Bill Text: FL H0919 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Illegal or Undocumented Aliens

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Governmental Affairs Policy (EDCA) [H0919 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-H0919-Introduced.html

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HB 919

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 federal
5	deportation program for state inmates; specifying the
6	goals of the program; amending s. 947.146, F.S., relating
7	to the Control Release Authority; requiring the authority
8	to implement a program to execute an immediate deportation
9	order; creating s. 947.1461, F.S.; relating to control
10	release for removal and deportation; requiring the
11	department to identify eligible inmates at the reception
12	process; specifying eligibility criteria; requiring the
13	department to coordinate with federal authorities to
14	determine immigration status and eligibility for removal;
15	specifying that eligible inmates waive administrative and
16	appellate rights; requiring the Control Release Authority
17	to establish control release dates; authorizing the
18	control release dates to be set after the alien has served
19	a minimum 50 percent of his or her court-imposed sentence;
20	requiring the Control Release Authority to give notice to
21	aliens concerning reentering the United States;
22	prohibiting aliens from benefiting from control release
23	awards when removal is not reasonably foreseeable;
24	requiring the department to compile and report certain
25	statistics; providing an effective date.
26
27	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
28
29	Section 1. The Department of Corrections and the Parole
30	Commission shall immediately initiate, coordinate, and establish
31	agreements among multiple state, local, and federal authorities
32	to implement the United States Immigration and Customs
33	Enforcement Rapid Removal of Eligible Parolees Accepted for
34	Transfer (REPAT) program. The goals of this effort shall be to:
35	(1) Ensure that deportable aliens are not released from
36	prison to the community;
37	(2) Reduce the number of criminal aliens incarcerated in
38	the state prison system;
39	(3) Provide for the mandatory revocation of control
40	release and the confinement of criminal aliens who reenter the
41	United States;
42	(4) Allow eligible inmates to be released for deportation
43	purposes before the expiration of the sentence;
44	(5) Expedite the deportation process; and
45	(6) Improve information-sharing procedures between the
46	Immigration and Customs Enforcement Section of the United States
47	Department of Homeland Security and the department.
48	Section 2. Subsections (2), (5), and (7) of section
49	947.146, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
50	947.146 Control Release Authority.-
51	(2) The authority shall implement a system for determining
52	the number and type of inmates who must be released into the
53	community under control release in order to maintain the state
54	prison system between 99 and 100 percent of its total capacity
55	as defined in s. 944.023 or to execute an immediate deportation
56	order from federal immigration authorities. An No inmate does
57	not have has a right to control release. Control
58	administrative function solely used to manage the state prison
59	population within total capacity and to expedite the deportation
60	process. An inmate may not receive an advancement of his or her
61	control release date by an award of control release allotments
62	for any period of time before the date the inmate becomes
63	statutorily eligible for control release or before the
64	subsequent date of establishment of the inmate's advanceable
65	control release date.
66	(5) Whenever the inmate population drops below 99 percent
67	of total capacity and remains below 99 percent for 90
68	consecutive days without requiring the release of inmates under
69	this section, all control release dates shall become void and an
70	no inmate is not shall be eligible for release under any
71	previously established control release date. However, control
72	release dates for deportation purposes do not become void when
73	the inmate population changes. An inmate does shall not have a
74	right to a control release date, and nor shall the authority is
75	not be required to establish or reestablish any additional
76	control release dates except under the provisions of subsection
77	(2).
78	(7) The authority has the power and duty to:
79	(a) Extend or advance the control release date of any
80	inmate for whom a date has been established pursuant to
81	subsection (2), based upon one or more of the following:
82	1. Recently discovered information of:
83	a. Past criminal conduct;
84	b. Verified threats by inmates provided by victims, law
85	enforcement, or the department;
86	c. Potential risk to or vulnerability of a victim;
