HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5043        FILED ON: 4/21/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Mindy Domb

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act requiring the collection, disclosure and reporting of COVID-19 data in state and county correctional facilities.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5043        FILED ON: 4/21/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act requiring the collection, disclosure and reporting of COVID-19 data in state and county correctional facilities.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to ensure regular reporting of testing, infections, and deaths of incarcerated individuals during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Commonwealth, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. For the purposes of this act, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Administrator”, chief administrative officer of a county correctional facility.

“Commissioner”, the commissioner of the department of correction.

“Correctional facility”, any building, enclosure, space or structure used for the custody, control and rehabilitation of committed offenders and of such other persons as may be placed in custody therein in accordance with law.

“County correctional facility” or “jail”, any correctional facility or jail, operated, administered or subject to the control of a county sheriff of the commonwealth.

“Prison”, correctional facility.

“Prisoner”, a committed offender or such other person as is placed in custody in a correctional facility in accordance with law.

"State correctional facility” or “prison”, any correctional facility or prison, operated, administered or subject to the control of the department of correction, including but not limited to: Boston Pre-Release Center (Roslindale); Bridgewater State Hospital (Bridgewater); Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit (Jamaica Plain); the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center at Plymouth (Plymouth); Massachusetts Treatment Center (Bridgewater); MCI-Cedar Junction (South Walpole); MCI-Concord (Concord); MCI-Framingham (Framingham); MCI-Norfolk (Norfolk); MCI-Shirley (Shirley); North Central Correctional Institution (Gardner); Northeastern Correctional Center (West Concord); Old Colony Correctional Center (Bridgewater); Pondville Correctional Center (Norfolk); South Middlesex Correctional Center (Framingham); and Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center (Shirley).

SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law or rule or regulation to the contrary, the commissioner shall report daily in writing to the department of public health: (i) the number of novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, tests performed within each state correctional facility or prison; (ii) the number of confirmed positive results of COVID-19 within each state correctional facility or prison; (iii) the number of prisoner deaths attributed to COVID-19 within each state correctional facility or prison; and (iv) the number of prisoners subject to COVID-19 quarantine separated by the total of individuals who have completed monitoring (no longer in quarantine) and the total of individuals currently undergoing monitoring/under quarantine.

(b) The reports in subsection (a) shall include demographic information for tested and deceased prisoners, including: (i) age; (ii) race/ethnicity; (iii) gender; (iv) individuals with confirmed COVID-19 who are incarcerated pre-sentence or during sentences; and (v) individuals with confirmed COVID-19 infection who are incarcerated and have been approved for parole.

SECTION 3.  (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law or rule or regulation to the contrary, the administrator of a county correctional facility or jail shall report daily in writing to the department of public health: (i) the number of novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, tests performed within each county correctional facility or jail; (ii) the number of confirmed positive results of COVID-19 within each county correctional facility or jail; (iii) the number of prisoner deaths attributed to COVID-19 within each county correctional facility or jail; and (iv) the number of prisoners subject to COVID-19 quarantine separated by the total of individuals who have completed monitoring (no longer in quarantine) and the total of individuals currently undergoing monitoring/under quarantine.

(b) The reports in subsection (a) shall include demographic information for tested and deceased prisoners, including: (i) age; (ii) race/ethnicity; (iii) gender; (iv) individuals with confirmed COVID-19 who are incarcerated pre-sentence or during sentences; and (v) individuals with confirmed COVID-19 infection who are incarcerated and have been approved for parole.

SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law or rule or regulation to the contrary, The department of public health shall, through its publicly available website, electronically publish weekly a report containing the information reported by the commissioner pursuant to sections 2 and 3.