§ 25-1-105 — Powers of department; care of persons committed outside of state

(a) The department of corrections shall adopt rules and
regulations necessary to carry out its functions. The
promulgation of substantive rules by the department, the conduct
of its hearings and its final decisions are specifically exempt
from all provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act
including the provisions for judicial review under W.S. 16-3-114
and 16-3-115. The department's rules shall be filed in the
office of the secretary of state.
(b) The department may enter into contracts with the
federal government or other states for the care of persons
committed outside of Wyoming.
(c) Subject to subsection (d) of this section, the
department may, to obtain demonstrable cost savings or better
quality of services, contract with private service providers or
with other agencies for any of the following services to be
provided for inmates of any state adult penal institution:
(i) Education, training and jobs programs;
(ii) Recreational and religious activities;
(iii) Development and implementation assistance for
classification, management information systems or other
information systems or services;
(iv) Medical services;
(v) Food services, commissary, transportation,
sanitation or other ancillary services; and
(vi) Counseling, special treatment programs or other
programs for special needs.
(d) The department shall by rule and regulation impose
upon services contracted pursuant to paragraph (c)(i) of this
section limitations on competition with the private sector and
ensure contracted services do not significantly displace
employed workers within the community.
(e) The department of corrections may enter into contracts
and agreements with any county for the confinement and
maintenance in county jails of persons sentenced to the custody
of the department of corrections to serve a term of imprisonment
in a state penal institution. The department may enter into
contracts and agreements with other states, including those
which are not party to the Western Interstate Corrections
Compact, with the federal government, with other governmental
entities and with private owners and operators of correctional
facilities in other states, for the confinement and maintenance
of persons sentenced to the custody of the department to serve a
term of imprisonment in a state penal institution. The
department shall establish rules and regulations regarding the
minimum standards for such facilities and standards for the care
and treatment of department of correction's inmates incarcerated
therein.
(f) Pursuant to this section and W.S. 9-2-130, the
department of corrections shall collaborate with the department
of health to reduce recidivism rates for persons with behavioral
health needs and substance use disorders who are involved in the
criminal justice system and improve mental health and substance
use disorder programming by:
(i) Improving the quality and accuracy of substance
use assessments administered to persons with criminal justice
involvement by creating a quality improvement unit in the
department of corrections that will regularly monitor the
administration and use of assessment tools. The department of
corrections shall report to the joint labor, health and social
services interim committee on the status of the unit, including
progress on the creation of the unit, results of unit efforts,
unit expenditures and remaining funds from appropriations made
for the unit. The department of corrections shall provide this
report to the joint labor, health and social services interim
committee by September 1 of each year through 2023;
(ii) Creating a behavioral health services
enhancement program for community providers to improve outcomes
for persons involved in the criminal justice system through a
separate contract, or in a separate provision in an existing
contract, administered by the department of health;
(iii) Adopting standardized, evidence based treatment
practices and guidelines for treating and providing programming
to persons involved in the criminal justice system with
behavioral health and substance use needs;
(iv) Increasing communication between the department
of health, the department of corrections and contracted
behavioral health providers working with persons involved in the
criminal justice system;
(v) Promoting and requiring to the maximum extent
practical and permissible under applicable laws and regulations
the portability and universal recognition of mental health and
substance use disorder assessment tools and other assessment
tools that may be applicable to mental health and substance use
disorder treatment; and
(vi) Creating a competitive and outcomes based
funding stream for behavioral health providers to:
(A) Expand existing services for criminal
justice involved populations;
(B) Improve the quality and availability of
services and programs;
(C) Train and develop the skills of providers
and stakeholders working with persons who have behavior health
needs and substance use disorders and who are involved in the
criminal justice system.
(g) This section shall not be interpreted to require the
creation or maintenance of any duplicate functions, services or
programs in the department of corrections and the department of
health, but shall be interpreted with W.S. 9-2-130 to require
coordination and collaboration between the agencies to assure
the creation and maintenance of independent or coordinated
functions, services and programs to meet the goals of this
section and W.S. 9-2-130.
(h) The department of corrections shall promulgate rules
specifying reasonable actions a person in charge of a penal
institution or correctional facility may take to stop or prevent
a violation of W.S. 6-5-214(b).