Bill Text: FL S0600 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Inmates/Illegal or Undocumented Aliens/Deportation [SPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Judiciary [S0600 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S0600-Introduced.html

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Florida Senate - 2010                                     SB 600 
 
By Senator Bennett 
21-00612-10                                            2010600__ 
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; amending s. 
7         947.146, F.S., relating to the Control Release 
8         Authority; requiring the authority to implement a 
9         program to execute an immediate deportation order; 
10         creating s. 947.1461, F.S., relating to control 
11         release for removal and deportation; requiring the 
12         department to identify eligible inmates at the 
13         reception process; specifying eligibility criteria; 
14         requiring the department to coordinate with federal 
15         authorities to determine immigration status and 
16         eligibility for removal; specifying that eligible 
17         inmates waive administrative and appellate rights; 
18         requiring the Control Release Authority to establish 
19         control release dates; authorizing the control release 
20         dates to be set after the alien has served a minimum 
21         50 percent of his or her court-imposed sentence; 
22         requiring the Control Release Authority to give notice 
23         to aliens concerning reentering the United States; 
24         prohibiting aliens from benefiting from control 
25         release awards when removal is not reasonably 
26         foreseeable; requiring the department to compile and 
27         report certain statistics; providing an effective 
28         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; 
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 to 
132  implement for implementation of the provisions of this section. 
133         Section 3. Section 947.1461, Florida Statutes, is created 
134  to read: 
135         947.1461 Control 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 shall coordinate with federal 
143  authorities to determine the immigration status and eligibility 
144  for removal and to obtain the final removal order. 
145         (3) The department shall identify aliens for removal who 
146  have voluntarily waived all administrative and judicial 
147  appellate rights in writing and who have agreed in writing to 
148  fully cooperate with federal authorities to obtain valid travel 
149  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 shall maintain exclusive control and 
158  responsibility for the custody and transportation of an alien 
159  who is accepted into the federal deportation program until the 
160  alien is physically transferred to federal custody. 
161         (6) The Control Release Authority shall provide notice and 
162  obtain acknowledgement in writing that notice was given to each 
163  alien who is eligible for deportation that reentry into the 
164  United States requires the return of the alien to the custody of 
165  the department to complete the remainder of his or her court 
166  imposed sentence. The alien must also waive in writing all 
167  rights of extradition which would challenge the alien’s return 
168  to the department and Control Release Authority to complete the 
169  remainder of his or her sentence. 
170         (7) An alien may not under any circumstances receive the 
171  benefits of control release awards if the federal authorities 
172  determine that the alien’s removal is not reasonably 
173  foreseeable. 
174         (8) The department shall compile statistics on this 
175  program, including the number of aliens who are transferred to 
176  federal custody, the number of aliens who are actually removed 
177  from the United States, the number of aliens who reenter the 
178  United States, and the annualized cost-avoidance achieved. 
179         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.