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91_HB2560
LRB9104936RCks
1 AN ACT in relation to charter prisons.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
5 adding Article 17 to Chapter 3 as follows:
6 (730 ILCS 5/Chap. 3 Art. 17 heading new)
7 ARTICLE 17. CHARTER PRISONS
8 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-1 new)
9 Sec. 3-17-1. Short title and application. This Article
10 may be cited as the Charter Prisons Law.
11 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-5 new)
12 Sec. 3-17-5. Legislative declaration.
13 (a) The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
14 (1) Encouraging educational, and positive reentry
15 training programs for prisoners is in the best interests
16 of the people of this State.
17 (2) There are educators, community members, and
18 organizations in Illinois who can offer flexible and
19 innovative programs and reentry training, but who lack an
20 avenue through which to provide them within the
21 correctional system.
22 (3) The enactment of legislation authorizing
23 charter prisons to operate in Illinois will promote new
24 options within the public correctional system and will
25 provide prisoners, educators, community members, and
26 businesses with the stimulus to strive for excellence and
27 reduce recidivism.
28 (b) The General Assembly further finds and declares that
29 this Article is enacted for the following purposes:
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1 (1) To improve prisoner learning and training by
2 creating charter prisons with high, rigorous standards
3 for prisoner performance.
4 (2) To increase education, and reentry training
5 opportunities for all prisoners consistent, however, with
6 an equal commitment to increase educational and training
7 opportunities for all groups of prisoners in a manner
8 that does not discriminate on the basis of disability,
9 race, creed, color, gender, national origin, religion,
10 ancestry, marital status, or need for special services.
11 (3) To hold charter prisons accountable for meeting
12 rigorous standards of the prisoner education, training,
13 and rehabilitation and to provide those prisons with the
14 opportunity to improve accountability.
15 (c) In authorizing charter prisons, it is the intent of
16 the General Assembly to create a legitimate avenue for
17 correctional officers, private industry, and community
18 members to take responsible risks and create new, innovative,
19 and more flexible ways of educating, training, and
20 rehabilitating prisoners. The General Assembly seeks to
21 create opportunities within the correctional system of
22 Illinois for development of innovative and accountable
23 techniques for educating, training, and rehabilitating
24 prisoners. The provisions of this Article should be
25 interpreted liberally to support the findings and goals of
26 this Section.
27 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-10 new)
28 Sec. 3-17-10. Definitions. For purposes of this Article:
29 "Charter prison" means a public or private correctional
30 institution devoted to the education and training of
31 prisoners and to the rehabilitation of prisoners who are
32 addicted.
33 "Prisoner" means a committed person in a Department of
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1 Corrections facility or a person convicted of a felony who
2 has been assigned to a charter prison by the Director of
3 Corrections.
4 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-15 new)
5 Sec. 3-17-15. General provisions.
6 (a) A charter prison is subject to all federal and State
7 laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination
8 on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, gender,
9 national origin, religion, ancestry, marital status, or need
10 for special services.
11 (b) Assignment to a charter prison must be made by the
12 Director. No inmate is compelled to transfer to a charter
13 prison.
14 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-20 new)
15 Sec. 3-17-20. Charter prison; legal entity;
16 requirements.
17 (a) A charter prison may be established under this
18 Article by creating a new prison or by converting an existing
19 prison to charter prison status.
20 (b) A charter prison is administered and governed by its
21 board of directors or other governing body in the manner
22 provided in its charter. The governing body of a charter
23 prison is subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the
24 Open Meetings Act.
25 (c) A charter prison must comply with all applicable
26 health and safety requirements applicable to correctional
27 institutions under the laws of the State of Illinois.
28 (d) A charter prison is responsible for the management
29 and operation of its fiscal affairs including, but not
30 limited to, the preparation of its budget. An audit of each
31 charter prison's finances must be conducted annually by an
32 outside, independent contractor retained by the charter
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1 prison.
2 (e) A charter prison must comply with all provisions of
3 this Article and its charter, including but not limited to
4 the following:
5 (1) Department rules regarding criminal background
6 investigations of applicants for employment;
7 (2) Sections 3-8-7 and 3-8-8 of this Code regarding
8 discipline of prisoners;
9 (3) The Local Governmental and Governmental
10 Employees Tort Immunity Act;
11 (4) Section 108.75 of the General Not For Profit
12 Corporation Act of 1986 regarding indemnification of
13 officers, directors, employees, and agents;
14 (5) The Illinois Uniform Conviction Information
15 Act.
16 (f) A charter prison may negotiate and contract with the
17 Department or any other public or for-profit or nonprofit
18 private entity for: (i) the use of a correctional institution
19 and grounds or any other real property or facilities that the
20 charter prison desires to use or convert for use as a charter
21 prison site, (ii) the operation and maintenance of the
22 facility, and (iii) the provision of any service, activity,
23 or undertaking that the charter prison is required to perform
24 in order to carry out the terms of its charter. Any services
25 for which a charter prison contracts with the Department must
26 be provided by the Department at cost. Any services for
27 which a charter prison contracts with the Department or
28 public entity must be provided by the public entity at cost.
