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An Act To Create a Certificate of Need Process for the Construction of Correctional Facilities
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 34-A MRSA §1217  is enacted to read:
§ 1217.  Certificate of need for facility construction
 
1.  Certificate of need.     The department shall issue a certificate of need, upon a showing of need through an application from a county, for a new or expanded correctional facility for that county. A county may not construct or expand a correctional facility without a certificate of need under this subsection.
 
2.  Criteria.     The criteria that the department shall consider in determining whether to issue a certificate of need includes:
 
A.  Consolidation through economy of scale;
 
B.  Medical service cost containment;
 
C.  Validation of the revenue stream; and
 
D.  Verification of specialization certification.
 
3.  Rules.     The department shall adopt major substantive rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A to carry out the purposes of this section.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires that a county apply for a certificate of need from the Department of Corrections before the county may construct or expand a correctional facility. The bill lists the criteria that the Department of Corrections must consider before issuing a certificate of need.