41-1830.31. Private prison escapee fund; monies; uses; lapsing; definitions

A. A private prison escapee fund is established for the purposes of providing monies to cover capture costs associated with escapees or liabilities that the state may incur. The fund consists of the monies deposited pursuant to subsection B of this section and section 41-1682, subsection B, paragraph 1. The director of the department of administration shall administer the fund.

B. All private prisons shall pay a penalty to the director of the department of administration for the capture costs of an escapee in the amount of ten thousand dollars per escapee or the actual capture costs per escapee, whichever is more. The director of the department of administration shall deposit the monies received from the private prison into the private prison escapee fund.

C. Fund monies shall be used to reimburse law enforcement agencies of this state for the costs incurred by them in capturing prisoners who escape from private prisons.

D. A detailed account of the costs incurred in capturing escapees shall be submitted to the director of the department of public safety and reimbursed on approval by the director.

E. Monies in the private prison escapee fund do not revert to the state general fund. The monies in the fund are a continuing appropriation to the director of the department of administration for the purposes prescribed in this section.

F. The director of the department of administration shall reimburse monies deposited in the fund by private prisons as prescribed by section 41-1682, subsection B, paragraph 1 after receiving notification from the director of the state department of public safety to reimburse the monies.

G. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Escapee" means a prisoner who leaves a private prison facility without lawful authorization and whose leaving requires law enforcement personnel to undertake actions to capture the prisoner.

2. "Private prison" means any privately owned prison that does not contract exclusively with the state department of corrections and is primarily directed at housing adult prisoners who are sentenced to serve a term of detention or incarceration by a court from a state other than this state.