S.B. 1218-1224: ENROLLED SUMMARY - YOUTH CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

Senate Bills 1218 through 1224 (as enrolled) - PUBLIC ACTS 508-514 of 1998

Sponsor: Senator Robert Geake (Senate Bill 1218)

Senator Bill Schuette (Senate Bill 1219)

Senator Michael J. Bouchard (Senate Bills 1220 & 1224)

Senator Loren Bennett (Senate Bill 1221)

Senator Jon Cisky (Senate Bill 1222)

Senator Mike Rogers (Senate Bill 1223)

Senate Committee: Families, Mental Health and Human Services

House Committee: Appropriations


Date Completed: 1-27-99


CONTENT


Senate Bills 1218 through 1224 amended various acts to provide for the operation of a youth correctional facility by a private vendor, as authorized under the Department of Corrections (DOC) law (MCL 791.220g).


Senate Bill 1218 amended the Mental Health Code; Senate Bill 1219 amended the emancipation of minors Act; Senate Bill 1220 amended the Michigan Penal Code; Senate Bill 1221 amended the Code of Criminal Procedure; Senate Bill 1222 amended the DOC law; Senate Bill 1223 amended the prison code; and Senate Bill 1224 amended Public Act 17 of 1909, which limits access to certain substances by prisoners and correctional facility employees.


Senate Bill 1218


The bill includes in the Mental Health Code's definition of "state correctional facility" a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor. The bill also excluded from the Code's definition of "prisoner" a person on parole from a State correctional facility.


Senate Bill 1219


The bill extends to a minor committed to the jurisdiction of the DOC and housed in a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor, limited emancipation for the purpose of consenting to preventive health care or medical care.


Under the Act, emancipation of a minor occurs by operation of law for the purpose of consenting to the minor's own preventive health care or medical care, including surgery, dental care, or mental health care, except vasectomies or any procedure related to reproduction, while the minor is a prisoner under the jurisdiction of the DOC or while the minor is a probationer residing in a special alternative incarceration unit (boot camp). Under the bill, that provision applies to a minor while he or she is a prisoner committed to the DOC's jurisdiction and housed in a State correctional facility operated by the DOC or in a youth correctional facility operated by the Department or a private vendor, or while in a boot camp.


In addition, the Act's medical emancipation provision for minor prisoners applies only if a parent or guardian cannot be located promptly by the DOC. The bill adds, in the case of a youth correctional facility, if the parent or guardian can not promptly be located by the responsible official of the youth correctional facility.


Senate Bill 1220


Housing of Prisoners


It is a misdemeanor violation under the Penal Code to place a child under 16 years old while under arrest, confinement, or conviction in an apartment or cell of a prison or place of confinement with an adult who is under arrest, confinement, or conviction, or to permit the child to remain a courtroom during the trial of adults, or to be transported in a vehicle in the company of adults charged with or convicted of a crime.


The bill excludes from that provision prisoners being transported to or from, or confined in, a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


Escape from Prison


Under the Penal Code, it is a felony, punishable by up to five years' further imprisonment, for a person imprisoned in a Michigan prison to break prison and escape, break prison without escaping, escape, leave the prison without being discharged by due process of law, attempt to break prison, or attempt to escape from prison. Under that provision, "prison" formerly meant a State prison, penitentiary, reformatory, State house of correction, community residential center operated or leased by the DOC, or penal camp other than a probation camp or probation recovery camp. Under the bill, prison means, instead, a facility that houses prisoners committed to the DOC's jurisdiction.


It is also a felony, under the Penal Code, for a person lawfully imprisoned in a jail or other "place of confinement" to assault an "employee" of the place of confinement or break the place of confinement, regardless of whether the break results in escape. The bill specifies that "place of confinement" includes a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor and that "employee" includes persons employed by the place of confinement as independent contractors.


Concealed Weapon Authorization


The Penal Code provides that certain provisions regulating the possession, concealment, and transport of weapons do not apply to any person regularly employed by the DOC and authorized in writing by the DOC Director to carry a concealed weapon while in the official performance of his or her duties or while going to or returning from those duties. The bill extended that exemption to a person employed by a private vendor that operates a youth correctional facility and who meets criteria established by the DOC Director and is authorized in writing by the Director to carry a concealed weapon while in the official performance of his or her duties or while going to or returning from those duties.


Senate Bill 1221


Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, if a prisoner escapes from a State correctional facility or willfully fails to remain within the extended limits of his or her confinement, the prisoner may be pursued and arrested, without a warrant, by any employee of the DOC who is designated by the DOC Director as having the authority to pursue and arrest escaped prisoners. The bill extended that authorization to an employee of a private vendor that operates a youth correctional facility, if the employee meets the same criteria established by the DOC Director for DOC employees authorized to pursue and arrest escaped prisoners. The bill also includes in that provision's definition of "state correctional facility" a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


Senate Bill 1222


Jurisdiction


The DOC law authorizes the Department to establish a youth correctional facility that may house only prisoners committed to the DOC's jurisdiction who are 19 years old or under and who were within the jurisdiction of the circuit court or the former Detroit Recorder's Court under either of the following:


-- Provisions allowing a prosecutor to file criminal charges against a juvenile for certain offenses.

