Establishes the "Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman"

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2832
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE COLLINS.
5839H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 218, RSMo, by adding thereto twelve new sections relating to the oversight
of department of corrections facilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 218, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto twelve new sections, to
2 be known as sections 218.010, 218.015, 218.020, 218.025, 218.030, 218.035, 218.040,
3 218.045, 218.050, 218.055, 218.060, and 218.065, to read as follows:
218.010. For purposes of sections 218.010 to 218.065, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Covered issues", includes, but is not limited to:
3 (a) Sanitation in prison facilities;
4 (b) Access to pro per nutrition;
5 (c) Livable temperatur es in prison facilities;
6 (d) Physical or sexual abuse fr om fellow inmates;
7 (e) Physical or sexual abuse fr om department staff or contractors;
8 (f) Credi ble thr eats against an inmate fr om other inmates, staff, or contractors;
9 (g) Neglect of prison staff or contractors that res ults in physical or sexual
10 trauma;
11 (h) Denial of rights afforded to inmates under federal or state law;
12 (i) Access to visitation and communication with family;
13 (j) Any instance in which the office determines an action or behavior to
14 constitute abuse or neglect against an inmate;
15 (k) Access to medical or mental health care or substance abuse tr eatment; or
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
16 (l) Access to educational and reh abilitative pr ogramming, drug and mental
17 health tr eatment, and inmate jobs and vocational training;
18 (2) "Department", the department of correct ions;
19 (3) "Family member", includes a grandpar ent, par ent, sibling, spouse or
20 domestic partner , child, aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew , grandchild, or any other
21 person r elated to an individual by blood, adoption, marriage, or a foster rela tionship;
22 (4) "Office", the office of the department of corr ections ombudsman;
23 (5) "Ombudsman", the state ombudsman for inmates in the custody of the
24 department of corr ections.
218.015. 1. Befor e June 1, 2027, ther e shall be established the "Office of the
2 Department of Corre ctions Ombudsman". The office shall consist of two sections:
3 (1) An inspection section; and
4 (2) A complaints investigation section.
5 2. The office shall have the authority to:
6 (1) Pro vide information, as appropr iate, to inmates, family members,
7 r epr esentatives of inmates, department employees and contractors, and others
8 r egarding the rights of inmates;
9 (2) Monitor conditions of confinement and assess department compliance with
10 applicable federal, state, and department rules and regu lations as r elated to the health,
11 safety , welfare, and re habilitation of inmates;
12 (3) Pr ovide technical assistance to support inmate participation in self-advocacy;
13 (4) Pr ovide technical assistance to local governments in the cr eation of jail
14 oversight bodies, as reque sted;
15 (5) Establish a statewide uniform rep orting system to collect and analyze data
16 r elated to complaints re ceived by the department and data rel ated to the following:
17 (a) Deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts in custody;
18 (b) Physical and sexual assaults in custody;
19 (c) Numbers of people placed in administrative segre gation or solitary
20 confinement and duration of stay in such confinement;
21 (d) Numbers of facility lockdowns lasting longer than twenty-four hours;
22 (e) Numbers of staff vacancies at each facility;
23 (f) Inmate-to-staff ratios at each facility;
24 (g) Staff tenure and turnover; and
25 (h) Numbers of in-person visits to inmates that wer e made and denied at each
26 facility;
HB 2832 2
27 (6) Establish pr ocedur es to gather stakeholder input into the office's activities
28 and priorities, which shall include, at a minimum, an annual thirty-day period for
29 r eceipt of and office res ponse to public comment;
30 (7) Inspect each department facility at least once every thr ee years and for each
31 maximum security facility and each facility wher e the office has found cause for mor e
32 fr equent inspection or monitoring, at least once each year; and
33 (8) Publicly issue periodic facility inspection re ports and an annual report with
34 r ecommendations on the state of department facilities and a summary of data and
35 r ecommendations arising fr om any complaints investigated and re solved under sections
36 218.010 to 218.065 and any other thematic rep orts covering any topic the office finds
37 r elevant to running a safe, secur e, and humane department.
