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| Montana Administrative Register Notice 20-7-49 | No. 14 07/28/2011 | |
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BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS OF THE STATE OF
TO: All Concerned Persons 1. On August 19, 2011, at 8:00 a.m., the Department of Corrections will hold a public hearing in Room 3-34 of 5 South Last Chance Gulch, at Helena, Montana, to consider the proposed amendment, adoption, and repeal of the above-stated rules. 2. The Department of Corrections will make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities who wish to participate in this rulemaking process or need an alternative accessible format of this notice. If you require an accommodation, contact Department of Corrections no later than 10:00 a.m. on August 12, 2011, to advise us of the nature of the accommodation that you need. Please contact Cheryl Waits, Department of Corrections, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, 3. GENERAL STATEMENT OF REASONABLE NECESSITY: The department proposes to amend ARM 20.7.506, 20.7.507, 20.7.510, and to repeal ARM 20.7.508 in order to clarify the sequence of steps necessary to site a prerelease center. To clarify the sequence of necessary steps, the department proposes to delete the portions of the rules that deal with selection of a specific geographic area and combine them all into one new rule, namely New Rule I. 4. The rules as proposed to be amended provide as follows, new matter underlined, deleted matter interlined: 20.7.506 WORKING COMMITTEE (1) and (2) remain the same. (a) educate the city, town, or county citizens; and (b) determine if there is public support for a center
(3) through (5) remain the same. AUTH: 53-1-203, MCA IMP: 53-1-203, MCA 20.7.507 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT PROCESS (1) In order to determine the level of public support for a center (a) remains the same.
(2) remains the same.
AUTH: 53-1-203, MCA IMP: 53-1-203, MCA 20.7.510 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (1) After the working committee has approved a specific geographic area of the city, town, or county for the center and the department has shown through surveys that the area has the support of local officials and the public, the department shall request proposals from vendors to construct or acquire a building and operate the center within the boundaries identified for the specific geographic area. (2) and (3) remain the same. AUTH: 53-1-203, MCA IMP: 53-1-203, MCA 20.7.511 EXPANSION OF EXISTING CENTER (1) The Department of Corrections may biennially increase the department contract capacity for a prerelease center by not more than 25 percent without engaging in the competitive procurement process. (2) The department may biennially increase the contract capacity by more than 25 percent but less than 50 percent without engaging in the competitive procurement process if: (a) the department has determined, in writing, that the increase is in the best interest of the department; (b) the increase does not change the nature of the prerelease services; and (c) the current contract has at least twenty-four months remaining, including renewals, before expiration. (3) Before the department executes a contract amendment for an expansion of more that 25 percent but less than 50 percent, the department must give notice to the public and to current treatment facility or program providers of its intent to expand the existing treatment facility or program. (a) The department must publish the notice not less than 90 days in advance of the proposed expansion date. (b) The notice must request potential contractors to notify the department, in writing, of their interest in providing the same services. (c) The notice must request potential contractors to provide proof to the department that the potential contractor has the ability to provide the contracted services. (d) Notice is considered accomplished under this subsection if the department publishes the notice on its web site and send such notice to each existing department treatment facility or program provider. (e) The department shall set a reasonable deadline for potential contractors to notify the department. (f) If the department receives appropriate notification under this subsection, the department may not proceed without opening up the expansion to competitive bidding. (4) The department may not increase by more than 50 percent the department contract capacity for a prerelease program. (5) (2) through (4) remain the same but renumbered (a) through (c).
