0!tr3,904,000

 

!te      Funds shall be remitted to the local government in a timely fashion to meet contractual obligations.  All grant projects shall comply with handicap regulations.  Funds in this account shall be disbursed by the state treasurer to local governments and the department of corrections, subject to legislative appropriation, at the discretion of the board.