38 3. The office shall be direc ted by an ombudsman, who shall be selected by the
39 corr ections oversight committee established under section 218.020 and who shall serve a
40 term of six years, during which term the ombudsman may be r emoved only by the
41 governor and only for good cause. The ombudsman shall not be a curr ent or former
42 employee or contractor of the department, and the ombudsman's spouse or domestic
43 partner , pare nts, grandpar ents, children, or siblings shall not be curren t employees or
44 contractors of the department.
45 4. The ombudsman shall have the authority to:
46 (1) Hir e staff, contractors, and unpaid volunteers and secur e office space,
47 equipment, and other services necessary to carry out the duties of the office under this
48 section. Any employee, contractor , or unpaid volunteer hir ed or retai ned by the office
49 shall have the same authority and powers of the office as described in this section; and
50 (2) Contract with experts as needed to assist in the monitoring and inspection of
51 facilities, the assessment of data, and the rev iew , investigation, or res olution of
52 complaints.
53 5. A staff member or volunteer hir ed by the ombudsman shall have the same
54 authority and duties of the office as described in this section. A staff member or
55 volunteer hire d by the ombudsman shall not be a:
56 (1) Person with a family member who is a curren t inmate of the department;
57 (2) Person with a family member who is a curre nt employee or contractor of the
58 department;
59 (3) Curren t employee or contractor of the department; or
60 (4) V ictim or a family member of a victim of a crime committed by an inmate
61 curr ently in the custody of the department.
62 6. The ombudsman shall have additional authority to assist in any investigation
63 following the death of any person who dies while in custody of a jail or private detention
HB 2832 3
64 facility located in this state. When assisting with a death investigation under this
65 subsection, the ombudsman shall be given the same access to the jail or detention
66 facility , and to the r ecords and people within the jail or detention facility , as is granted
67 to the ombudsman under section 218.025. For purposes of this subsection, "private
68 detention facility" means a detention facility that is operated by a private,
6 9 nongovernmental entity operating pursuant to a contract agreement with a federal,
70 state, or local governmental entity .
218.020. 1. Befor e March 1, 2027, ther e shall be established a "Corr ections
2 Oversight Committee", consisting of the following members:
3 (1) T wo members of the senate who ar e appointed by the presiden t pr o tempor e
4 of the senate and who are not members of the same political party . The pr esident pr o
5 tempor e shall select one of these members to serve as a co-chair;
6 (2) T wo members of the house of rep rese ntatives who are appointed by the
7 speaker of the house of repr esentatives and who ar e not members of the same political
8 party . The speaker shall select one of these members to serve as a co-chair;
9 (3) The following members, who are appointed by the governor:
10 (a) One repr esentative of a prisoner advocacy organization;
11 (b) One r epre sentative of an organization that pr ovides training or
1 2 r ehabilitation pr ograms for incar cerated inmates;
13 (c) One man who was formerly incar cerated in a department facility;
14 (d) One woman who was formerly incarc erated in a department facility;
15 (e) One physician, curr ently licensed or ret ired , with experience in family
16 medicine or internal medicine;
17 (f) One mental or behavioral health profes sional, curr ently licensed or r etir ed,
18 who has a history of pr oviding mental health services or counseling to adults;
19 (g) One person who is a grandparen t, paren t, child, sibling, or spouse or
20 domestic partner of a person curr ently incar cerated in a department facility; and
21 (h) One person who was formerly employed as a corr ectional employee in this
22 state or any other state.
23 2. Members appointed under this section shall serve thr ee-year terms.
24 3. Members appointed under this section shall not be curren t employees or
25 contractors of the department; shall not have par ents, children, or a spouse or a
26 domestic partner who are curr ent employees or contractors of the department; and,
27 with the exception of the member in paragraph (h) of subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of
28 this section, shall not have been an employee or contractor of the department at any
29 time within ten years of his or her appointment to the committee.
HB 2832 4
30 4. The committee shall meet whenever ther e is a vacancy in the ombudsman
31 position, as the co-chairs deem necessary , or on the call of the majority of the members.
