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SCS/SB 44 - This act creates new requirements for private jails. Private jails are facilities not owned or operated by the state, a county, or a municipality that confine or detain prisoners who are awaiting trial, awaiting sentencing, or serving a sentence in jail. When an employee of a private jail has reasonable cause to believe that a prisoner has been abused or a law has been violated, he or she shall immediately report the abuse or violation to the administrator of the jail in writing. The report shall contain certain information regarding the abuse or violation. The administrator shall immediately refer all reports to the county sheriff. In the event that a prisoner is missing, the private jail shall take prompt and reasonable action to discover where the prisoner has escaped. Upon learning such an escape has occurred, the private jail shall promptly notify law enforcement and provide them with all available information known about the escape and the escapee. It shall be an infraction, subject to a civil penalty of not less than one hundred dollars but not more than one thousand dollars, for any person or company to willfully fail to make a report required by this act. The action to recover such penalty shall be a civil action brought by the county attorney in the name of the county where the report was required to be made. Except for such infraction, Section 221.095 and 221.097, RSMo, shall not create any new civil cause of action, Any person who makes a report, or who testifies in an administrative or judicial proceeding arising from the report, shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability for making such a report or for testifying, unless the person acted with malice. Persons confined in private jails shall be separated and confined by gender. Persons confined under civil process or for civil causes shall be kept separate from people confined regarding criminal matters. The administrator shall arrange for necessary health care services and provide adequate clothing, food, and bedding, for those persons confined in the private jail. Deprivation of such items shall not be used as a disciplinary action against a confined person. No person confined in a private jail shall be used in any manner for the profit, betterment, or personal gain of any county or private jail employee. Any law enforcement investigation of a report regarding necessary health care or use of a confined person for profit or gain shall be concluded in a timely manner and a written report shall be provided to the private jail. The provisions of Section 221.095 and 221.097, RSMo, shall not be construed to grant law enforcement any power to inspect, control, or direct the operations of private jails or to make reports or recommendations regarding their operation. Currently, a person is prohibited from bringing certain items, including controlled substances, alcohol, items prohibited by law or rule, and weapons, into a county jail. The punishment for such crime varies from a class A misdemeanor to a class C felony, depending on the item brought into the jail. Under this act, a person is prohibited from bring such items into a private jail as well. The administrator of a private jail may deny visitation privileges to or refer to the county prosecutor any person who knowingly brings, or tries to bring, items into the jail, which are prohibited by the jail's rules and regulations. Violation of this provision shall be an infraction if it is not covered by other statutes. Currently, a person commits the crime of damage to jail property if such person: 1) knowingly damages a city or county jail building or property, or 2) knowingly starts a fire in a city or county jail. Such crime is a class D felony. Under this act, damaging property at a private jail shall have the same criminal penalty. This act requires private jailers to check for outstanding warrants through MULES before releasing an individual, in the same manner as county jailers. If an outstanding charge or warrant exists, the private jail administrator must tell the appropriate agency and transfer the individual accordingly. If a private jail administrator purposefully fails to perform a warrant check with the intent to release the person, he or she is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. An administrator shall not be liable for failing to perform a warrant check if the MULES system is not accessible. Currently, escaping or attempting to escape from a county or city jail is a class D felony, unless certain aggravating circumstances apply, in which case, the penalty is increased. Under this act, escaping from a private jail shall have the same criminal penalty. Currently, if a person is serving a sentence in a county jail on conviction of a felony and he or she fails to return to confinement as required under a work-release program, while serving a sentence with a term that is not continuous, or under another type of sentence where he or she is temporarily permitted to go at without a guard, he or she is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Under this act, failing to return to confinement to a private jail shall have the same criminal penalty. Currently, a public servant with charge of a prisoner, who knowingly permits him or her to escape is guilty of a class D felony, unless the public servant allows the prisoner to have a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, in which case, the crime is a class B felony. Under this act, knowingly permitting escape from a private jail shall have the same criminal penalty. SUSAN HENDERSON MOORE
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