HLS 21RS-3064 ENGROSSED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 89
BY REPRESENTATIVE MARCELLE
CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES: Requests a study of the health and safety conditions of
Louisiana prisons and jails
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana
3 Sheriffs' Association, in conjunction with the technical and research assistance
4 provided by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of
5 Texas at Austin, to study and review the Basic Jail Guidelines and current methods
6 of evaluation and enforcement of such guidelines, to study and evaluate models for
7 oversight, transparency, and accountability adopted in other states regarding the
8 housing of inmates in local jail facilities, to provide recommendations for
9 modifications to the Basic Jail Guidelines and methods of compliance evaluation and
10 enforcement of the Basic Jail Guidelines including appropriate funding levels
11 necessary to carry out such recommendations, and to provide a report to the
12 Legislature of Louisiana no later than September 1, 2022.
13 WHEREAS, the Legislature of Louisiana entered into a bipartisan justice
14reinvestment process, as advanced by the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, that resulted in
15legislation designed to safely reduce Louisiana prison population and reinvest savings back
16into programs that promote successful transition back to communities; and
17 WHEREAS, the Louisiana system which utilizes both state prisons and local jails to
18house persons committed to the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
19presents unique and complex challenges regarding housing conditions and the provision of
20programming; and
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HCR NO. 89
1 WHEREAS, these complex challenges include but are not limited to limitation on
2state funds available for housing per diem rates to ensure local jails are able to provide
3reentry, educational, and vocational programming, appropriate staffing levels, employee
4retention, and facility spacing comparable to that of state prison facilities; and
5 WHEREAS, approximately twelve thousand of the persons committed to the custody
6of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to serve judicially ordered sentences are
7housed in local jails across the state; and
8 WHEREAS, despite these challenges, Louisiana has made significant strides in the
9reduction of the prison population and the expansion of available programming and
10resources in local jails through the creation of regional reentry centers and other local level
11partnerships; and
12 WHEREAS, local jails that house state inmates are required to comply with the
13Department of Public Safety and Corrections Basic Jail Guidelines; and
14 WHEREAS, the nature of housing conditions and availability of reentry
15programming can meaningfully impact recidivism and relationships between incarcerated
16individuals and their families and communities; and
17 WHEREAS, since 2008, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in
18partnership with the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association and sheriffs' offices have made
19significant efforts to improve the housing conditions in certain jails across the state with the
20creation of eleven regional reentry centers in local jails that provide pre-release, reentry,
21educational, and rehabilitative programming to state inmates housed in such local jails; and
22 WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana
23Sheriffs' Association seek to continue to improve housing conditions in local jails through
24the continued expansion of programming contingent upon the availability of funding, to
25revise and modify the Basic Jail Guidelines, and ensure the uniform enforcement thereof;
26and
27 WHEREAS, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of
28Texas at Austin is one of the preeminent public affairs schools in the United States and has
29comprehensively studied housing conditions in prisons and jails nationwide.
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HCR NO. 89
1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
2urge and request the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana Sheriffs'
3Association, in conjunction with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the
4University of Texas at Austin, to study and review the Department of Public Safety and
5Corrections Basic Jail Guidelines, including methods of evaluation and enforcement,
6mandatory and non-mandatory standards of confinement as required by the American
7Correctional Association as applicable to local jails, and the programming and resource
8needs of local jails, to recommend modifications to the Basic Jail Guidelines and existing
9methods of enforcement and compliance and the expansion of programming resources in
10local jails, and to identify the appropriate funding levels necessary to carry out such
11recommendations in order to further improve the housing conditions.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety and
13Corrections, the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, in conjunction with the Lyndon B. Johnson
14School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin may work with and receive
15information from various stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including
16representatives of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the Louisiana Sheriffs'
17Association, the Louisiana Department of Health, and the Louisiana Supreme Court.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Public Safety and Corrections
19and the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, in conjunction with the technical assistance of the
20Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, report their
21findings to the Louisiana Legislature no later than September 1, 2022.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 89 Engrossed 2021 Regular Session Marcelle
Requests the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections and the La. Sheriffs' Association, in
conjunction with technical and research assistance from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of
Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, to study and review models for oversight,
transparency, and accountability adopted in other states and provide recommendations
through a report of their findings to the legislature no later than Sept. 1, 2022.
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HCR NO. 89
Summary of Amendments Adopted by House
The Committee Amendments Proposed by House Committee on Administration of
Criminal Justice to the original bill:
1. Remove Voice of the Experienced, Loyola University College of Law, and La.
Stop Solitary Confinement Coalition and request that the study be conducted by
the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections and the La. Sheriffs' Association.
2. Change the deadline to report findings to the legislature from Feb. 1, 2022, to
Sept. 1, 2022.
3. Rephrase the statements supporting the study request.
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