(a)No county shall be required to house convicted felons sentenced to more than one (1) year of continuous confinement unless the county, through the authority of its county legislative body, has chosen to contract with the department of correction for the purpose of housing certain felons. The department shall promulgate rules for requirements and procedures for contracting.
(b)Counties may contract, in writing, with the state or with other counties for responsibility of correctional populations.
(c)(1) Counties must be reimbursed for housing convicted felons and state parolees awaiting a parole revocation hearing pursuant to the general appropriations act and according to rules and regulations for determining reasonable allowable costs as promulgated by the department, in consultation
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(a) No county shall be required to house convicted felons sentenced to more than one (1) year of continuous confinement unless the county, through the authority of its county legislative body, has chosen to contract with the department of correction for the purpose of housing certain felons. The department shall promulgate rules for requirements and procedures for contracting. (b) Counties may contract, in writing, with the state or with other counties for responsibility of correctional populations. (c) (1) Counties must be reimbursed for housing convicted felons and state parolees awaiting a parole revocation hearing pursuant to the general appropriations act and according to rules and regulations for determining reasonable allowable costs as promulgated by the department, in consultation with the comptroller of the treasury. The department is authorized to include capital costs within the meaning of reasonable allowable costs. Capital costs may include, but are not limited to, debt service. (2) The commissioner is authorized, without promulgation of rules and regulations, to agree to reimburse a county for debt service on debt issued by the county in constructing correctional facilities for the purpose of housing inmates sentenced to the county under the authority of a contract entered into under subsection (a). In addition to principal, interest and redemption premiums, debt service may include other necessary items or costs reasonably related to the issuance of such county debt. Upon entering an agreement, the department is authorized to reimburse the county for one hundred percent (100%) of debt service, regardless of whether the county is actually housing inmates under a contract, and until a contract is terminated. The commissioner may not, following execution of any such agreement, amend existing rules and regulations or promulgate new rules and regulations that will impair the state's obligation to reimburse debt service as provided in an agreement. Any obligation for the reimbursement of debt service shall be a contractual obligation of the state. (d) It is the intent of the state that the holders of debt issued by a county for which the department has agreed to reimburse debt service pursuant to an agreement under this section may rely on, and benefit from, this section and of any obligation by the department and the state to reimburse the county for debt service contained in any agreement, and the state pledges to and agrees with any holders that the state will not amend this section, or limit or alter the obligation of the department and the state to reimburse debt service under any agreement, in any way that would impair the rights and remedies of any holders, or of the county, with respect to reimbursement. This subsection (d) shall not affect the right of the commissioner to terminate any agreement entered into under this section pursuant to the terms set forth in any agreements. (e) The subsidies paid to counties pursuant to this chapter shall be the only compensation from the state to which counties are entitled for housing state prisoners and shall be in lieu of the fees allowed in § 8-26-106 or any other section. (f) The department is further authorized to provide additional subsidies to counties for the purpose of community and other diversion programs for pretrial detainees, misdemeanants or convicted felons subject to available appropriations and in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the department. (g) (1) The department shall take into its custody all convicted felons from any county that had not contracted with the state as authorized by subsection (b). The department shall not be required to take actual physical custody of any of the felons until fourteen (14) days after the department has received all certified sentencing documents from the clerk of the sentencing court. (2) The commissioner is authorized to compensate any county that has not contracted with the state as authorized by subsection (b) for that county's reasonable, allowable cost of housing felons. The rate of compensation to these counties shall be determined by and is subject to the level of funding authorized in the appropriations bill; however, the commissioner shall not compensate any county that fails or refuses to promptly transfer actual physical custody of an inmate to the department after being requested by the department, in writing, to do so for each day or portion of a day that the county fails to transfer the inmate. The written notice shall include the date it intends to take custody of the inmate for transfer to the department. The notice shall be given as soon as practicable before the transfer date. By June 15, 2005, the department shall notify each sheriff of the provisions of this subdivision (g)(2) and the consequences for failing to comply with it. (h) In the event that a county has been reimbursed pursuant to this section for housing convicted felons for a continuous period of three (3) or more fiscal years and has received the maximum amount allowed per prisoner per day as reasonable allowable costs during this period, then the county shall thereafter be presumed to be entitled to the full maximum amount allocated per prisoner per day as reimbursement of reasonable allowable costs for housing such prisoners and will not be required to provide documentation to the department regarding costs incurred beyond information necessary to determine the number of prisoner days for which the county is entitled to reimbursement. (i) (1) In addition to the reimbursement or compensation provided under subsection (c) and subdivision (g)(2), the department shall pay an accreditation stipend to eligible counties for each convicted felon housed by the county for which the county receives reimbursement or compensation provided under subsection (c) and subdivision (g)(2), as provided in subdivision (i)(3). (2) For purposes of this subsection (i): (A) "Eligible county" means a county that applies to the department for the accreditation stipend and that the department determines meets the following