AUTH: 53-1-203, MCA IMP: 53-1-203, MCA STATEMENT OF REASONABLE NECESSITY: The department is adopting rules to govern the expansion of department treatment facilities or programs, and believes that, to be consistent, it must apply the same concepts to expansion of prerelease centers. The amendments to this rule accomplish that goal and provide similar criteria to prerelease centers as will be in place for treatment facilities and programs. 4. The rule proposed to be adopted provides as follows: NEW RULE I DETERMINING A SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC AREA (1) The committee must select a proposed area with specific identifiable boundaries that it deems suitable for a prerelease center. The proposed area the committee identifies must have access to: (a) a law enforcement agency capable of emergency response within 15 minutes; (b) 24-hour emergency medical and fire protection services; (c) medical transportation services from a licensed ambulance service; and (d) fire protection by a professional fire protection service capable of responding within reasonable time as determined by the state fire marshal or the authority having jurisdiction. (2) The committee shall involve local organizations such as service groups and local government advisory boards to assist the committee to select a specific geographic area for the center. (3) The specific geographic area within the city, town, or county which the committee chooses must be in compliance with all applicable laws, codes, ordinances and existing conditions, covenants, restrictions of record, zoning regulations, or be capable of coming into compliance with applicable zoning regulation through the use of a zoning change, variance, conditional use permit, PUD, or other process set forth in the governing zoning regulations. (4) After the working committee has selected the proposed geographic area, the department shall contract with a professional consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive, statistically valid, and nonbiased survey to determine if the area has an appropriate level of support of local officials, the public who live within the geographic area, and the businesses that are located within the geographic area. (a) To determine support of local officials, the consulting firm shall survey the following local officials: (i) members of city, town, or county governing bodies; (ii) city, town, or county attorney; (iii) chief public defender, if there is one; (iv) mayor of chief executive officer of city or town; (v) local district judges; (vi) local state legislators who represent any portion of the city, town, or county of the proposed geographic area; (vii) sheriff; and (viii) if there is one, the chief of police. (b) To determine support of the public, the consulting firm shall survey a statistically valid random sampling of persons who live in the area and persons who own businesses within the geographic area. (5) The working committee shall approve both surveys. (6) An appropriate level of support is at least 51 percent of local officials and 60 percent of the public and business owners surveyed. (7) If the geographic area the committee selects does not garner the appropriate amount of support in the survey, the committee may select another area and proceed with the process indicated in (1) through (5) of this rule. (8) The department may not move forward and publish a request for proposals until the working committee has selected a specific geographic area and the department can show through the survey in (3) and (4) of this rule that the area has the support of local officials and the public. AUTH: 53-1-203, MCA IMP: 53-1-203, MCA 5. The department proposes to repeal the following rule: 20.7.508 COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY, is found on page 20-114 of the Administrative Rules of Montana. AUTH: 53-1-203, MCA IMP: 53-1-203, MCA 6. Concerned persons may submit their data, views, or arguments either orally or in writing at the hearing. Written data, views, or arguments may also be submitted to: Cheryl Waits, Department of Corrections, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana, 59620; telephone (406) 444-4906; fax (406) 444-6450; or e-mail cwaits@mt.gov, and must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., August 25, 2011. 7. Diana L. Koch, Department of Corrections, has been designated to preside over and conduct this hearing. 8. The department maintains a list of interested persons who wish to receive notices of rulemaking actions proposed by this agency. Persons who wish to have their name added to the list shall make a written request that includes the name, e-mail, and mailing address of the person to receive notices and specifies for which program the person wishes to receive notices. Notices will be sent by e-mail unless a mailing preference is noted in the request. Such written request may be mailed or delivered to Myrna Omholt-Mason, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana, 59620 or may be made by completing a request form at any rules hearing held by the department. 9. An electronic copy of this proposal notice is available through the Secretary of State's web site at http://sos.mt.gov/ARM/Register. The Secretary of State strives to make the electronic copy of the notice conform to the official version of the notice, as printed in the Montana Administrative Register, but advises all concerned persons that in the event of a discrepancy between the official printed text of the notice and the electronic version of the notice, only the official printed text will be considered. In addition, although the Secretary of State works to keep its web site accessible at all times, concerned persons should be aware that the web site may be unavailable during some periods, due to system maintenance or technical problems. 10. The bill sponsor contact requirements of 2-4-302, MCA, do not apply. /s/ Diana L. Koch /s/ Mike Ferriter Diana L. Koch Mike Ferriter Rule Reviewer Director Department of Corrections Certified to the Secretary of State July 18, 2011.
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A directory of state agencies is available online at http://www.mt.gov/govt/agencylisting.asp.
For questions about the organization of the ARM or this web site, contact sosarm@mt.gov.
