Opinion ID: 776026
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Control Over Department

Text: 65 The Board next argues that the injunction applies to parts of the original litigation already resolved by the settlement agreement, and is directed at facilities and individuals that are under the control of the Department. This objection does not properly apply to the parole revocation notification and hearing process. Prior to the hearing, the parolees are not incarcerated in facilities controlled by the Department, and notices may be served by any qualified persons designated by the Board. Moreover, parole revocation hearings need not be conducted at Department facilities. Because the Board can conduct the parole revocation process without using Department personnel or premises, the Board could readily comply with this aspect of the injunction without involving the Department's staff or facilities in any way. 66 The case of prisoners (and parolees whose parole has already been revoked) is different, however. The Department may in some instances require the Board to utilize Department staff or facilities when serving notice or conducting hearings on Department premises. We have identified three aspects of the injunction that must be construed or modified in a manner that will ensure that it does not order the Department to further modify its facilities, policies, or procedures, 36 or direct the Board to require the Department to do so (even assuming the Board had such authority). 67
68 Paragraph 6 of the injunction, which requires the Board to develop a transition plan in accordance with 28 C.F.R. 25.150(d), mandates that the Board evaluate facilities in which parole proceedings are conducted; provide the Department of Corrections with a list of all facilities that are not fully accessible; and produce a schedule for providing accessible proceedings for prisoners with disabilities at each facility. While most of paragraph 6 is unobjectionable, and simply requires the Board to inform itself as to which facilities, including Department facilities, provide accessible hearing rooms for mobility impaired prisoners or parolees, to the extent that it requires mobility impaired prisoners housed in Department facilities to be transported to alternative, accessible hearing locations, paragraph 6 may interfere with the Department's penological interest in securely confining certain prisoners. Accordingly, we construe this provision as requiring only that the Board request that the Department transport mobility impaired prisoners to accessible locations if the facilities at which they are housed are inadequate. The Department may, for valid security or other penological reasons, decline to do so. 37 69
70 Paragraph 14 of the injunction requires the Board to provide ADA training to its own staff, any attorneys it employs, and Department staff involved in the parole and parole revocation process. This portion of the injunction is designed to enforce 28 C.F.R. 35.130(b)(1), which prohibits state entities from avoiding compliance with the act by delegating their services through contractual, licensing, or other agreements. To the extent that paragraph 14 directs the Board to require Department personnel to undergo training, we agree with the Board's objection. Accordingly, we instruct the district court to modify the injunction as follows on remand: The Board shall provide training for all persons under its jurisdiction to the extent set forth in paragraph 14; it shall also offer training to Department staff involved in the parole and revocation process; should any Department personnel decline such training, the Board shall use its own personnel in their stead, except when the Department requires that Department employees perform the services involved. 71
72 Paragraphs 15-18 of the injunction require that the Board establish a tracking system by which it can determine which inmates suffer from disabilities, and what their disabilities are. 38 The Board relies upon a prior decision of ours in the Department phase of this case, see Armstrong v. Davis, 215 F.3d 1332, 2000 WL 369622 (9th Cir. 2000), in asserting that no tracking system is required. However, in our earlier opinion we did not reject the tracking requirement per se, but held that the tracking system proposed by the Department was reasonably related to legitimate penological interests, and should not have been rejected by the district court. See id. Because the regulations implementing the ADA require a public entity to accommodate individuals it has identified as disabled, 28 C.F.R. 35.104, some form of tracking system is necessary in order to enable the Board to comply with the Act. However, to the extent that tracking is conducted by the Department, it is not necessary for the Board to duplicate that system, and the Board may make use of the Department's tracking system as a permissible means of complying with the injunction.