Existing law requires the operator of a private detention facility, as defined, to comply with, and adhere to, the detention standards of care and confinement agreed upon in the facility’s contract for operations, as specified. Existing law requires a private detention facility operator to comply with, and adhere to, all local and state public health orders and occupational safety and health regulations.

This bill, the Masuma Khan Justice Act, would authorize the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the State Department of Public Health, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Industrial Relations, including the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“inspecting agencies”), to conduct periodic inspections of an involuntary residential facility, defined as a facility that houses more than 50 individuals overnight, restricts residents’ ability to enter or leave, as specified, and provides specified onsite services, in order to evaluate compliance with applicable health, safety, building, environmental, and labor standards, as specified, and would additionally authorize the State Department of Public Health to inspect an involuntary residential facility for the limited purpose of ensuring sanitary, hygienic, and safe conditions, using standards and inspection protocols consistent with those applied to licensed residential health facilities. The bill would authorize unnoticed inspections under specified conditions. The bill would authorize an inspection to include specified areas of the facility, including heating, ventilation, air, water, and electrical systems, and any physical space necessary to evaluate compliance with the standards described above. The bill would require an inspecting agency, within 30 days of completing an inspection, to submit a report to the Legislature.

The bill would require the operator of a facility to provide access to an inspecting agency for an inspection described above, to maintain all records necessary to demonstrate compliance with the above-described standards, and to correct any violation identified by an inspecting agency, as specified. The bill would make a violation of the above described requirements by an operator of a facility, after appropriate notice and an opportunity for a hearing, subject to an administrative penalty, as specified, per violation per day. The bill would require a violation to be referred to the State Department of Public Health for enforcement, including the issuance of any safety warning or citation. If an operator fails to correct a violation within the time specified in the citation, the bill would authorize the department to issue a safety warning that identifies the uncorrected condition and requires prompt corrective action by the operator. The bill would authorize the department to refer violations to the Attorney General, and would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief.

The bill would authorize an inspecting agency to promulgate regulations for the implementation of the above-described provisions. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to adopt rules and regulations to ensure that all involuntary residential facilities comply with measurable standards for sanitary, hygienic, and safe conditions that are at least as stringent as those applied to licensed residential healthcare facilities and would require the department to consult with specified organizations in the development of these standards.

The bill would declare that its provisions are severable.

The bill would make related findings and declarations.