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Substitute Senate Bill No. 89
Public Act No. 26-10
AN ACT UPDATING PRISON RAPE ELIMINATION STANDARDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 18 -81cc of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026):
(a) Any executive branch agency of the state or any political
subdivision of the state that incarcerates or detains adult or juvenile
offenders, including persons detained for immigration violations, shall,
within available appropriations, [adopt and ] comply with the
[applicable standards recommended by the National ] standards of the
Prison Rape Elimination [Commission] Act, 34 USC 30301 et seq., in
effect as of January 1, 2024, for the prevention, detection and monitoring
of, and response to, sexual abuse in adult prisons and jails, community
correctional centers, juvenile facilities and lockups.
(b) Such standards include, but are not limited to:
(1) Zero tolerance of sexual abuse;
(2) Contracting with other entities for the confinement of inmates or
detainees;
(3) Inmate or detainee supervision;
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(4) Heightened protection for vulnerable detainees;
(5) Limits to cross-gender viewing and searches;
(6) Accommodating inmates or detainees with special needs;
(7) Hiring and promotion decisions;
(8) Assessment and use of monitoring technology;
(9) Evidence protocol and forensic medical examinations;
(10) Agreements with outside public entities and community service
providers, including, but not limited to, for purposes of ensuring access
to crisis and emotional support services and ongoing mental health
support and treatments;
(11) Agreements with outside law enforcement agencies , including,
but not limited to, agreements for the purpose of conducting an
investigation;
(12) Agreements with the prosecuting authority;
(13) Employee training;
(14) Volunteer and contractor training;
(15) Inmate education;
(16) Detainee, attorney, contractor and inmate worker notification of
agency's zero-tolerance policy;
(17) Specialized training: Investigations and internal administrative
investigations;
(18) Specialized training: Medical and mental health care , including
trauma-informed methods of care for victims of sexual abuse;
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(19) Screening for risk of victimization and abusiveness;
(20) Use of screening information;
(21) Inmate or detainee reporting;
(22) Exhaustion of administrative remedies;
(23) Inmate access to outside confidential support services or legal
representation;
(24) Third-party reporting;
(25) Staff and facility or agency head reporting duties, including, but
not limited to, mandatory transmission to the Office of the Correction
Ombuds of a copy of any report or complaint of a sexual assault;
(26) Reporting to other confinement facilities;
(27) Staff first responder duties;
(28) Coordinated response;
(29) Agency protection against retaliation;
(30) Duty to investigate;
(31) Duty to intervene;
[(31)] (32) Criminal and administrative agency investigations;
[(32)] (33) Evidence standard for administrative investigations;
[(33)] (34) Disciplinary sanctions for staff;
[(34)] (35) Disciplinary sanctions for inmates;
[(35)] (36) Referrals for prosecution for detainee -on-detainee sexual
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abuse;
[(36)] (37) Medical and mental health screenings: History of sexual
abuse;
[(37)] (38) Access to emergency medical and mental health services;
[(38)] (39) Ongoing medical and mental health care for sexual abuse
victims and abusers;
(40) Immediate and ongoing access to sexual assault crisis services;
[(39)] (41) Sexual abuse incident reviews;
[(40)] (42) Data collection;
[(41)] (43) Data review for corrective action;
[(42)] (44) Data storage, publication, and destruction; and
[(43)] (45) Audits of standards.
(c) The agency head of any executive branch agency of the state or the
chief elected official or governing legislative body of any political
subdivision of the state that incarcerates or detains juvenile offenders
shall, annually, not later than January fifteenth, certify its compliance
with the pr ovisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section to the
Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division within the Office of Policy
and Management.
(d) Not later than January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the
Commissioner of Correction shall report, in accordance with the
provisions of section 11 -4a, to the joint standing committee of the
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to t he
Department of Correction, concerning the following: (1) Training
provided to department staff concerning compliance with the Prison
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Rape Elimination Act, 34 USC 30301 et seq., in effect as of January 1,
2024; (2) the number of reports of sexual assault against a person who is
incarcerated or staff of the department and the types of sexual assault
reported; and (3) how many of such repo rts were investigated and the
outcome of each such investigation.
(e) The Commissioner of Correction shall, not later than January 1,
2027, adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54
to implement the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 18-81qq of the 2026 supplement to the
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof (Effective July 1, 2026):
(a) (1) There is, within the Office of Governmental Accountability
established under section 1-300, the Office of the Correction Ombuds for
the provision of ombuds services. The Correction Ombuds appointed
pursuant to section 18-81jj shall be the head of said office.
(2) For purposes of this section, "ombuds services" includes:
(A) Evaluating the delivery of services to persons who are
incarcerated by the Department of Correction;
(B) Reviewing periodically the nonemergency procedures
established by the department to carry out the provisions of title 18 and
evaluating whether such procedures conflict with the rights of persons
who are incarcerated;
(C) Receiving communications, including telephone calls and
electronic mail from persons who are incarcerated, who shall be
permitted to make such telephone or electronic mail communications
free of charge, regarding decisions, actions, omissions, policies,
procedures, rules or regulations of the department;
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(D) Conducting announced or unannounced site visits of correctional
facilities administered by the department, without restrictions on such
visits, including during periods when a facility is locked down or
experiencing a facility-wide emergency, provided the department may
restrict access to a portion of a facility in an emergency situation for the
duration of the emergency. For the purpose of this subparagraph, a
situation or event constituting an emergency shall be determined by the
commissioner or the c ommissioner's designee, to be a situation
constituting a significant risk to the safety or security of the facility, or
the health, safety or security of department staff or persons who are
incarcerated, or an event that significantly compromises the opera tions
of the facility;
(E) Reviewing the operation of correctional facilities and
nonemergency procedures employed at such facilities. Nonemergency
procedures include, but are not limited to, the department's use of force
procedures;
(F) Recommending procedure and policy revisions to the
department;
(G) Taking all possible actions, including, but not limited to,
conducting programs of public education, undertaking legislative
advocacy and making proposals for systemic reform and formal legal
action in order to secure and ensure the rights of persons in the custody
of the commissioner. The Correction Ombuds is not authorized to
institute litigation;
(H) Conducting surveys by sending or distributing during facility
visits, confidential written and electronic communications or
questionnaires to persons who are incarcerated or employees of the
Department of Correction concerning conditions of confinement,
working conditions or other subjects within the scope of the duties of
the Office of the Correction Ombuds, without prior approval of the
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department. Such persons who are incarcerated or employees shall be
permitted to complete and return to said office such surveys either in
written format or electronically. No survey may be sent or distributed
to an employee of the Department of Correction , unless the Correction
Ombuds previously made such survey available for review and
comment by the bargaining units representing such employees;
(I) Publishing on an Internet web site operated by the Office of the
Correction Ombuds a semiannual summary of all ombuds services and
activities during the six-month period before such publication; [and]
(J) Receiving and reviewing each (i) copy of any report or complaint
of a sexual assault transmitted to the Office of the Correction Ombuds
pursuant to section 18 -81cc, as amended by this act, or (ii) report or
complaint of a sexual assault made directly t o the Office of the
Correction Ombuds; and
[(J)] (K) Evaluating the provision of health care services, including,
but not limited to, medical care, dental care, mental health care and
substance use disorder treatment services, to persons who are
incarcerated by the Department of Correction.