32 5. Committee members are not eligible to r eceive compensation but are eligible
33 for reim bursement of expenses.
34 6. The committee shall announce the ombudsman nominee publicly and shall
35 vote to appoint the nominee after holding a public hearing, during which the committee
36 shall hear and consider oral or written testimony fr om the ombudsman nominee, any
37 witnesses the ombudsman nominee pr esents on his or her behalf, and any members of
38 the public. The ombudsman nominee shall take office upon a majority vote of the
39 committee in his or her favor .
40 7. Notwithstanding the prov isions of this section to the contrary , the initial terms
41 of committee members who are appointed under this section shall be as follows:
42 (1) One term ending January 1, 2029;
43 (2) T wo terms ending January 1, 2030; and
44 (3) T wo terms ending January 1, 2031.
45 8. The governor shall make all subsequent appointments as pr escribed by
46 statute.
47 9. The committee shall hold at least one public hearing each year to present ,
48 r eview , and discuss the office's inspections, findings, rep orts, and recomm endations set
49 forth in the office's annual report, as described in this section, and shall hold quarterly
50 public hearings to pr esent, revi ew , and discuss any other data, r eports, or findings of the
51 office that the committee determines ar e rel evant. At such hearings, the committee may
52 solicit and receive written or oral testimony fr om experts, members of the community ,
53 the office, or the department.
54 10. The committee may , in its discret ion or upon req uest fro m the office, issue
55 findings, rec ommendations, and policy and legislative pr oposals that shall be pr ovided
56 to the department, governor , and house and senate committees res ponsible for judicial
57 matters and made available to the public on the office's website.
58 1 1. The committee shall be given the same access to facilities, recor ds, and people
59 within facilities as the office r eceives under section 218.025. The committee shall have
60 the power to subpoena department reco rds, employees, or contractors.
61 12. Accompanied by the office, the committee shall visit two differen t
62 corr ectional facilities during each calendar year .
218.025. 1. The office shall have reas onable access, upon demand in person or in
2 writing and with or without prior notice, to all department facilities, including all areas
3 that ar e used by inmates, all are as which ar e accessible to inmates, and to prog rams for
4 inmates at re asonable times, which at a minimum shall include normal working hours
HB 2832 5
5 and visiting hours. This authority includes the opportunity to conduct an interview with
6 any inmate, department employee or contractor , or other person. This access is for the
7 purposes of:
8 (1) Pr oviding information about individual rights and the services available
9 fr om the office, including the name, addr ess, and telephone number of the office
10 facilities or staff;
11 (2) Conducting official inspections under section 218.035;
12 (3) Conducting an official investigation under section 218.040; and
13 (4) Inspecting, viewing, photographing, and video r ecording all ar eas of the
14 facility that are used by inmates or are accessible to inmates.
15 2. Access to inmates includes the opportunity to meet and communicate
16 privately and confidentially with individuals reg ularly , with or without prior notice,
17 both formally and informally , by telephone, mail, electr onic communication, and in
18 person. In the case of communications with inmates, these communications shall not be
19 monitor ed by , record ed, or conducted in the pr esence of department employees or
20 contractors.
21 3. The office has the right to access, inspect, and copy all relevan t information,
22 r ecords, or documents in the possession or contr ol of the department that the office
23 considers necessary in an investigation of a complaint filed under this section, and the
24 department shall assist the office in obtaining the necessary r eleases for those
25 documents that are specifically res tricted or privileged for use by the office.
26 4. Following notification fr om the office with a written reque st for access to
27 department record s, the designated department staff shall provi de the office with access
28 to the req uested documentation not later than twenty days after the office's written
29 r equest for the r ecords. Wher e the reco rds requ ested by the office pertain to an inmate
30 death, thr eats of bodily harm including, but not limited to, sexual or physical assaults,
31 or the denial of necessary medical tr eatment, the recor ds shall be provi ded within five
32 days unless the office consents to an extension of that time frame.
