PRINTER'S NO. 1469
No. 1300 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY STURLA, FARGO, YOUNGBLOOD, GORDNER, TIGUE,
BELARDI, CALTAGIRONE, LEVDANSKY, WALKO, LYNCH, SAINATO,
RUBLEY, COY, HENNESSEY, BATTISTO, SAYLOR, NAILOR, CURRY,
ARGALL, STABACK, MANDERINO, BROWNE, ITKIN, BAKER, TRICH,
BENNINGHOFF, RAMOS, EGOLF, STEELMAN, McCALL, STETLER, ROONEY,
L. I. COHEN, OLASZ, ROSS, SEYFERT, STERN, MELIO, SHANER,
C. WILLIAMS, MIHALICH, BARRAR, PISTELLA AND SURRA,
APRIL 10, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, APRIL 10, 1997
AN ACT
1 Authorizing superintendents, wardens and other officials in
2 charge of correctional institutions to establish inmate work
3 force programs.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Inmate Work
8 Force Act.
9 Section 2. Declaration of policy.
10 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
11 (1) Idleness of inmates confined to correctional
12 facilities of this Commonwealth makes it necessary and
13 desirable that useful projects be developed which will
14 provide inmates with the opportunity to volunteer their idle
15 time for useful work on public service projects. The use of
1 inmates for litter retrieval and collection on the public
2 roads of this Commonwealth and for other public service
3 projects will provide an outlet for the constructive use of
4 idle time and will further benefit the public and the
5 environment of this Commonwealth.
6 (2) In enacting this legislation, it is the intent of
7 the General Assembly to give inmates the opportunity to
8 volunteer their time for litter retrieval and collection
9 along the public roads of this Commonwealth and for other
10 appropriate public service work projects and to authorize
11 superintendents, wardens and other officials in charge of
12 correctional facilities to establish work forces composed of
13 those inmates who may safely perform the tasks assigned to
14 them.
15 Section 3. Definitions.
16 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
17 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
18 context clearly indicates otherwise:
19 "Correctional facility" or "correctional institution." Any
20 jail, prison or detention facility operated by the Commonwealth
21 or by a county or jointly by more than one county and used for
22 the detention and confinement of persons convicted and under
23 sentence for violations of the criminal laws of this
24 Commonwealth. For purposes of this act, the term shall also
25 include any motivational boot camp as defined in section 3 of
26 the act of December 19, 1990 (P.L.1391, No.215), known as the
27 Motivational Boot Camp Act. The term does not include any
28 facility used for the detention and confinement of juvenile
29 offenders.
30 "Inmate." An individual who has been convicted of an
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1 indictable offense and is serving a sentence in a correctional
2 facility or institution.
3 "Municipality." A municipal corporation or quasi-municipal
4 corporation, including counties.
5 "Public road." Any highway, road, way or place of whatever
6 nature adopted by the proper State, county or other municipal
7 authority for the use of the general public as a matter of right
8 for the purpose of vehicular traffic.
9 "Public service work project." A project undertaken or
10 carried out by the State or a municipality which shall include
11 repair, maintenance or cleanup work projects in any State or
12 local park, playground, recreational area or on any public road
13 or any other work project in a public facility which does not
14 supplant the jobs of existing workers.
15 "Secretary." The Secretary of Corrections of the
16 Commonwealth.
17 "Superintendent." The person in primary charge of a State
18 correctional facility.
19 "Warden." The person in primary charge of the administration
20 and management of a county or multicounty correctional
21 institution.
22 "Work force." An inmate work force provided for under
23 section 4.
24 Section 4. Inmate litter retrieval forces.
25 (a) Authorization.--The superintendent or warden of a
26 correctional facility or institution is hereby authorized to
27 establish an inmate work force. A work force established under
28 this section shall be used, at the discretion of the
29 superintendent or warden, to retrieve and collect litter along
30 the public roads or perform other public service work projects
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1 that are deemed to be within the capabilities of the inmates.
2 The work force shall be composed of individuals sentenced to
3 serve terms of imprisonment in a correctional facility or
4 institution. The use of inmate labor for the purpose of litter
5 retrieval and collection or other public service work under this
6 section shall be solely voluntary on the part of the inmate and
7 shall in no way be compulsory or used as a form of punishment.