29 (g) In no event may a charter prison that is established
30 by converting an existing correctional institution to charter
31 prison status be required to pay rent for space that is
32 deemed available, as negotiated and provided in the charter
33 agreement, in correctional institution facilities. However,
34 all other costs for the operation and maintenance of the
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1 facilities that are used by the charter prison shall be
2 subject to negotiation between the charter prison and the
3 Department and shall be set forth in the charter.
4 (h) A charter prison may limit prison population by age
5 or other factors as determined by the Director.
6 (i) Upon completion of impact incarceration and provided
7 an inmate is within 18 months of his or her release the
8 committed person is eligible for education and training and
9 must attend drug rehabilitation programs offered by the
10 Department or a charter prison. A person convicted of a sex
11 offense, first degree murder, or who is subject to serving at
12 least 85% of his or her sentence in prison is not eligible to
13 attend a charter person.
14 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-25 new)
15 Sec. 3-17-25. Contract contents; applicability of laws
16 and regulations.
17 (a) A certified charter constitutes a binding contract
18 and agreement between the charter prison and the Department
19 under the terms of which the Department authorizes the
20 governing body of the charter prison to operate the charter
21 prison on the terms specified in the contract.
22 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article,
23 the certified charter may not waive or release the charter
24 prison from the requirements established pursuant to Section
25 3-7-2.
26 (c) A material revision to a previously certified
27 contract or a renewal must be made with the approval of both
28 the Department and the governing body of the charter prison.
29 (d) The proposed contract between the governing body of
30 a proposed charter prison and the Department as described in
31 Section 3-17-30 must be submitted to and certified by the
32 Director before it can take effect. If the Director
33 recommends that the proposed contract be modified for
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1 consistency with this Article before it can be certified, the
2 modifications must be consented to by both the governing body
3 of the charter prison and the Director, for its
4 certification. If the proposed contract is resubmitted in a
5 form that is not consistent with this Article, the Director
6 may refuse to certify the charter.
7 The Director must assign a number to each submission or
8 resubmission in chronological order of receipt, and must
9 determine whether the proposed contract is consistent with
10 the provisions of this Article. If the proposed contract
11 complies, the Director must so certify.
12 (e) No material revision to a previously certified
13 contract or a renewal is effective until the Director
14 certifies that the revision or renewal is consistent with the
15 provisions of this Article.
16 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-30 new)
17 Sec. 3-17-30. Charter submission.
18 (a) A proposal to establish a charter prison must be
19 submitted to the Director in the form of a proposed contract
20 entered into between the Department and the governing body of
21 a proposed charter prison. The charter prison proposal as
22 submitted to the Director must include:
23 (1) The name of the proposed charter prison, which
24 must include the words "Charter Prison".
25 (2) The age of prisoners range, areas of focus,
26 minimum and maximum numbers of prisoners to be assigned
27 to the charter prison, and any other assignment criteria
28 that would be legal if used by the Department.
29 (3) A description of and address for the physical
30 plant in which the charter prison will be located;
31 provided that nothing in the Article justifies delaying
32 or withholding favorable action on or approval of a
33 charter prison proposal because the building or buildings
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1 in which the charter prison is to be located have not
2 been acquired or rented at the time a charter prison
3 proposal is submitted or approved or a charter prison
4 contract is entered into or submitted for certification
5 or certified, so long as the proposal or submission
6 identifies and names at least 2 sites that are
7 potentially available as a charter prison facility by the
8 time the charter prison is to open.
9 (4) The mission statement of the charter prison,
10 which must be consistent with the General Assembly's
11 declared purposes; provided that nothing in this Article
12 requires that, in order to receive favorable
13 consideration and approval, a charter prison proposal
14 demonstrates unequivocally that the charter prison will
15 be able to meet each of those declared purposes, it being
16 the intention of the Charter Prisons Law that those
17 purposes be recognized as goals that charter prisons must
18 aspire to attain.
19 (5) The goals, objectives, and inmate performance
20 standards to be achieved by the charter prison.
