A.  The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections is hereby authorized to establish community resource centers to provide housing for inmates to remediate the damage done following a natural disaster or emergency.  In implementing disaster remediation activities by inmates the secretary shall maximize the use of inmate labor to augment governmental personnel and community volunteers conducting remediation activities during the period immediately after such disaster and assure that inmate labor does not replace an existing employee, work on a project or job involved in a labor dispute, or supplant post disaster remediation activities that may otherwise be performed under contract by private sector firms employed by an affected individual or governmental entity.

B.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, every eligible inmate in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections who has been convicted of a felony, except an inmate prohibited from participation as provided for in Subsection D of this Section, may be assigned to perform labor related to cleanup and rebuilding following a natural disaster, emergency or other catastrophe if all of the following conditions are met:

(1)  The governor has declared a disaster or emergency in the parish where the work will be conducted pursuant to executive order or proclamation pursuant to the provisions of the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act.

(2)  The inmate is not excluded from eligibility for participation pursuant to the provisions of Subsection D and pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the secretary.

(3)  The secretary has approved the participation of the inmate in implementing disaster remediation activities.

C.  Participation in a community resource center shall be granted under the rules, regulations and procedures prescribed and promulgated by the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.  The rules shall be adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

D.  An inmate in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall not be eligible to participate in the community resource centers if the inmate has been convicted of a crime defined or enumerated as a crime of violence in La. Rev. Stat. 14:2(B) or the inmate has been convicted of a sex offense as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 15:541.

E.  Inmates participating in the community resource center shall be eligible to earn a maximum of thirty days earned credits toward the reduction of the projected good time parole supervision date in addition to that otherwise authorized by law for every thirty days of service in this program.

F.  The provisions of this Section shall be subject to appropriation by the legislature or the availability of any appropriate federal funds.

Acts 2006, No. 104, §1; Acts 2011, No. 186, §3.