If following a state or local law, administrative policy, labor agreement, directive, or any other rule prevents an agency from complying with a PREA Standard, should the agency or facility be considered compliant or non-compliant with the Standard for following the conflicting law, policy, agreement, directive, or rule?
An agency should be considered to be noncompliant with a PREA Standard if the agency elects to follow another authority and therefore fails to comply with the Standard. It makes no difference whether the other authority was adopted before or after the date of the promulgation of the PREA Standards.
The PREA Standards were designed to operate in conjunction with state and local laws.
Some PREA Standards expressly permit agencies to comply with state or local laws if there is a conflict with the PREA Standards (e.g., Standard 115.89(d) (requiring agencies to maintain sexual abuse data “for at least 10 years after the date of the initial collection unless Federal, State, or local law requires otherwise.”) and Standard 115.261(c)(requiring medical and mental health practitioners to report sexual abuse “unless otherwise precluded by Federal, State, or local law”)).
Some PREA Standards expressly require agencies to comply with applicable state and local laws while complying with the PREA Standards (e.g., Standard 115.17(c)(2) (requiring agencies to follow state and local laws while contacting prior institutional employers for information on substantiated allegations of sexual abuse before hiring individuals who may have contact with inmates) and Standard 115.313(a)(9)(requiring agencies to follow applicable state or local laws, regulations, or standards when determining adequate staffing levels and determining the need for video monitoring)).