21 (6) In the case of a proposal to establish a
22 charter prison by converting an existing State
23 Corrections institutions to charter prison status,
24 evidence that the proposed formation of the charter
25 prison has received the approval of the Director as
26 provided in subsection (b) of Section 3-17-35.
27 (7) A description of the charter prison's
28 educational program, prisoner performance standards, and
29 training programs.
30 (8) A description of the charter prison's plan for
31 evaluating prisoner performance, the types of assessments
32 that will be used to measure prisoner progress towards
33 achievement of the prison's prisoner performance
34 standards, the timeline for achievement of those
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1 standards, and the procedures for taking corrective
2 action in the event that prisoner performance at the
3 charter prison falls below those standards.
4 (9) Evidence that the terms of the charter as
5 proposed are economically sound for both the charter
6 prison and the Department, a proposed budget for the term
7 of the charter, a description of the manner in which an
8 annual audit of the financial and administrative
9 operations of the charter prison, including any services
10 provided by the Department, are to be conducted, and a
11 plan for the displacement of prisoners employees who will
12 not be assigned or be employed in the charter prison.
13 (10) A description of the governance and operation
14 of the charter prison, including the nature and extent of
15 professional educator and community involvement in the
16 governance and operation of the charter prison.
17 (11) An explanation of the relationship that will
18 exist between the charter prison and its employees,
19 including evidence that the terms and conditions of
20 employment have been addressed with affected employees
21 and their recognized representative, if any. However, a
22 bargaining unit of charter prison employees must be
23 separate and distinct from any bargaining units formed
24 from employees of a correctional institution in which the
25 charter prison is located.
26 (12) An agreement between the parties regarding
27 their respective legal liability and applicable insurance
28 coverage.
29 (13) The proposed effective date and term of the
30 charter.
31 (14) Any other information reasonably required by
32 the Director.
33 (b) A proposal to establish a charter prison may be
34 initiated by individuals or organizations that will have
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1 majority representation on the board of directors or other
2 governing body of the corporation or other discrete legal
3 entity that is to be established to operate the proposed
4 charter prison, or by the board of directors or other
5 governing body of a discrete legal entity already existing or
6 established to operate the proposed charter prison. The
7 individuals or organizations referred to in this subsection
8 may be representatives, corporations, or other entities or
9 their representatives. The proposal shall be submitted to
10 the Director for consideration.
11 (c) The Director may not without the consent of the
12 governing body of the charter prison condition its approval
13 of a charter prison proposal on acceptance of an agreement to
14 operate under State laws and regulations and the Department
15 policies from which the charter prison is otherwise exempted
16 under this Article.
17 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-35 new)
18 Sec. 3-17-35. Evaluation of charter proposals.
19 (a) In evaluating any charter prison proposal submitted
20 to it, the Director must give preference to proposals that:
21 (1) demonstrate a high level of local prisoner,
22 community, business, and Department personnel support;
23 and
24 (2) set rigorous levels of expected prisoner
25 achievement and demonstrate feasible plans for attaining
26 those levels of achievement.
27 (b) Within 45 days of receipt of a charter prison
28 proposal, the Director must convene a public meeting to
29 obtain information to assist him or her in its decision to
30 grant or deny the charter prison proposal.
31 (c) Notice of the public meeting required by this
32 Section must be published in a community newspaper published
33 in the municipality in which the proposed charter is located
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1 and, if there is no such newspaper, then in a newspaper
2 published in the county and having circulation in the county.
3 The notices must be published not more than 10 days nor less
4 than 5 days before the meeting and must state that
5 information regarding a charter prison proposal will be heard
6 at the meeting. Copies of the notice must also be posted at
7 appropriate locations in the facility proposed to be
8 established as a charter prison, the Correctional
9 institutions in the county, and the Department's
10 administrative office.
11 (d) Within 30 days of the public meeting, the Director
12 must either grant or deny the charter prison proposal.
13 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-40 new)
14 Sec. 3-17-40. Term of charter; renewal.
15 (a) A charter may not exceed 10 years.
16 (b) A charter prison renewal proposal submitted to the
17 Director must contain:
18 (1) A report on the progress of the charter prison
19 in achieving the goals, objectives, prisoner performance
20 standards, content standards, and other terms of the
21 initial approved charter proposal; and
22 (2) A financial statement that discloses the costs
23 of administration, instruction, and other spending
24 categories for the charter prison that is understandable
25 to the general public and that will allow comparison of
26 those costs to other correctional institutions or other
27 comparable organizations, in a format required by the
28 Director.
29 (c) A charter may be revoked or not renewed if the
30 Director clearly demonstrates that the charter prison did any
31 of the following, or otherwise failed to comply with the
32 requirements of this law:
33 (1) Committed a material violation of any of the
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1 conditions, standards, or procedures set forth in the
2 charter.