-- Provisions for waiver of jurisdiction from the former juvenile division of probate court (juvenile court) or the family division of circuit court (family court) to the general criminal courts, authorizing a juvenile to be tried and sentenced as an adult.


The bill added to that list those prisoners who were 19 or under and had been within the jurisdiction of the former juvenile court or the family court in a case designated under the juvenile code for criminal trial in the juvenile or family court.


Access to Records


The DOC law provides that all records and reports of investigations made by a probation officer, and all case histories of probationers, are privileged or confidential communications not open to public inspection. Judges and probation officers, however, have access to those records, reports, and case histories. Also, the probation officer, the DOC's assistant director of probation, or the assistant director's representative must permit the Attorney General, the Auditor General, and law enforcement agencies to have access to that information. The bill requires that designated representatives of a private vendor that operates a youth correctional facility be given access to records, reports, and case histories pertaining to prisoners assigned to the youth correctional facility.


Parole


The bill specifies that the term "state correctional facility" within the DOC law's parole provisions means a facility that houses prisoners committed to the DOC's jurisdiction and includes a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


Appointment of Wardens


The DOC law requires that wardens of correctional facilities be appointed by the DOC Director and that they be within the State civil service. The bill specifies that the term "correctional facility" within this provision does not include a youth correctional facility operated by a private vendor.


Workers' Compensation and Supplemental Pay


The DOC law provides that, if a person employed in a correctional facility is injured as a result of an assault by a prisoner or during a riot, he or she must receive full wages from the DOC until workers' compensation benefits begin. After receiving workers' compensation benefits, the employee then must be paid a supplement by the DOC that, together with workers' compensation benefits, equals the employee's weekly net wage at the time of the injury. The supplement applies while the person is on the Department's payroll and is receiving workers' compensation benefits. Fringe benefits normally received by the employee also must be in effect during the time the employee receives a supplement.


The bill specifies that these workers' compensation and supplemental pay provisions also apply to a DOC employee who, while performing his or her duties in a youth correctional facility, is injured as a result of an assault by a prisoner housed in the youth correctional facility or during a riot in the youth correctional facility. These provisions do not apply, however, to a person employed or retained under contract by a private vendor that operates a youth correctional facility.


The bill also specifies that, for purposes of these provisions, the term "correctional facility" means a facility that houses prisoners committed to the DOC's jurisdiction, including a community corrections center.


Secure Confinement and Supervision


The DOC law provides that a prisoner who is subject to disciplinary time and is committed to the DOC's jurisdiction must be confined in a secure correctional facility for the duration of his or her minimum sentence, except for periods when the prisoner is away from the facility for certain specific reasons (e.g., attending a funeral or obtaining medical services not available at the facility) while being supervised by a DOC employee. The bill includes in that exception supervision by an employee of a private vendor that operates a youth correctional facility.


Visitor Search


Under the DOC law, a visitor to a State correctional facility may not be subjected to a pat-down search unless every person performing or assisting in the search is of the same gender as the person being searched. If the necessary personnel are not readily available, however, a visitor may choose to sign a waiver of this prohibition. The bill specifies that the term "state correctional facility" in this provision includes a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


Telephone Monitoring


The DOC law allows a correctional facility to monitor telephone communications over telephones available for use by prisoners in the facility if certain conditions are met. One of those conditions requires that the monitoring be routinely conducted by DOC employees. The bill, instead, requires that monitoring be performed by employees of the Department or, in the case of a youth correctional facility operated by a private vendor, by employees of the private vendor.


The bill also specifies that the term "correctional facility" in this provision includes a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


Senate Bill 1223


The prison code authorizes the officers of a prison to use all suitable means to defend themselves, enforce the observance of discipline, secure offenders, and prevent attempts to escape if one or more prisoners assault or batter any officer or guard or other prisoner or damage or attempt to damage any part of the prison, or attempt to escape or resist or disobey any reasonable command. Under the bill, this provision applies to a "correctional facility" rather than a "prison", and "correctional facility" means a facility that houses prisoners committed to the DOC's jurisdiction, including a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


Senate Bill 1224


The bill includes in the Act's definition of "correctional facility" a youth correctional facility operated by the DOC or a private vendor.


MCL 330.2001b (S.B. 1218)

722.4 (S.B. 1219)

750.139 et al. (S.B. 1220)

764.23 (S.B. 1221)

791.220g et al. (S.B. 1222)

800.41 (S.B. 1223)

800.281a (S.B. 1224)


- Legislative Analyst: P. Affholter


FISCAL IMPACT


These bills allow the State to avoid certain expenditures that would be required under previous law. For example, under previous law, the State would have to appoint a Michigan Civil Service employee as warden, while paying the contractor for warden services through the contract. To the extent that the bills allow employees of the contractor to perform functions that formerly could be performed only by DOC employees, the State will not have to provide State employees for these functions.


- Fiscal Analyst: K. Firestone

S9798\S1218ES

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.