ASSEMBLY, No. 2034
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED MAY 22, 1997
By Assemblyman KRAMER and Assemblywoman WRIGHT
An Act concerning certain private facilities under contract with the Department of Corrections and supplementing chapter 4 of Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Eligible inmate" means an inmate who (1) was not convicted of a violent crime and (2) has less than one year remaining to be served before his parole eligibility date.
"Private facility" means a residential center, operated by a private entity, contracted by the Department of Corrections to provide for the care, custody, subsistence, treatment, education, training or welfare of inmates sentenced to the custody of the Commissioner of Corrections. The operator of a private facility may be organized as either a for profit or nonprofit entity.
"Violent crime" means a violation of N.J.S.2C:11-3; N.J.S.2C:11-4; N.J.S.2C:13-1; subsection a. or c. of N.J.S.2C:14-2; N.J.S.2C:15-1 in which the inmate, while in the course of committing the theft, attempted to kill another, or purposely inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily injury, or was armed with or used or threatened the immediate use of a deadly weapon; N.J.S.2C:15-2; subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:17-1; N.J.S.2C:24-4; or an attempt to commit any of these offenses.
2. On and after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Commissioner of Corrections shall authorize the confinement of eligible inmates in private facilities.
3. Whenever an eligible inmate is authorized for confinement in a private facility, the Commissioner of Corrections shall prepare a summary of all relevant information relating to that inmate's criminal history and background. The summary, along with a picture of the inmate, shall be transmitted to the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality wherein the private facility is located within five working days of the inmate's transfer to that facility.
If the private facility is within 2,500 feet of the border of an adjacent municipality, the inmate summary and picture also shall be transmitted to the chief law enforcement officer of that adjacent municipality within five working days of the inmate's transfer to the facility.
4. a. Every contract between the Department of Corrections and the operator of a private facility shall provide for the establishment of a community relations board. The board, except as hereinafter provided, shall include the following members: (1) the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality, or his designee; (2) a member of the governing body of the municipality, or a designee; (3) a representative of the operator of the private facility; (4) a representative of the Department of Corrections; and (5) public members, appointed by the governing body, to represent the community.
If the private facility is within 2,500 feet of the border of an adjacent municipality, the board also shall include the chief law enforcement officer of that adjacent municipality, or his designee; a representative of the governing body of that adjacent municipality, or a designee; and public members, appointed by the governing body of the adjacent municipality, to represent the community. In those cases where the board consists of representatives from more than one municipality, the number of public member appointees from each of the participating municipalities shall be the same.
b. The board shall monitor the operation of the private facility and shall provide the residents of the municipality with a forum for resolving community concerns relating to the facility's operation.
5. The operator of a private facility shall, upon discovering that an inmate has escaped, notify:
a. the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality in which the facility is located, or his designee;
b. the Commissioner of Corrections, or his designee; and
c. if the private facility is within 2,500 feet of an adjacent municipality, the chief law enforcement officer of that adjacent municipality, or his designee.
The notice required under this section shall be given within one hour of the discovery of the escape and shall include a current summary of all relevant information relating to the escapee's criminal history and background.
6. The Commissioner of Corrections, in accordance with the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act. Those regulations shall include, but not be limited to, guidelines specifying the particular security requirements for individual facilities. The guidelines shall address the appropriate perimeter security requirements for facilities located within urban, suburban and rural residential communities and within nonresidential areas.
7. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a regulatory scheme for private facilities under contract with the Department of Corrections to provide residential care or treatment programs for inmates.
Under the provisions of the bill, only inmates who have less than one year left before their parole eligibility date and have not been convicted of a violent crime would be eligible for placement in a private facility. A violent crime, as defined in the bill, includes murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnaping, car jacking, aggravated arson and endangering the welfare of a child.
Whenever an eligible inmate is authorized for transfer to a private facility, the department is to prepare a summary of relevant information relating to that inmate' s criminal history and background. Within five working days of the inmate's transfer to the private facility, the department shall transmit the summary to the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality wherein the facility is located.
The bill also requires the establishment of community relations boards for every private facility under contract with the Department of Corrections. The membership of these boards is to include: the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality, or his designee; a member of the governing body of the municipality, or a designee; a representative of the private facility; a representative of the Department of Corrections; and public members, appointed by the governing body. If the private facility is within 2,500 feet of an adjacent municipality, the board is to be expanded to include the chief law enforcement officer of that adjacent municipality, or his designee; a representative of the governing body of that adjacent municipality, or a designee; and public members appointed by the governing body of that adjacent municipality. The bill does not specify the number of public members that may be appointed. The only restriction is that in those cases where there are two or more municipalities represented on the board, the number of public members from each municipality must be the same.
The board is to monitor the operation of the private facility and provide a forum for resolving community concerns relating to the facility's operation.
In developing rules and regulations for the operation of private facilities, the Department of Corrections is directed to establish specific guidelines for the particular security requirements of each facility. The guidelines are to address the appropriate perimeter security requirements for facilities located within urban, suburban and rural residential communities and within nonresidential areas.
Finally, the bill requires that the operator of a private facility notify the local law enforcement agency and the Department of Corrections whenever it discovers an inmate has escaped. If the facility is within 2,500 feet of an adjacent municipality, the operator is required to notify the chief law enforcement officer of that municipality of the escape.
Establishes regulatory scheme for certain private facilities under contract with DOC.