Bill Text: FL H0205 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Illegal or Undocumented Aliens

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [H0205 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0205-Introduced.html

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HB 205

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; authorizing the authority to extend or advance the
10	control release date for arrangements for the transfer of
11	custody pending deportation; creating s. 947.1461, F.S.,
12	relating to control release for removal and deportation;
13	requiring the department to identify eligible inmates at
14	the reception process; specifying eligibility criteria;
15	requiring the department to coordinate with federal
16	authorities to determine immigration status and
17	eligibility for removal; requiring the department to
18	identify eligible inmates who waive administrative and
19	appellate rights and who agree to cooperate; requiring the
20	Control Release Authority to establish control release
21	dates; authorizing the control release dates to be set
22	after the alien has served a minimum 50 percent of his or
23	her court-imposed sentence; requiring the department to
24	maintain exclusive control and responsibility for the
25	custody and transportation of an alien until the alien is
26	transferred to federal custody; requiring the Control
27	Release Authority to give notice to aliens concerning
28	reentering the United States; prohibiting aliens from
29	benefiting from control release awards when removal is not
30	reasonably foreseeable; requiring the department to
31	compile and report certain statistics; providing an
32	effective date.
33
34	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36	Section 1.  The Department of Corrections and the Parole
37	Commission shall immediately initiate, coordinate, and establish
38	agreements among multiple state, local, and federal authorities
39	to implement the United States Immigration and Customs
40	Enforcement Rapid Removal of Eligible Parolees Accepted for
41	Transfer (REPAT) program. The goals of this effort shall be to:
42	(1)  Ensure that deportable aliens are not released from
43	prison to the community;
44	(2)  Reduce the number of criminal aliens incarcerated in
45	the state prison system;
46	(3)  Provide for the mandatory revocation of control
47	release and the confinement of criminal aliens who reenter the
48	United States;
49	(4)  Allow eligible inmates to be released for deportation
50	purposes before the expiration of the sentence;
51	(5)  Expedite the deportation process; and
52	(6)  Improve information-sharing procedures between the
53	Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States
54	Department of Homeland Security and the Department of
55	Corrections.
56	Section 2.  Subsections (2), (5), and (7) of section
57	947.146, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
58	947.146  Control Release Authority.-
59	(2)  The authority shall implement a system for determining
60	the number and type of inmates who must be released into the
61	community under control release in order to maintain the state
62	prison system between 99 and 100 percent of its total capacity
63	as defined in s. 944.023 or in order to execute an immediate
64	deportation order from federal immigration authorities. An No
65	inmate does not have has a right to control release. Control
66	release is an administrative function solely used solely to
67	manage the state prison population within total capacity and to
68	expedite the deportation process. An inmate may not receive an
69	advancement of his or her control release date by an award of
70	control release allotments for any period of time before the
71	date the inmate becomes statutorily eligible for control release
72	or before the subsequent date of establishment of the inmate's
73	advanceable control release date.
74	(5)  Whenever the inmate population drops below 99 percent
75	of total capacity and remains below 99 percent for 90
76	consecutive days without requiring the release of inmates under
77	this section, all control release dates shall become void and an
78	no inmate is not shall be eligible for release under any
79	previously established control release date. However, control
80	release dates for deportation purposes do not become void when
81	the inmate population changes. An inmate does shall not have a
82	right to a control release date, and nor shall the authority is
83	not be required to establish or reestablish any additional
84	control release dates except under the provisions of subsection
85	(2).
86	(7)  The authority has the power and duty to:
87	(a)  Extend or advance the control release date of any
88	inmate for whom a date has been established pursuant to
89	subsection (2), based upon one or more of the following:
90	1.  Recently discovered information of:
91	a.  Past criminal conduct;
92	b.  Verified threats by inmates provided by victims, law
93	enforcement, or the department;
94	c.  Potential risk to or vulnerability of a victim;
