HB2129 - 511R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 41-1609, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1609. Agreements with federal or private agencies and institutions; contract review; emergency contracts

A. The department may enter into agreements with the federal government, other states or agencies of the federal government or other states for such compensation upon which they agree to accept or deliver adult offenders or to administer correctional programs. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 35‑193, any funds received by the department under the agreements shall be kept in a separate revolving fund for current usage and shall not revert to the state general fund if unexpended at the close of a fiscal year.

B. The department may contract with any private or public institution that is located inside or outside this state for facilities or the operation of facilities that are dedicated to the confinement of persons who are committed to the department. Notwithstanding chapter 4, article 7 of this title and article 4 of this chapter, the contract may include a purchase option and if the contract has a per diem provision the contract may include a provision that allows a portion of the per diem to be applied to reduce the purchase price.

C. The department shall submit all contracts entered into pursuant to subsection B of this section to the attorney general to determine if the contract is within the authority granted under the laws of this state and in proper form. All contracts involving the detention or incarceration of adult offenders shall conform to the requirements of section 41‑1609.01.

D. Notwithstanding subsection C of this section, the department may enter into emergency contracts pursuant to section 41‑2537 with private or public institutions for facilities or the operation of facilities that are dedicated to the confinement of persons who are committed to the department.

E. The director may declare an emergency for acts of God, natural catastrophes, prison riots and overcrowding. In an emergency, the director shall:

1. Confine persons who are committed to the department in either of the following:

(a) An existing public institution.

(b) A private institution that is described in subsection B of this section.

2. Up to twenty‑four hours before declaring the emergency, notify the governor and the attorney general of the emergency and the need to relocate persons who are committed to the department to another existing public or private facility established pursuant to sections 41‑1609.01 and 41‑1609.02.

3. Within thirty days after declaring the emergency, determine the length of the emergency confinement. If the director determines that the emergency confinement will exceed six months in duration, the emergency contract shall comply with sections 41‑1609.01 and 41‑1609.02.

F. Notwithstanding subsection E, paragraph 2 of this section, if the director declares that an emergency exists due to the overcrowding of a public or private correctional facility, the director shall discuss with the governor, the attorney general and the majority and minority leadership in the senate and the house of representatives relocating the inmates from the overcrowded facility to another facility before relocating the inmates.

G. An emergency contract shall not exceed one year in duration. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 41-1681, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1681. Definition

For the purposes of this article, "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. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 41-1682, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1682. Private prisons; prohibitions; liability for services; financial responsibility; security officer qualifications

A. No private prison may operate in this state unless the private contractor complies with this section.

B. A private prison shall provide the department of administration with financial responsibility to cover this state's potential liability in the amount of ten million dollars. The monies shall be used by the state if the state is held liable for civil damages resulting from the escape of a prisoner from the private prison. The private prison may file proof of financial responsibility by filing one of the following:

1. Proof that ten million dollars is deposited in the private prison escapee fund established by section 41‑1830.31.

2. An insurance policy that is in a form approved by the department of administration, that provides civil liability and civil rights liability coverage in the amount of ten million dollars and listing that lists the state as an insured.

3. A surety bond with the principal sum of ten million dollars.

4. A certified financial statement that is not more than ninety days old and that shows a net worth of more than fifteen million dollars. Every ninety days the private prison shall submit a certified financial statement to the department of administration signed under oath by the chief financial officer of the prison. If the financial statement indicates a net worth of less than fifteen million dollars, the private prison shall comply with paragraphs paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of this subsection.

C. An insurance company or surety company duly authorized to transact business in this state shall execute the insurance policy or bond prescribed in subsection B of this section.

D. The insurance policy or surety bond shall continue in effect until ninety days after the private prison is sold or closed. Any monies deposited in the private prison escapee fund by the private prison shall be refunded to the private prison within ninety days after submission of evidence to the director of the department of administration that the private prison is either sold or closed and there are no remaining liabilities for which the state might be required to assume responsibility.

E. On receipt by the director of the department of administration of notice to cancel an insurance policy or bond by an insurance company or surety, the director of the department of administration shall immediately notify the private prison named on the insurance policy or the surety bond of the effective date of cancellation of the insurance policy or the surety bond. The private prison shall furnish a like insurance policy or surety bond within thirty days after mailing of the notice by the director of the department of administration. Unless a replacement insurance policy or surety bond is filed with the director of the department of administration, the right of the private prisons prison to operate in this state shall be suspended by operation of law on the date the bond is canceled.

F. If any of the monies required by subsection B, paragraph 1 of this section are used to satisfy civil damage claims or civil rights claims, the private prison shall reestablish the full amount of those monies within thirty days after notification by the director of the department of administration.

G. A security officer employed by a private prison contractor shall be at least twenty‑one years of age and have no felony convictions.

H. Beginning on the effective date of this amendment to this section, a private prison shall not accept the transfer of an adult prisoner from a state other than this state. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Section 41-1683, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1683. Private prison; prisoner identification; public record

A. Private prisons shall maintain photographs and fingerprints on site of all prisoners who are incarcerated in the facility private prison facilities. the photographs and fingerprints of all prisoners are a public record.

B. Before another state transfers prisoners to a private prison in this state, the private prison housing prisoners under incarceration orders from a court of another state shall provide the governor, the director of the department of public safety and the director of the state department of corrections with the following information:

1. The number of prisoners to be transferred.

2. The names of the prisoners to be transferred.

3. The date of the transfer.

4. The security level of each prisoner to be transferred, as determined by the sentencing state.

C. If one to ten prisoners are transferred into this state, the private prison shall comply with the notification requirements in subsection B at least forty‑eight hours before the prisoners arrive in this state. If eleven or more prisoners are transferred into this state, the private prison shall comply with the notification requirements pursuant to subsection B at least seven days before the prisoners arrive in this state.

D. The information provided pursuant to subsection B, paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 shall not be public record until the transfer of the prisoners is completed. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 41-1830.31, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1830.31. 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. END_STATUTE