87	d. Psychological or physical trauma to the victim due to
88	the criminal offense;
89	e. Court-ordered restitution;
90	f. History of abuse or addiction to a chemical substance
91	verified by a presentence or postsentence investigation report;
92	g. The inmate's ties to organized crime;
93	h. A change in the inmate's sentence structure;
94	i. Cooperation with law enforcement;
95	j. Strong community support; and
96	k. A documented mental condition as a factor for future
97	criminal behavior.
98	2. The recommendation of the department regarding:
99	a. A medical or mental health-related condition; or
100	b. Institutional adjustment of the inmate, which may
101	include refusal by the inmate to sign the agreement to the
102	conditions of the release plan.
103	3. Total capacity of the state prison system.
104	4. Arrangements for the transfer of custody pending
105	deportation.
106	(b) Authorize an individual commissioner to postpone a
107	control release date for not more than 60 days without a hearing
108	for any inmate who has become the subject of a disciplinary
109	proceeding, a criminal arrest, an information, or an indictment;
110	who has been terminated from work release; or about whom there
111	is any recently discovered information as specified in paragraph
112	(a).
113	(c) Determine the terms, conditions, and period of time of
114	control release for persons released under pursuant to this
115	section.
116	(d) Determine violations of control release and what
117	actions shall be taken with reference thereto.
118	(e) Provide for victim input into the decisionmaking
119	process which may be used by the authority as aggravation or
120	mitigation in determining which persons shall be released on
121	control release.
122	(f) Make such investigations as may be necessary for the
123	purposes of establishing, modifying, or revoking a control
124	release date.
125	(g) Contract with a public defender or private counsel for
126	representation of indigent persons charged with violating the
127	terms of control release.
128	(h) Adopt such rules as the authority deems necessary to
129	implement for implementation of the provisions of this section.
130	Section 3. Section 947.1461, Florida Statutes, is created
131	to read:
132	947.1461 Control release for removal and deportation
133	only.-
134	(1) The Department of Corrections shall begin during the
135	inmate reception process a procedure to identify eligible aliens
136	and determine if deportation is feasible and in the best
137	interests of the state. Aliens who are ineligible for the
138	federal deportation process under this section are inmates who
139	are ineligible for control release under s. 947.146(3)(a)-(m).
140	(2) The department shall coordinate with federal
141	authorities to determine the immigration status and eligibility
142	for removal and to obtain the final removal order.
143	(3) The department shall identify aliens for removal who
144	have voluntarily waived all administrative and judicial
145	appellate rights in writing and who have agreed in writing to
146	fully cooperate with federal authorities to obtain valid travel
147	documentation and facilitate removal.
148	(4) Upon acceptance into the federal deportation program,
149	the Control Release Authority shall establish a control release
150	date for the alien to be transferred into federal custody.
151	Notwithstanding s. 944.275(4)(b)3., the Control Release
152	Authority may establish a control release date after the alien
153	has served a minimum of 50 percent of his or her court-imposed
154	sentence.
155	(5) The department shall maintain exclusive control and
156	responsibility for the custody and transportation of an alien
157	who is accepted into the federal deportation program until the
158	alien is physically transferred to federal custody.
159	(6) The Control Release Authority shall provide notice and
160	obtain acknowledgement in writing that notice was given to each
161	alien who is eligible for deportation that reentry into the
162	United States requires the return of the alien to the custody of
163	the department to complete the remainder of his or her court-
164	imposed sentence. The alien must also waive in writing all
165	rights of extradition which would challenge the alien's return
166	to the department and Control Release Authority to complete the
167	remainder of his or her sentence.
168	(7) An alien may not under any circumstances receive the
169	benefits of control release awards if the federal authorities
170	determine that the alien's removal is not reasonably
171	foreseeable.
172	(8) The department shall compile statistics on this
173	program, including the number of aliens who are transferred to
174	federal custody, the number of aliens who are actually removed
175	from the United States, the number of aliens who reenter the
176	United States, and the annualized cost-avoidance achieved.
177	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.