3 (2) Failed to meet or make reasonable progress
4 toward achievement of the content standards or prisoner
5 performance standards identified in the charter.
6 (3) Failed to meet generally accepted standards of
7 fiscal management.
8 (4) Violated any provision of law from which the
9 charter prison was not exempted.
10 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-45 new)
11 Sec. 3-17-45. Contracts. All contracts must comply with
12 the Illinois Procurement Code.
13 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-50 new)
14 Sec. 3-17-50. Financing.
15 (a) As part of a prison contract, the charter prison and
16 the Director must agree on funding and any services to be
17 provided by the Department to the charter prison. Agreed
18 funding that a charter prison is to receive from the
19 Department for a year must be paid in equal quarterly
20 installments with the payment of the installment for the
21 first quarter being made not later than July 1, unless the
22 charter establishes a different payment schedule.
23 All services centrally or otherwise provided by the
24 Department including, but not limited to, food services,
25 custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, media services,
26 libraries, transportation, and warehousing are subject to
27 negotiation between a charter prison and the Director and
28 paid for out of the revenues negotiated under this subsection
29 (a).
30 It is the intent of the General Assembly that funding and
31 service agreements under this subsection (a) shall be neither
32 a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive to the
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1 establishment of a charter prison.
2 (b)(1) The governing body of a charter prison is
3 authorized to accept gifts, donations, or grants of any kind
4 made to the charter prison and to expend or use gifts,
5 donations, or grants in accordance with the conditions
6 prescribed by the donor; however, a gift, donation, or grant
7 may not be accepted by the governing body if it is subject to
8 any condition contrary to applicable law or contrary to the
9 terms of the contract between the charter prison and the
10 Director.
11 (2) From amounts appropriated to the Department for
12 purposes of this subsection (b)(2), the Department may make
13 loans to charter prisons established under this Article to be
14 used by those prisons to defer their start-up costs of
15 acquiring textbooks and other equipment required for prisoner
16 instruction and training. Any such loan must be made to a
17 charter prison at the inception of the term of its charter,
18 under terms established by the Department, and must be repaid
19 by the charter prison over the term of its charter.
20 (c) No later than March 15, 2001, the Director must
21 issue a report to the General Assembly and the Governor
22 describing the charter prisons certified under this Article,
23 their geographic locations, their areas of focus, and the
24 numbers of prisoners served by them.
25 (d) The Department must provide technical assistance to
26 persons and groups preparing or revising charter
27 applications.
28 (e) At the non-renewal or revocation of its charter,
29 each charter prison must refund to the Department all unspent
30 funds.
31 (f) A charter prison is authorized to incur temporary,
32 short term debt to pay operating expenses in anticipation of
33 receipt of funds from the Department.
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1 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-55 new)
2 Sec. 3-17-55. Evaluation. The Director must compile
3 annual evaluations of charter prisons. The Director must
4 review information regarding the regulations and policies
5 from which charter prisons were released to determine if the
6 exemption assisted or impeded the charter prisons in meeting
7 their stated goals and objectives. Each annual report must
8 include suggested changes in State law necessary to
9 strengthen or change charter prisons.
10 On March 15, 2001 and each subsequent calendar year, the
11 Director must issue a report to the General Assembly and the
12 Governor on its findings for the year ending in the preceding
13 calendar year.
14 (730 ILCS 5/3-17-60 new)
15 Sec. 3-17-60. Rules. The Director is authorized to adopt
16 any rules not inconsistent with this Article that the
17 Director deems necessary to implement and accomplish the
18 purposes and provisions of this Article.
19 Section 10. The Private Correctional Facility Moratorium
20 Act is amended by changing Section 3 as follows:
21 (730 ILCS 140/3) (from Ch. 38, par. 1583)
22 Sec. 3. Certain contracts prohibited. After the
23 effective date of this Act, the State shall not contract with
24 a private contractor or private vendor for the provision of
25 services relating to the operation of a correctional facility
26 or the incarceration of persons in the custody of the
27 Department of Corrections; however, this Act does not apply
28 to (1) State work release centers or juvenile residential
29 facilities that provide separate care or special treatment
30 operated in whole or part by private contractors; or (2)
31 contracts for ancillary services, including medical services,
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1 educational services, repair and maintenance contracts, or
2 other services not directly related to the ownership,
3 management or operation of security services in a
4 correctional facility; or (3) charter prisons created under
5 Article 17 of Chapter 3 of the Unified Code of Corrections.
6 (Source: P.A. 88-680, eff. 1-1-95.)