Section 25-1-105 - Powers of department; care of persons committed outside of state(a) The department of corrections shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to carry out its functions. The promulgation of substantive rules by the department, the conduct of its hearings and its final decisions are specifically exempt from all provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act including the provisions for judicial review under W.S. 16-3-114 and 16-3-115. The department's rules shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state.(b) The department may enter into contracts with the federal government or other states for the care of persons committed outside of Wyoming.(c) Subject to subsection (d) of this section, the department may, to obtain demonstrable cost savings or better quality of services, contract with private service providers or with other agencies for any of the following services to be provided for inmates of any state adult penal institution: (i) Education, training and jobs programs;(ii) Recreational and religious activities;(iii) Development and implementation assistance for classification, management information systems or other information systems or services;(v) Food services, commissary, transportation, sanitation or other ancillary services; and(vi) Counseling, special treatment programs or other programs for special needs.(d) The department shall by rule and regulation impose upon services contracted pursuant to paragraph (c)(i) of this section limitations on competition with the private sector and ensure contracted services do not significantly displace employed workers within the community.(e) The department of corrections may enter into contracts and agreements with any county for the confinement and maintenance in county jails of persons sentenced to the custody of the department of corrections to serve a term of imprisonment in a state penal institution. The department may enter into contracts and agreements with other states, including those which are not party to the Western Interstate Corrections Compact, with the federal government, with other governmental entities and with private owners and operators of correctional facilities in other states, for the confinement and maintenance of persons sentenced to the custody of the department to serve a term of imprisonment in a state penal institution. The department shall establish rules and regulations regarding the minimum standards for such facilities and standards for the care and treatment of department of correction's inmates incarcerated therein.(f) Pursuant to this section and W.S. 9-2-130, the department of corrections shall collaborate with the department of health to reduce recidivism rates for persons with behavioral health needs and substance use disorders who are involved in the criminal justice system and improve mental health and substance use disorder programming by: (i) Improving the quality and accuracy of substance use assessments administered to persons with criminal justice involvement by creating a quality improvement unit in the department of corrections that will regularly monitor the administration and use of assessment tools. The department of corrections shall report to the joint labor, health and social services interim committee on the status of the unit, including progress on the creation of the unit, results of unit efforts, unit expenditures and remaining funds from appropriations made for the unit. The department of corrections shall provide this report to the joint labor, health and social services interim committee by September 1 of each year through 2023;(ii) Creating a behavioral health services enhancement program for community providers to improve outcomes for persons involved in the criminal justice system through a separate contract, or in a separate provision in an existing contract, administered by the department of health;(iii) Adopting standardized, evidence based treatment practices and guidelines for treating and providing programming to persons involved in the criminal justice system with behavioral health and substance use needs;(iv) Increasing communication between the department of health, the department of corrections and contracted behavioral health providers working with persons involved in the criminal justice system;(v) Promoting and requiring to the maximum extent practical and permissible under applicable laws and regulations the portability and universal recognition of mental health and substance use disorder assessment tools and other assessment tools that may be applicable to mental health and substance use disorder treatment; and(vi) Creating a competitive and outcomes based funding stream for behavioral health providers to: (A) Expand existing services for criminal justice involved populations;(B) Improve the quality and availability of services and programs;(C) Train and develop the skills of providers and stakeholders working with persons who have behavior health needs and substance use disorders and who are involved in the criminal justice system.(g) This section shall not be interpreted to require the creation or maintenance of any duplicate functions, services or programs in the department of corrections and the department of health, but shall be interpreted with W.S. 9-2-130 to require coordination and collaboration between the agencies to assure the creation and maintenance of independent or coordinated functions, services and programs to meet the goals of this section and W.S. 9-2-130.(h) The department of corrections shall promulgate rules specifying reasonable actions a person in charge of a penal institution or correctional facility may take to stop or prevent a violation of W.S. 6-5-214(b).Amended by Laws 2023, ch. 131,§ 2, eff. 2/28/2023.Amended by Laws 2020 , ch. 152, § 2, eff. 7/1/2020.