95	d.  Psychological or physical trauma to the victim due to
96	the criminal offense;
97	e.  Court-ordered restitution;
98	f.  History of abuse or addiction to a chemical substance
99	verified by a presentence or postsentence investigation report;
100	g.  The inmate's ties to organized crime;
101	h.  A change in the inmate's sentence structure;
102	i.  Cooperation with law enforcement;
103	j.  Strong community support; and
104	k.  A documented mental condition as a factor for future
105	criminal behavior.
106	2.  The recommendation of the department regarding:
107	a.  A medical or mental health-related condition; or
108	b.  Institutional adjustment of the inmate, which may
109	include refusal by the inmate to sign the agreement to the
110	conditions of the release plan.
111	3.  Total capacity of the state prison system.
112	4.  Arrangements for the transfer of custody pending
113	deportation.
114	(b)  Authorize an individual commissioner to postpone a
115	control release date for not more than 60 days without a hearing
116	for any inmate who has become the subject of a disciplinary
117	proceeding, a criminal arrest, an information, or an indictment;
118	who has been terminated from work release; or about whom there
119	is any recently discovered information as specified in paragraph
120	(a).
121	(c)  Determine the terms, conditions, and period of time of
122	control release for persons released under pursuant to this
123	section.
124	(d)  Determine violations of control release and what
125	actions shall be taken with reference thereto.
126	(e)  Provide for victim input into the decisionmaking
127	process which may be used by the authority as aggravation or
128	mitigation in determining which persons shall be released on
129	control release.
130	(f)  Make such investigations as may be necessary for the
131	purposes of establishing, modifying, or revoking a control
132	release date.
133	(g)  Contract with a public defender or private counsel for
134	representation of indigent persons charged with violating the
135	terms of control release.
136	(h)  Adopt such rules as the authority deems necessary to
137	implement for implementation of the provisions of this section.
138	Section 3.  Section 947.1461, Florida Statutes, is created
139	to read:
140	947.1461  Control release for removal and deportation
141	only.-
142	(1)  The Department of Corrections shall begin during the
143	inmate reception process a procedure to identify eligible aliens
144	and determine if deportation is feasible and in the best
145	interests of the state. Aliens who are ineligible for the
146	federal deportation process under this section are inmates who
147	are ineligible for control release under s. 947.146(3)(a)-(m).
148	(2)  The department shall coordinate with federal
149	authorities to determine an inmate's immigration status and
150	eligibility for removal and to obtain the final removal order.
151	(3)  The department shall identify aliens for removal who
152	have voluntarily waived all administrative and judicial
153	appellate rights in writing and who have agreed in writing to
154	fully cooperate with federal authorities to obtain valid travel
155	documentation and facilitate removal.
156	(4)  Upon acceptance into the federal deportation program,
157	the Control Release Authority shall establish a control release
158	date for the alien to be transferred into federal custody.
159	Notwithstanding s. 944.275(4)(b)3., the Control Release
160	Authority may establish a control release date after the alien
161	has served a minimum of 50 percent of his or her court-imposed
162	sentence.
163	(5)  The department shall maintain exclusive control and
164	responsibility for the custody and transportation of an alien
165	who is accepted into the federal deportation program until the
166	alien is physically transferred to federal custody.
167	(6)  The Control Release Authority shall provide notice and
168	obtain acknowledgement in writing that notice was given to each
169	alien who is eligible for deportation that reentry into the
170	United States requires the return of the alien to the custody of
171	the department in order to complete the remainder of his or her
172	court-imposed sentence. The alien must also waive in writing all
173	rights of extradition which would challenge the alien's return
174	to the department and Control Release Authority in order to
175	complete the remainder of his or her sentence.
176	(7)  An alien may not under any circumstances receive the
177	benefits of control release awards if the federal authorities
178	determine that the alien's removal is not reasonably
179	foreseeable.
180	(8)  The department shall compile statistics on this
181	program, including the number of aliens who are transferred to
182	federal custody, the number of aliens who are actually removed
183	from the United States, the number of aliens who reenter the
184	United States, and the annualized cost-avoidance achieved.
185	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

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