Florida Senate - 2009                                     SB 352
       
       
       
       By Senator Bennett
       
       
       
       
       21-00455-09                                            2009352__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to illegal or undocumented aliens;
    3         requiring the Department of Corrections and the Parole
    4         Commission to establish agreements to implement a
    5         federal deportation program for state inmates;
    6         specifying the goals of the program;
    7         amending s. 947.146, F.S., relating to the Control
    8         Release Authority; requiring the authority to
    9         implement a program to execute an immediate
   10         deportation order; creating s. 947.1461, F.S.,
   11         relating to control release for removal and
   12         deportation; requiring the department to identify
   13         eligible inmates at the reception process; specifying
   14         eligibility criteria; requiring the department to
   15         coordinate with federal authorities to determine
   16         immigration status and eligibility for removal;
   17         specifying that eligible inmates waive administrative
   18         and appellate rights; requiring the Control Release
   19         Authority to establish control release dates;
   20         authorizing the control release dates to be set after
   21         the alien has served a minimum 50 percent of his or
   22         her court-imposed sentence; requiring the Control
   23         Release Authority to give notice to aliens concerning
   24         reentering the United States; prohibiting aliens from
   25         benefiting from control release awards when removal is
   26         not reasonably foreseeable; requiring the department
   27         to compile and report certain statistics; providing an
   28         effective date.
   29         
   30  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   31         
   32         Section 1. The Department of Corrections and the Parole
   33  Commission shall immediately initiate, coordinate, and establish
   34  agreements among multiple state, local, and federal authorities
   35  to implement the United States Immigration and Customs
   36  Enforcement Rapid Removal of Eligible Parolees Accepted for
   37  Transfer (REPAT) program. The goals of this effort shall be to:
   38         (1)Ensure that deportable aliens are not released from
   39  prison to the community;
   40         (2)Reduce the number of criminal aliens incarcerated in
   41  the state prison system;
   42         (3)Provide for the mandatory revocation of control release
   43  and the confinement of criminal aliens who reenter the United
   44  States and who are rearrested in Florida;
   45         (4)Allow eligible inmates to be released for deportation
   46  purposes before the expiration of the sentence;
   47         (5)Expedite the deportation process; and
   48         (6)Improve information-sharing procedures between the
   49  Immigration and Customs Enforcement Section of the United States
   50  Department of Homeland Security and the department.
   51         Section 2. Subsections (2), (5), and (7) of section
   52  947.146, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   53         947.146 Control Release Authority.—
   54         (2) The authority shall implement a system for determining
   55  the number and type of inmates who must be released into the
   56  community under control release in order to maintain the state
   57  prison system between 99 and 100 percent of its total capacity
   58  as defined in s. 944.023 or to execute an immediate deportation
   59  order from federal immigration authorities. An No inmate does
   60  not have has a right to control release. Control release is an
   61  administrative function solely used to manage the state prison
   62  population within total capacity and to expedite the deportation
   63  process. An inmate may not receive an advancement of his or her
   64  control release date by an award of control release allotments
   65  for any period of time before the date the inmate becomes
   66  statutorily eligible for control release or before the
   67  subsequent date of establishment of the inmate's advanceable
   68  control release date.
   69         (5) Whenever the inmate population drops below 99 percent
   70  of total capacity and remains below 99 percent for 90
   71  consecutive days without requiring the release of inmates under
   72  this section, all control release dates shall become void and an
   73  no inmate is not shall be eligible for release under any
   74  previously established control release date. However, control
   75  release dates for deportation purposes do not become void when
   76  the inmate population changes. An inmate does shall not have a
   77  right to a control release date, and nor shall the authority is
   78  not be required to establish or reestablish any additional
   79  control release dates except under the provisions of subsection
   80  (2).
   81         (7) The authority has the power and duty to:
   82         (a) Extend or advance the control release date of any
   83  inmate for whom a date has been established pursuant to
   84  subsection (2), based upon one or more of the following:
   85         1. Recently discovered information of:
   86         a. Past criminal conduct;
   87         b. Verified threats by inmates provided by victims, law