33 5. The office shall work with the department to minimize disruption to the
34 operations of the department due to office activities and shall comply with the
35 department's security clearance pr ocesses, prov ided these proc esses do not impede the
36 activities outlined in this section.
37 6. The office shall have the power to subpoena department r ecords, employees,
38 or contractors.
218.030. 1. Corr espondence and communication with the office is confidential
2 and shall be protect ed as privileged corr espondence in the same manner as legal
3 corr espondence or communication.
HB 2832 6
4 2. The office shall establish confidentiality rules and proce dures for all
5 information maintained by the office to ensure that:
6 (1) Department employees or contractors ar e not awar e of the identity of a
7 complainant before, during, and after an investigation to the great est extent practicable.
8 The office may disclose identifying information for the sole purpose of carrying out an
9 investigation; and
10 (2) Other department inmates are not awar e of the identity of a complainant
11 befor e, during, and after an investigation to the gr eatest extent practicable. The office
12 may disclose identifying information for the sole purpose of carrying out an
13 investigation.
218.035. 1. The office shall conduct periodic inspections of each department
2 facility .
3 2. The office shall conduct an inspection of each department prison facility and
4 r elease a public repor t before August 28, 2029.
5 3. Subsequent inspections of each facility shall be conducted on a stagger ed
6 schedule dependent on the facility's safety and compliance classification.
7 4. An inspection of a department facility shall include an assessment of all of the
8 following:
9 (1) Policies and pr ocedur es in place by the facility rel ated to car e of inmates;
10 (2) Conditions of confinement;
11 (3) A vailability of educational and rehab ilitative prog ramming, drug and mental
12 health tr eatment, and inmate jobs and vocational training;
13 (4) Policies and pr ocedur es re lated to visitation;
14 (5) Medical facilities and medical proced ures and policies;
15 (6) Review of lockdowns at the facility in the time since the last audit. In the
16 instance of an initial assessment, the office shall r eview lockdowns fr om the last thr ee
17 years;
18 (7) Review of staffing at the facility , including the number and job assignments
19 of correct ional staff, the ratio of staff to inmates at the facility , and the staff position
20 vacancy rate at the facility;
21 (8) Review of physical and sexual assaults at the facility in the time since the last
22 inspection. In the instance of an initial assessment, the office shall review assaults fr om
23 the last thr ee years;
24 (9) Review of any inmate or staff deaths that occurr ed at the facility in the time
25 since the last inspection. In the instance of an initial assessment, the office shall rev iew
26 inmate and staff deaths fr om the last thr ee years;
HB 2832 7
27 (10) Review of department staff r ecruitment, training, supervision, and
28 discipline; and
29 (1 1) Any other aspect of the operation of the facility that the office deems
30 necessary over the course of an inspection.
31 5. Upon completion of an inspection, the office shall pr oduce a report to be made
32 available to the public on the internet and to be deliver ed to the governor , the attorney
33 general, the senate committee res ponsible for judicial matters, the house committee
34 r esponsible for judicial matters, and the direc tor of the department. The r eport shall
35 include:
36 (1) A summary of the facility's policies and pr ocedur es relat ed to car e of the
37 inmates;
38 (2) A characterization of the conditions of confinement;
39 (3) A catalogue of available educational and reh abilitative prog ramming, drug
40 and mental health tr eatment, and inmate jobs and vocational training;
41 (4) A summary of visitation policies and pr ocedur es;
42 (5) A summary of medical facilities and medical pro cedur es and policies;
43 (6) A summary of the lockdowns r eviewed by the office;
44 (7) A summary of the staffing at the facility , including policies relat ing to staff
45 r ecruitment, training, supervision, and discipline;
46 (8) A summary of physical and sexual assaults review ed by the office;
47 (9) A summary of any inmate or staff deaths that occurr ed at the facility;
48 (10) Recommendations made to the facility to improve safety and conditions
49 within the facility; and
50 (1 1) Safety and compliance classification with recomm ended timeline for the
51 next inspection.
