HB 5920

substitute for
House BILL NO. 5920
A bill to amend 1975 PA 46, entitled
"An act to create the office of the legislative
corrections ombudsman; to prescribe the powers and duties of the office, the
ombudsman, the legislative council, and the department of corrections; and to
provide remedies from administrative acts,"
by amending sections 1, 4, and 5 (MCL 4.351, 4.354, and
4.355), section 1 as amended by 1998 PA 318 and sections 4 and 5 as amended by
2018 PA 571.
the peoplE of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. As used in this act:
(a)
"Administrative act" includes an action, omission, decision,
recommendation, practice, or other procedure of the department.
(b)
"Complainant" means a prisoner, or legislator, family
member, corrections employee, or prisoner advocate who files a complaint under section 4.
(c) "Corrections employee" means an employee of the department
of corrections or a private contractor at a correctional facility owned or
operated by the department of corrections.
(d) "Corrections officer" means a guard, or other employee, of
a state correctional facility who performs duties involving the transportation,
care, custody, or supervision of prisoners.
(e) (c) "Council" means the legislative
council established under section 15 of article IV of the state constitution of
1963.
(f) (d) "Department" means the
department of corrections.
(g) "Family member" means 1 of the following:
(i) A family member
of a corrections officer.
(ii) A family member
of a prisoner who advocates on behalf of that prisoner.
(h) (e) "Legislator"
means a member of the senate or the house of representatives of this state.
(i) (f) "Office"
means the office of the legislative corrections ombudsman created under this
act.
(j) "Official" means an official or employee of the department.
(k) (g) "Ombudsman"
means the office of legislative corrections ombudsman.
(l) (h) "Prisoner" means a person an individual committed
to or under the jurisdiction of the department.
(i) "Official" means an official or employee of the
department of corrections.
(m) "Prisoner advocate" means an individual or organization
who advocates on behalf of a prisoner or prisoners.
(n) "Qualified expert" means a professional with substantial
experience in a field, including, but not limited to, environmental, medical,
or mental health professionals.
Sec. 4. (1) The ombudsman may commence an investigation upon either on any of the following:
(a) Receipt of a
complaint from a prisoner, a legislator, complainant or on the ombudsman's own initiative,
concerning an administrative act that is alleged to be contrary to law or
contrary to departmental policy.
(b) The ombudsman's
own initiative for significant prisoner health and safety issues, correctional
facility security, and public safety, and other matters for which there is no
effective administrative remedy.
(2) By not later than 120 business days after the effective date of the
amendatory act that added this subsection, the ombudsman shall create a
standardized complaint form that a complainant may use, and make the
standardized complaint form available in both of the following ways:
(a) Electronically on the ombudsman's website.
(b) In hard copy in all correctional facility law libraries and other
locations in correctional facilities as requested by the ombudsman.
(3) On receiving a complaint from a complainant, the ombudsman shall notify
the complainant that the complaint was received.
(4) (2) Subject
to approval of the council, the ombudsman shall establish procedures for
receiving and processing complaints, conducting investigations, holding
hearings, and reporting the findings resulting from the investigations.
Sec. 5. (1) Upon On request and without the requirement of any
release, the ombudsman shall be given department shall give the ombudsman access to and
physical or electronic copies of all information, records, and documents in the
possession of the department that the ombudsman considers necessary in an
investigation, including, but not limited to, prisoner medical health records,
prisoner mental health records, and prisoner mortality and morbidity records. Upon On request,
the ombudsman may interview any of the following individuals whom the ombudsman
considers necessary in an investigation:
(a) An individual
employed by or retained under contract by the department.
(b) An individual
employed by or retained under contract by a private contractor that operates a
facility or institution that houses prisoners under the jurisdiction of the
department.
(2) The ombudsman may consult or contract with qualified experts for
assistance with investigations, inspections, hearings, or other work of the ombudsman.
Subject to this subsection, the qualified expert must be permitted to enter
facilities with the ombudsman and bring any necessary testing equipment into
correctional facilities. The ombudsman or qualified expert may bring
photographic equipment into correctional facilities to take pictures that the ombudsman
or qualified expert determines to be necessary, if taking those pictures does
not compromise correctional facility security. The ombudsman shall give the
department 48 hours' advance notice when the ombudsman considers it necessary
to take an expert into a correctional facility. The ombudsman shall provide the
department with the name of the expert, a completed law enforcement information
network form concerning that expert to allow the department to conduct a
background check on that expert, the expert's credentials, including any
licensing information in the expert's area of expertise if applicable, and a
description of any testing equipment the expert may need. The department may
search any testing equipment for contraband that is brought into a correctional
facility by an expert or ombudsman. An expert must adhere to state or national
standards developed for the expert's area of expertise. The department may ask
the ombudsman to reconsider taking testing equipment into a correctional
facility if the department determines that the testing equipment may interfere
with the operations of the correctional facility. The department shall provide
the ombudsman with a written statement explaining the specific impact testing
equipment will have on the operations of the correctional facility for the
ombudsman to consider. The department shall notify the ombudsman if a requested
testing procedure is under litigation, and the ombudsman must delay that
testing until the litigation has been completed.
(3) (2) Upon On request and without notice, the ombudsman must be granted
entrance to inspect at any time any premises under the control of the
department. One ombudsman staff person member must also be granted entry into a correctional
facility or the department's "think tank" or "command
center" during emergency situations including, but not limited to,
correctional facility disturbances, riots, and hostage incidents, and must be
provided with updates regarding the status of the emergent situation as well as
the department's efforts to address the situation. The ombudsman staff person member granted
entry for an emergency situation under this subsection is present for
observation and to report on the emergency situation.
(4) (3) The
ombudsman may hold informal hearings and may request that any person appear
before the ombudsman, or at a hearing, and give testimony or produce
documentary or other evidence that the ombudsman considers relevant to a matter
under investigation.
(5) (4) The
ombudsman shall arrange an interview under subsection (1) in cooperation with
the department at a time and location that does not interfere with the
operation of a correctional facility.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take
effect unless House Bill No. 5921 of the 103rd Legislature is enacted into law.