(a) Said Department of Corrections under the general direction and supervision of the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall have charge of the management and regulation of the Workhouse at Occoquan in the State of Virginia, the Reformatory at Lorton in the State of Virginia, and the Washington Asylum and Jail, and be responsible for the safekeeping, care, protection, instruction, and discipline of all persons committed to such institutions. The Department of Corrections with the approval of the Council of the District of Columbia shall have power to promulgate rules and regulations for the government of such institutions and to establish and conduct industries, farms, and other activities, to classify the inmates, and to provide for their proper treatment, care, rehabilitation, and reformation.
(a-1)(1) The Department of Corrections shall have charge of the management and operation of the Central Cellblock, located at 300 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., and shall be responsible for the safekeeping, care, and protection of all persons detained at the Central Cellblock or detained at a medical facility in the District, by the Metropolitan Police Department, before their initial court appearance.
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as:
(A) Removing any authority from the Metropolitan Police Department to determine where to hold in custody any person arrested and awaiting an initial court appearance;
(B) Granting any arrest powers to any employee of the Department of Corrections performing any duty at the Central Cellblock; or
(C) Limiting any powers or authority of the Metropolitan Police Department or the Department of Corrections.
(b) The Department of Corrections shall:
(1) Provide access to the Central Detention Facility, upon request and appointment, to members of the Corrections Information Council, or their staff, agents, or designees, for the purposes of conducting:
(A) Inspections of all areas accessible to inmates; and
(B) Unmonitored interviews of inmates in areas open to inspection under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;
(2) Provide to the Council on a quarterly basis all internal reports relating to living conditions in the Central Detention Facility, including inmate grievances, the Crystal report, the monthly report on the Priority One environmental problems and the time to repair, the monthly report of the Environmental Safety Office, the monthly report on temperature control and ventilation, and the monthly report on the jail population that includes the number of people waiting transfer to the federal Bureau of Prisons and the average number of days that inmates waited for transfer;
(3) Initiate and maintain regular afternoon and evening visiting hours at the Central Detention Facility for a minimum of 5 days a week, including Saturdays and Sundays;
(4) Develop and implement a classification system and corresponding housing plan for inmates at the Central Detention Facility;
(5) Return to an inmate, upon the inmate’s release from the Central Detention Facility, any personal identification documents collected from the inmate, including driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and Social Security cards;
(6) Repealed.
(7) Repealed.
(8) Repealed.
(9) Cooperating with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council by sharing data and allowing access to individuals under 21 years of age to the extent otherwise permissible under the law for the purpose of preparing the report described in § 22-4234(b-3);
(10) By October 1, 2021, work with the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, and the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants to engage representatives of advocacy and legal services organizations for crime survivors' rights in the District to explore potential enhancements to the process for inmate release notifications to crime survivors[; and]
[(11)] Employ personnel whose sole responsibility shall be the civic engagement and enfranchisement of eligible individuals incarcerated in the Department of Corrections' care or custody, including those responsibilities in § 24-211.08 and designing and implementing a plan to facilitate voting for each election in the Central Detention Facility and Correctional Treatment Facility.