52 6. Upon completion of an inspection, the office shall assign the facility a safety
53 and compliance classification. This classification system shall be divided into thr ee tiers
54 and shall be determined based on the factors described in subsection 4 of this
55 subsection. The tiers ar e as follows:
56 (1) T ier 1, r equir es subsequent inspection within twelve months and shall be
57 used for maximum security facilities and facilities that present clear violations of rights,
58 risks to the safety of prisoners, or sever e lack of quality prog ramming for the successful
59 r ehabilitation of individuals;
60 (2) T ier 2, requ ires subsequent inspection within eighteen months and thirty-six
61 months and shall be used for facilities that may have violations of rights, substandard
62 conditions of confinement, or substandard pr ogramming options; and
HB 2832 8
63 (3) T ier 3, requi res subsequent inspection within thirty-six months and shall be
64 used for facilities with adequate conditions of confinement and pr ogramming options.
65 7. The department shall res pond in writing to each inspection r eport issued by
66 the office within twenty days of the issuance of the rep ort, and its response shall include
67 a correc tive action plan. The office shall monitor the department's compliance with the
68 corr ective action plan and may conduct further inspections or investigations as
69 necessary to ensur e such compliance.
218.040. 1. The office may initiate and attempt to res olve an investigation upon
2 its own initiative, or upon recei pt of a complaint from an inmate, a family member , a
3 r epresent ative of an inmate, a department employee or contractor , or others, r egarding
4 any of the following that may adversely affect the health, safety , welfar e, and rights of
5 inmates:
6 (1) Abuse or neglect;
7 (2) Conditions of confinement;
8 (3) Department decisions or administrative actions;
9 (4) Department inactions or omissions;
10 (5) Department policies, rules, or proced ures; or
11 (6) Alleged violations of law by department employees or contractors that may
12 adversely affect the health, safety , welfare, and rights of inmates.
13 2. The office may decline to investigate any complaint and shall decline to
14 investigate a complaint if the inmate has failed to first utilize the department's policies
15 and pr ocedur es regard ing res olution of inmate grievances. If the office does not
16 investigate a complaint, the office shall notify the complainant in writing of the decision
17 not to investigate and the reas ons for the decision.
18 3. Any action or lack of action on a complaint by the office shall not be deemed
19 an administrative pr ocedur e requ ired for exhaustion of rem edies prior to bringing an
20 action under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e et seq.
21 4. The office shall not investigate any complaints rel ating to an inmate's
22 underlying criminal conviction.
23 5. The office shall not investigate a complaint fr om a department employee or
24 contractor that rel ates to the employee or contractor's employment relat ionship with the
25 department unless the complaint is r elated to the health, safety , welfar e, and
26 r ehabilitation of inmates.
27 6. The office may refer the complainant and others to appr opriate res our ces or
28 state or federal agencies.
29 7. The office shall not levy any fees for the submission or investigation of
30 complaints.
HB 2832 9
31 8. At the conclusion of an investigation of a complaint, the office shall ren der a
32 public decision on the merits of each complaint, except that the documents supporting
33 the decision ar e subject to the confidentiality provi sions of sections 218.010 to 218.065.
34 The office shall communicate the decision to the inmate, if any , and to the department.
35 The office shall state its recomm endations and reas oning if, in the office's opinion, the
36 department or any employee or contractor ther eof shall:
37 (1) Consider the matter further;
38 (2) Modify or cancel any action;
39 (3) Alter a rule, practice, or ruling;
40 (4) Explain in detail the administrative action in question; or
41 (5) Rectify an omission.
42 9. If the office so re quests, the department shall, within the time specified,
43 inform the office in writing about any action taken on the r ecommendations or the
44 r easons for not complying with the r ecommendations.
45 10. If the office believes, based on the investigation, that ther e has been or
46 continues to be a significant inmate health, safety , welfar e, or r ehabilitation issue, the
47 office shall re port the finding to the governor , the attorney general, the senate committee
48 r esponsible for judicial matters, the house committee res ponsible for judicial matters,
49 and the dir ector of the department.
50 1 1. In the event that the department conducts an internal disciplinary
51 investigation and review of one or mor e of its staff members as a result of an office
52 investigation, the department's disciplinary revi ew may be subject to additional rev iew
53 and investigation by the office to ensure a fair and objective process .