   88  enforcement, or the department;
   89         c. Potential risk to or vulnerability of a victim;
   90         d. Psychological or physical trauma to the victim due to
   91  the criminal offense;
   92         e. Court-ordered restitution;
   93         f. History of abuse or addiction to a chemical substance
   94  verified by a presentence or postsentence investigation report;
   95         g. The inmate's ties to organized crime;
   96         h. A change in the inmate's sentence structure;
   97         i. Cooperation with law enforcement;
   98         j. Strong community support; and
   99         k. A documented mental condition as a factor for future
  100  criminal behavior.
  101         2. The recommendation of the department regarding:
  102         a. A medical or mental health-related condition; or
  103         b. Institutional adjustment of the inmate, which may
  104  include refusal by the inmate to sign the agreement to the
  105  conditions of the release plan.
  106         3. Total capacity of the state prison system.
  107         4.Arrangements for the transfer of custody pending
  108  deportation.
  109         (b) Authorize an individual commissioner to postpone a
  110  control release date for not more than 60 days without a hearing
  111  for any inmate who has become the subject of a disciplinary
  112  proceeding, a criminal arrest, an information, or an indictment;
  113  who has been terminated from work release; or about whom there
  114  is any recently discovered information as specified in paragraph
  115  (a).
  116         (c) Determine the terms, conditions, and period of time of
  117  control release for persons released under pursuant to this
  118  section.
  119         (d) Determine violations of control release and what
  120  actions shall be taken with reference thereto.
  121         (e) Provide for victim input into the decisionmaking
  122  process which may be used by the authority as aggravation or
  123  mitigation in determining which persons shall be released on
  124  control release.
  125         (f) Make such investigations as may be necessary for the
  126  purposes of establishing, modifying, or revoking a control
  127  release date.
  128         (g) Contract with a public defender or private counsel for
  129  representation of indigent persons charged with violating the
  130  terms of control release.
  131         (h) Adopt such rules as the authority deems necessary for
  132  implementation of the provisions of this section.
  133         Section 3. Section 947.1461, Florida Statutes, is created
  134  to read:
  135         947.1461Control release for removal and deportation only.—
  136         (1)The Department of Corrections shall begin during the
  137  inmate reception process a procedure to identify eligible aliens
  138  and determine if deportation is feasible and in the best
  139  interests of the state. Aliens who are ineligible for the
  140  federal deportation process under this section are inmates who
  141  are ineligible for control release under s. 947.146(3)(a)-(m).
  142         (2)The Department of Corrections shall coordinate with the
  143  federal authorities to determine immigration status and
  144  eligibility for removal and to obtain the final removal order.
  145         (3)The Department of Corrections shall identify aliens for
  146  removal who have voluntarily waived all administrative and
  147  judicial appellate rights in writing and who have agreed in
  148  writing to fully cooperate with federal authorities to obtain
  149  valid travel documentation and facilitate removal.
  150         (4)Upon acceptance into the federal deportation program,
  151  the Control Release Authority shall establish a control release
  152  date for the alien to be transferred into federal custody.
  153  Notwithstanding s. 944.275(4)(b)3., the Control Release
  154  Authority may establish a control release date after the alien
  155  has served a minimum of 50 percent of his or her court-imposed
  156  sentence.
  157         (5)The Department of Corrections shall maintain exclusive
  158  control and responsibility for the custody and transportation of
  159  aliens to and from federal facilities.
  160         (6)The Control Release Authority shall provide notice and
  161  obtain acknowledgement in writing that notice was given to each
  162  alien who is eligible for deportation that illegal reentry into
  163  the United States requires the return of such alien to the
  164  custody of the Department of Corrections to complete the
  165  remainder of his or her court-imposed sentence. The alien must
  166  also waive in writing all rights of extradition which would
  167  challenge the alien's return to the Department of Corrections
  168  and Control Release Authority to complete the remainder of his
  169  or her sentence.
  170         (7)An alien may not under any circumstances receive the
  171  benefits of control release awards when the federal authorities
  172  determine that the alien's removal is not reasonably
  173  foreseeable.
  174         (8)The Department of Corrections shall compile statistics
  175  on this program, including the number of aliens who are
  176  transferred to federal custody, the number of aliens who are
  177  actually removed from the United States, the number of aliens
  178  who reenter the United States, and the annualized cost-avoidance
  179  achieved.
  180         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.