§25-5-12. Access by contracting agency, commissioner; reimbursement of expenses; report by commissioner.

(a) The commissioner shall cause to be made such inspections of prison facilities as are necessary to effectively enforce the requirements of this article. The commissioner or his authorized representative or a contracting agency shall have access to all areas of the facility and to inmates and staff at all times. The contractor shall provide to the commissioner any and all data, reports, and other materials that the commissioner determines are necessary to carry out inspections pursuant to this article.

(b) The contractor shall reimburse the Division of Corrections for expenses incurred for inspections. Such reimbursement shall be payable to the Division of Corrections.

(c) The commissioner shall report on the performance of contractors operating within this state, no less frequently than annually, until the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-three and thereafter as requested by either the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the President of the Senate, the Regional Jail Authority or the Governor. Upon such request, the report shall be submitted to the Speaker of the House of Delegates, to the President of the Senate, to the Regional Jail Authority and to the Governor.