8 (b) Composition of force.--A correctional facility's or
9 institution's work force shall be composed of inmates who, in
10 the determination of the superintendent or warden, or the
11 superintendent's or warden's designee, may safely perform the
12 work. Any inmate assigned to work on a litter force shall, in
13 the judgment of the superintendent or warden making the
14 assignment, or a designee, be physically and medically able to
15 perform the work.
16 (c) Exceptions.--No work force may include any inmate whose
17 presence in the community would present a danger to public
18 safety or any inmate serving a sentence for a conviction of one
19 or more of the following provisions:
20 (1) 18 Pa.C.S. § 2501 (relating to criminal homicide).
21 (2) 18 Pa.C.S. § 2901 (relating to kidnapping).
22 (3) 18 Pa.C.S. § 3121 (relating to rape).
23 (4) 18 Pa.C.S. § 3123 (relating to involuntary deviate
24 sexual intercourse).
25 (5) 18 Pa.C.S. § 3701(a)(1)(i), (ii) or (iii) (relating
26 to robbery).
27 (6) A person convicted of any other crime of violence or
28 who commits a crime while on a work release program or who is
29 deemed guilty of disqualifying misconduct within the
30 correctional institution or facility.
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1 (d) Search requirement.--All inmates shall be subject to
2 current practice of search before and after taking part in the
3 daily work schedule. An inmate shall be subject to the current
4 practice of a urinalysis test if as a result of such a search a
5 controlled substance is found on the inmate's person.
6 (e) Supervision of force.--While detailed to the work force,
7 inmates shall be under the general supervision and control of
8 the staff employees designated by the superintendent or warden
9 of the correctional facility or institution. The superintendent
10 or warden and the designated staff employees shall be
11 responsible for the transportation, guarding, feeding or
12 attention necessary for all inmates assigned to the work force.
13 (f) Immunity from civil liability.--Neither the Commonwealth
14 nor any political subdivision thereof nor other agencies nor,
15 except in cases of willful misconduct, the agents, employees or
16 representatives of any of them engaged in inmate litter
17 retrieval activities or other public service work, while
18 complying with or attempting to comply with this act or any rule
19 or regulation promulgated under this act, shall be liable for
20 the death of or injury to any inmate detailed to a litter force
21 or loss or damage to property as a result of any litter
22 retrieval and collection activity.
23 Section 5. Rules.
24 The superintendent or warden of a correctional facility or
25 institution establishing a work force in accordance with this
26 act shall:
27 (1) Adopt any rules necessary for the effective
28 implementation of a work force program. The rules shall
29 specify the hours of labor for inmates assigned to a work
30 force, rules for inmate conduct, deportment and good behavior
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1 allowance, and for any violations or infraction of the rules.
2 (2) Coordinate with the Department of Transportation
3 maintenance offices in the respective counties and the
4 relevant county and other municipal officials regarding
5 proper deployment of the work force, and implement all safety
6 measures required of State or county employees performing the
7 work.
8 (3) Collaborate with the appropriate State, county and
9 other municipal officials to develop procedures for the
10 continued utilization of inmates for litter retrieval and
11 collection and other public service work projects.
12 Section 6. Request for work force required.
13 (a) General rule.--A work force shall be detailed only in
14 response to a prior written request made by the Department of
15 Transportation or an appropriate officer of a municipality.
16 (b) Scope of request and guidelines.--A request submitted by
17 the Department of Transportation shall be limited to a request
18 for litter retrieval. The department's Bureau of Maintenance and
19 Operation shall establish standardized Statewide guidelines for
20 use by county maintenance offices relative to submission of
21 requests, types of roads, seasons of the year, material costs
22 and litter disposal.
23 Section 7. Prohibition on use of work force.
24 A superintendent or warden, or a designee, may not detail a
25 correctional facility's or institution's work force to perform
26 litter retrieval and collection or other public service work
27 projects that would eliminate the jobs that are currently
28 performed by, or reduce the working hours of, individuals
29 employed by the Commonwealth or by a county or other
30 municipality.
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1 Section 8. Effective date.
2 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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