Permits the use of portable electronic devices for making phone calls as part of the telephone service system made available to incarcerated individuals.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9677
SPONSOR: Dilan TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to permitting the use of
portable electronic devices for making phone calls by incarcerated indi-
viduals
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill will include wireless calls as part of DOCCS (Department of
Correction and Community Supervision) telephone system, ensure that such
wireless calls will not substitute for regular phone calls, and ensure
that such calls will not be subject to higher costs than calls placed
from telephones.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the correction law, including wireless call as part
of its telephone system. It states that such wireless calls shall not
substitute for regular phbne call availability and shall not be subject
to higher costs than calls placed from telephones. Finally, section one
specifies that DOCCS shall have the same ability to impose limitation on
wireless calls as they have for calls placed from telephones.
Section two provides the effective date: the ninetieth date succeeding
the date on which it shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
As reported by Correctional Association of New York (CANY), dormitories
in several facilities that accommodate 40 to 50 individuals often have
as few as three phones per housing unit. These limitations and the
disparity in access cause unnecessary frustration among incarcerated
individuals and tension between them and staff. Allowing phone calls to
be made utilizing wireless tablets will relieve this problem by increas-
ing the devices that can make calls.
This bill will ensure that-wireless calls will not replace classic tele-
phone calls, avoiding the risk of denying phone calls to people not
familiar with or not in possession of newer wireless technologies. This
bill will also aid DOCCS officials in their daily activities by reducing
unnecessary tension among incarcerated individuals and by providing
officials with a correction tool to incentivize positive behaviors.
Most importantly, this bill will foster connection between incarcerated
individuals and non-incarcerated ones, increasing incarcerated individ-
uals' well-being, mental health and aiding their re-entry process.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth date next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9677
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DILAN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to permitting the use of
portable electronic devices for making phone calls by incarcerated
individuals
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 623 of the correction law, as
2 amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 2. The department shall make available either a "prepaid" or "collect
5 call" system, or a combination thereof, for telephone service. Under the
6 "prepaid" system, funds may be deposited into an account in order to pay
7 for station-to-station calls, provided that nothing in this subdivision
8 shall require the department to provide or administer a prepaid system.
9 Under a "collect call" system, call recipients are billed for the cost
10 of an accepted telephone call initiated by an incarcerated individual.
11 Under such "collect call" system, the provider of incarcerated individ-
12 ual telephone service, as an additional means of payment, must permit
13 the recipient of incarcerated individual calls to establish an account
14 with such provider in order to deposit funds to pay for such collect
15 calls in advance. The department shall include as part of its telephone
16 service system the ability to make wireless calls utilizing portable
17 tablet devices or other portable electronic devices. Such wireless
18 device calls shall not substitute for regular phone call availability.
19 The department shall make a reasonable effort to provide these wireless
20 calls free of charge. Such wireless calls shall not be subject to high-
21 er costs than calls placed from telephones. The department shall have
22 the same ability to impose limitations on wireless calls for incarcerat-
23 ed individuals as calls placed from telephones.
24 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
25 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15003-02-4