eligibility criteria: (i) The county houses convicted felons pursuant to a contract with the state or houses felons awaiting transfer to a state facility; (ii) All felons housed by the county are administered a department-approved validated risk-needs assessment within forty-five (45) days of admission to the county facility; (iii) The county provides evidence-based programming; (iv) All felons housed by the county and deemed to be in good behavioral standing, as determined by facility policy, are eligible to participate in evidence-based programming that is matched to each felon's risks and needs and are not required to participate in programs not indicated as needed by the evidence-based risk and needs assessment; (v) The county makes reasonable efforts to select evidence-based programming that fits the demonstrated needs of the county's felony offender population by serving a substantial portion of the felons, rather than a narrow subset of felons; (vi) The county is compliant with, or is making reasonable efforts to comply with, the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 ( 34 U.S.C. § 30301 et seq.); and (vii) The county achieves tier 1 or tier 2 accreditation from the Tennessee corrections institute pursuant to subdivision (i)(3); and (B) "Evidence-based programming" means a program or programs shown by scientific research to effectively reduce recidivism rates and increase an offender's likelihood of success following release from incarceration, including programs focused on education, vocational training, mental health, substance abuse rehabilitation, or building healthy relationships. The department shall maintain a resource information center webpage that provides resources regarding approved evidence-based programming. (3) (A) The amount of the accreditation stipend provided to eligible counties under this subsection (i), which is in addition to the amount set annually in the appropriations act for each convicted felon housed by the county for which the county receives reimbursement or compensation provided under subsection (c) and subdivision (g)(2), is: (i) Three dollars ($3.00) per day for each convicted felon housed by the county for which the county receives reimbursement or compensation under subsection (c) and subdivision (g)(2), if the county has achieved tier 1 accreditation from the Tennessee corrections institute; and (ii) Six dollars ($6.00) per day for each convicted felon housed by the county for which the county receives reimbursement or compensation under subsection (c) and subdivision (g)(2), if the county has achieved tier 2 accreditation from the Tennessee corrections institute. (B) For purposes of subdivision (i)(3)(A), the board of control of the Tennessee corrections institute shall determine tier 1 and tier 2 accreditation standards by rule. The rules must be promulgated pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5. (C) In order to change the amount of reimbursement or compensation provided under subdivision (i)(3)(A), a county must achieve the accreditation tier warranting the change in the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year in which the change in reimbursement or compensation will occur and provide the department notice of the proposed change in reimbursement or compensation at least six (6) months prior to the proposed effective date of the change in reimbursement or compensation. (4) In order to maintain the accreditation stipend, an eligible county must provide annual documentation to the department showing the percentage of the felons who enroll in the evidence-based programming and complete the programming in a timely manner. The department must determine whether that percentage is satisfactory based on the historical completion outcomes for the particular programming. The department shall establish the documentation and reporting requirements and provide the requirements to each eligible county receiving an accreditation stipend. (5) A county's receipt of an accreditation stipend is conditioned upon the county maintaining eligibility and compliance with this subsection (i) warranting the stipend. If a county fails to maintain eligibility and compliance with this subsection (i) warranting the stipend, then the department may withhold stipend payments to the county or adjust the amount of such payments, as appropriate. In the case of material noncompliance or ineligibility under this subsection (i), as determined by the commissioner, the department may require the county to repay any stipend payments made to the county during the period of material noncompliance or ineligibility. (6) After an accreditation stipend has been paid to a county for three (3) years, the department shall annually review the recidivism rates of felons housed in that county to determine whether the implementation of the programming has been effective in reducing recidivism rates. If the evidence-based programming at issue does not impact the recidivism rate by a satisfactory percentage, as determined by the department based upon the length of time that the programming has been utilized and the program's historical outcomes, then the department may require that the county develop a corrective action plan that is satisfactory to the department in order to continue receiving the accreditation stipend. (7) When implementing evidence-based programming for the felony offender population, an eligible county may implement more than one (1) evidence-based program. (8) The office of criminal justice programs in the department of finance and administration shall provide information to eligible counties regarding federal grant dollars that may be available to support the implementation of evidence-based programming or other programs or projects to improve offender outcomes. (9) A county shall not prohibit the county's misdemeanor offender population from participating in evidence-based programming when programming capacity remains following the enrollment of felons whose risks and needs correspond to the programming. The state is not responsible for any costs of incarceration or programming for misdemeanor offenders. However, misdemeanor offenders may utilize evidence-based programming capacity that has been paid for using the accreditation stipend provided under this subsection (i). (10) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules to implement and effectuate this subsection (i), pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. (11) Tennessee's community colleges, established pursuant to title 49, chapter 8, and Tennessee's colleges of applied technology, established pursuant to title 49, chapter 11, part 4, are authorized to assist counties with the development of evidence-based programming for felons housed by counties. A county may work with the department and the board of regents established in title 49, chapter 8, part 2, to develop and implement such programming.