Esta ley enmienda la Ley Núm. 98 de 10 de junio de 2000 para permitir que la Administración de Corrección, al igual que la Policía de Puerto Rico, utilice fondos asignados para el pago de horas extras trabajadas en eventos imprevistos y cuando la naturaleza de sus funciones lo requiera. También autoriza a la Administración de Corrección a pagar la deuda de horas extras a los Oficiales de Custodia de años fiscales anteriores.
(Approved April 11, 2002)
To amend Section 5 of Act No. 98 of June 10, 2000, as amended, to establish that the Corrections Administration, like the Puerto Rico Police may use the funds needed from the item consigned to said agency by this Act for the payment of overtime worked in unforeseen events and when the nature of its duties require it.
With the approval of Act No. 98 of June 10, 2000, a permanent expedited payment mechanism was established to ensure the monthly retribution for overtime worked by the officers of the Puerto Rico Police, the Commonwealth Emergency Management and Disaster Administration Agency, the Firefighters Corps, the Corrections Administration, the Juvenile Institutions Administration and the Pretrial Services Office. In the case of the members of the Puerto Rico Police, the use of the funds consigned by this Act was authorized for the payment of overtime worked in an unforeseen events and when the nature of its duties require it.
Section 8 of Act No. 116 of July 22, 1974, as amended, establishes that a body composed of custody officers shall be created as part of the corrections personnel, which shall be in charge of the responsibility of watching over inmates, keeping order and discipline in penal institutions, protecting persons and properties, supervising and rendering social orientation to inmates, and also to perform those other functions assigned to it by the Administrator or the officer on whom he/she delegates. They may
also persecute inmates who have escaped and those who have been freed but against whom there is a warrant for their arrest issued by the Parole Board and are to be arrested at any time, any place, and to such ends, they may use the same means authorized for law enforcements agents to make an arrest. Like the Puerto Rico Police, the Corrections Administration requires corrections officers to work overtime, due to the nature of their duties, to strengthen security in emergency situations such as: riots, escapes, disturbances, strikes, etc. Therefore, it is hereby established that the Corrections Administration may use the funds needed from the item consigned to said agency for the payment of overtime worked in unforeseen events and when the nature of its duties require it.
Section 1.- Section 5 of Act No. 98 of June 10, 2000, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 5.- The advances of funds that the Secretary of the Treasury consigns to these agencies shall not exceed twenty-five million $(25,000,000)$ dollars, which may be renewed in subsequent fiscal years. These funds may only be used for the payment of the hours worked during extraordinary events; except, in the case of the Puerto Rico Police, that may use the necessary funds from the item consigned to said agency for the payment of overtime not related to extraordinary events, provided they are duly justified and related to the nature of the office, in the following proportion: seventeen million five hundred thousand $(17,500,000)$ dollars for the Puerto Rico Police; five hundred thousand $(500,000)$ dollars for the Commonwealth Emergency Management and Disaster Administration Agency; five hundred thousand $(500,000)$ dollars for the Fire Department; five million $(5,000,000)$ dollars for the Corrections Administration; one million $(1,000,000)$ dollars
for the Juvenile Institutions Administration; and five hundred thousand $(500,000)$ dollars for the Office of Pretrial Services.
Section 2.- Separability Clause Should any clause, paragraph, section or part of this Act be declared unconstitutional by a competent court, the judgment rendered to such effect shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of the Act. The effect of said judgment shall be limited to the clause, paragraph, section or part of this Act that has thus been declared unconstitutional.
Section 3.- The Secretary of the Department of Corrections shall submit an annual report on the overtime payment plan to the Legislature.
Section 4.- The Corrections Administration is hereby authorized to pay the debt had with Custody Officers for the 1998-1999, 1999-2000 and 20002001 fiscal years.
Section 5.- Effectiveness This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 56 (S.B. 1229) of the $3^{ ext {rd }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Section 5 of Act No. 98 of June 10, 2000, as amended, to establish that the Corrections Administration, like the Puerto Rico Police may use the funds needed from the item consigned to said agency by this Act for the payment of overtime worked in unforeseen events and when the nature of its duties require it, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $8^{ ext {th }}$ of January of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director