Sponsored by:
Senator PHILIP E. HAINES
District 8 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes requirements governing the closing of any State prison.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain State correctional facilities and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. No State correctional facility shall be closed until:
a. The inmates housed in that facility have been transferred to another State correctional facility; and
b. Any county correctional facility that is housing prisoners remanded by the State who are not being housed pursuant to a contractual arrangement between the State and the county is afforded an opportunity to return those prisoners to the care and custody of the Department of Corrections for transfer to a State correctional facility.
2. The provisions of this act shall not apply to any temporary closing of a State correctional facility for reasons relating to the health, safety or well-being of the inmates and staff of that facility or the residents of the communities adjacent to that facility.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would prohibit the permanent closing of any State correctional facility until (1) all the inmates housed in the facility have been transferred to another State correctional facility, and (2) any county that is housing State inmates in its correctional facility who are not subject to a contractual agreement with the State are afforded the opportunity to return those inmates to the care and custody of the Department Of Corrections for transfer to a State correctional facility.
The provisions of the bill do not apply to any temporary closures of a State correctional facility for reasons relating to the health, safety or well-being of the inmates and staff of the facility or the residents of the communities neighboring the facility.