S.F. No. 2734 Summary

• Amends Department of Corrections biennial report requirements to include information about inmates with hearing loss, deaf, or deafblind status, including number identified per facility, types and costs of reasonable accommodations provided, and denied accommodation requests.

• Amends Bureau of Criminal Apprehension biennial report to include data on the number of deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing persons incarcerated in jails during the preceding two calendar years.

• Establishes a 12-member Deaf, Deafblind, and Hard-of-Hearing People's Access to Justice Task Force with representatives from law enforcement, deaf advocacy organizations, disability rights groups, and legislature, with members to be appointed by August 1, 2016.

• Task force shall research how to provide interpreters or assistive listening technology for law enforcement encounters statewide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and submit a report with findings and draft legislation by January 1, 2017.

• Appropriates unspecified amount from general fund to Legislative Coordinating Commission in fiscal year 2017 to support task force operations; task force expires upon report submission or January 1, 2017, whichever is earlier.