54 12. Befor e announcing a conclusion or recommendat ion that expr essly , or by
55 implication, criticizes a person or the department, the office shall consult with that
56 person or the department. The office may requ est to be notified by the department,
57 within a specified time, of any action taken on any recomm endation pre sented.
58 13. The department and its employees and contractors shall not discharge,
59 r etaliate against, or in any manner discriminate against any person because such person
60 has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any pr oceeding under
61 this section.
62 14. Any alleged discharge, reta liation against, or discrimination against a
63 complainant may be consider ed by the office as an appr opriate subject of an
64 investigation.
65 15. Any department employee or contractor who believes that he or she has been
66 discharged or otherwise discriminated against by any person in violation of this section
HB 2832 10
67 may , within thirty days after such violation occurs, file a complaint under section
68 285.575.
218.045. 1. By December thirty-first of each calendar year , the office shall
2 pr oduce an annual report to be made available to the public on the internet and to be
3 deliver ed to the governor , the attorney general, the senate committee res ponsible for
4 judicial matters, the house committee res ponsible for judicial matters, and the dir ector
5 of the department. The r eport shall include:
6 (1) A summary of the office's inspections and complaint investigations
7 conducted that calendar year , including the office's findings and recomme ndations
8 and the department's res ponses and correct ive actions;
9 (2) A characterization of the conditions of confinement;
10 (3) A summary of available educational and reh abilitative prog ramming, drug
11 and mental health tr eatment, and inmate jobs and vocational training;
12 (4) A summary of visitation policies and pr ocedur es;
13 (5) A summary of medical facilities and medical pro cedur es and policies;
14 (6) A summary of the lockdowns r eviewed by the office;
15 (7) A summary of the staffing at each facility and in the department overall;
16 (8) A summary of physical and sexual assaults review ed by the office;
17 (9) A summary of any inmate or staff deaths that occurr ed at a facility;
18 (10) A summary of the office's investigations, findings, and r esolutions of any
19 complaints submitted under section 218.050, 218.055, or 218.060;
20 (1 1) A summary of the pending and settled lawsuits during the last calendar year
21 in which the department or any of its contractors is a party and which rel ate to any
22 cover ed issues, as defined in section 218.050, with a description of the natur e of the
23 claims, their date and location, and attorney’ s fees, court costs, and settlement costs
24 spent by the department, its contractors, or the state;
25 (12) A summary of the criminal pr osecutions of department employees,
26 contractors, or inmates initiated or concluded during the last calendar year with a
27 description of the date and location of the alleged offenses, the natur e of the charges,
28 and any adjudication or disposition of the case; and
29 (13) Recommendations to the general assembly and the department including,
30 but not limited to, the following:
31 (a) How the office and the department should be funded and staffed;
32 (b) Impr oving staff ret ention, training, working conditions, compensation,
33 benefits, morale, and safety;
34 (c) Impr oving inmate health, safety , conditions of confinement, and medical
35 car e;
HB 2832 1 1
36 (d) Impr oving visitation and limiting use of lockdowns and administrative
37 segr egation or solitary confinement;
38 (e) Impr oving complaint investigation and res olution;
39 (f) Impr oving access to and quality and availability of educational and
40 r ehabilitative prog ramming, drug and mental health tr eatment, and inmate jobs and
41 vocational training;
42 (g) Impr oving transparency about conditions in the facilities and the department
43 overall;
44 (h) Impr oving the disciplinary pr ocess to hold staff accountable for
4 5 mistr eatment of inmates; and
46 (i) Pr eventing futur e violations of inmate rights as pr otected under state and
47 federal law .
48 2. If the office so re quests, the department shall, within the time specified,
49 inform the office in writing about any action taken on the r ecommendations or the
50 r easons for not complying with the r ecommendations.
