Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections Omnibus topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Judiciary Committee advances Department of Corrections omnibus bill with changes to intake care, searches and staffing
Summary
The Judiciary Committee advanced a broad Department of Corrections bill addressing intake mental-health services, meal policies, staffing, and screening methods; the panel adopted a technical amendment that set a 24-hour maximum for delivering certain intake interventions.
SB 1543, the Department of Corrections omnibus bill, was taken up by the Judiciary Committee and reported to the floor with committee language (LCO 7107). The bill covers multiple corrections policies: requiring evidence-based mental-health interventions on intake, prohibiting punitive use of neutral meals ("nutri-loaf") and setting timing standards for alternative nutrition, authorizing third-party access to medical records when appropriate, improving data access related to medical neglect, studying relocation of certain correctional centers (New Haven and Bridgeport), measures to increase staffing and productive out-of-cell time, and establishing a pilot program for body scans as an alternative to body-cavity searches.
Representative Fishbein moved and the committee accepted an amendment to change the timing language in one provision: the word "immediately" was replaced with phrasing that requires services "within a reasonable amount of time, but in no case more than 24 hours later." Representative Fishbein framed that amendment as a technical, implementable clarification; Senator Winfield accepted it as a friendly amendment.
Committee discussion also included a clarification that some JFS committee language struck a prior section related to the ombudsperson (section 7) and other technical adjustments. The committee voted to report SB 1543 (JFS) to the floor with the committee LCO and the adopted amendment.
Action: SB 1543 was moved to the consent calendar and reported to the floor with committee language and the amendment replacing "immediately" with a specific 24-hour maximum for provision of required interventions.