218.050. 1. The office shall creat e a secure online form, r eferr ed to in this section
2 as the "family form", to be made available on the office's website wherei n family
3 members, friends, and advocates can submit complaints and inquiries r egarding
4 cover ed issues on behalf of an individual incar cerated within the department. Upon
5 r eceipt of a family form, the office shall:
6 (1) Confirm rece ipt of the complaint or inquiry within five business days;
7 (2) Determine whether an investigation is warranted within seven business days
8 of the confirmation of receip t of complaint and notify the complainant; and
9 (3) If the office determines an investigation is unwarranted, pr ovide a written
10 statement r egarding its decision to the complainant.
11 2. The office shall creat e a secur e online form, ref erred to in this section as the
12 "inmate form", to be made available on the department secure intranet wher ein
13 inmates may submit complaints and inquiries regard ing cover ed issues on their behalf.
14 3. The director of the department shall ensur e that the inmate form is available
15 on at least twelve computers within each facility and accessible to all inmates fr om 7:00
16 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day . For inmates in administrative segr egation or solitary
17 confinement, the department shall ensure that employees and contractors provi de
18 inmates with access to the inmate form on a computer or computer tablet or by
19 pr oviding a paper copy upon the inmate's requ est. The department shall make paper
20 copies of the inmate form available, at no cost to inmates, in each facility's library , law
21 library , and r ecreat ional and medical facilities.
HB 2832 12
22 4. The office shall creat e the inmate form in a secure format that excludes any
23 electr onic monitoring or rep rodu ction by the department and its employees and
24 contractors. Any inmate submissions of paper copies of the inmate form shall be tr eated
25 as confidential and privileged by department employees and contractors in the same
26 manner as legal corre spondence or communication.
27 5. The office shall:
28 (1) Confirm rece ipt of the complaint or inquiry within five business days;
29 (2) Determine whether an investigation is warranted within seven business days
30 of the confirmation of receip t of complaint and notify the complainant; and
31 (3) If the office determines an investigation is unwarranted, pr ovide a written
32 statement r egarding its decision to the complainant.
218.055. The office shall creat e a telephone hotline thr ough which family
2 members, friends, and advocates of inmates can call to file complaints and inquiries
3 r egarding cover ed issues on behalf of an individual incar cerated within the department.
4 The office shall:
5 (1) Confirm rece ipt of the complaint or inquiry within five business days;
6 (2) Determine whether an investigation is warranted within seven business days
7 of the confirmation of receip t of complaint and notify the complainant; and
8 (3) If the office determines an investigation is unwarranted, pr ovide a written
9 statement r egarding its decision to the complainant.
218.060. The office shall crea te a secur e telephone hotline to be made available to
2 all department employees and contractors and inmates to file complaints and inquiries
3 r egarding cover ed issues on their behalf. The dir ector of the department shall ensur e
4 that the hotline and its use are made available to all inmates fr ee of charge. The dir ector
5 of the department shall ensure that calls to the hotline are not monitored or recorded by
6 department employees or contractors. The office shall:
7 (1) Confirm rece ipt of the complaint or inquiry within five business days;
8 (2) Determine whether an investigation is warranted within seven business days
9 of the confirmation of receip t of complaint and notify the complainant; and
10 (3) If the office determines an investigation is unwarranted, pr ovide a written
11 statement r egarding its decision to the complainant.
218.065. 1. The department and its employees and contractors shall not
2 discharge, ret aliate against, or in any manner discriminate against any person because
3 such person has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any
4 pr oceeding initiated under sections 218.010 to 218.065.
HB 2832 13
5 2. Any alleged discharge, reta liation against, or discrimination against a
6 complainant may be consider ed by the office as an appr opriate subject of an
7 investigation.
8 3. Any department employee or contractor who believes that he or she has been
9 discharged or otherwise discriminated against by any person in violation of this section
10 may , within thirty days after such violation occurs, file a complaint under section
11 285.545.
12 4. Any action or lack of action by the office on a complaint made under this
13 section shall not be deemed an administrative pr ocedur e req uired for exhaustion of
14 r emedies prior to bringing an action under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 42 U.S.C.
15 Section 1997e et seq.
✔
HB 2832 14