Bill Text: NJ S2075 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires hotels to upgrade phone systems to allow guests to dial 9-1-1 without first dialing any other digit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-05 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S2075 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S2075-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires hotels to upgrade phone systems to allow guests to dial 9-1-1 without first dialing any other digit.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning access to 9-1-1 services and supplementing Title 29 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Each owner of a hotel as defined under R.S.29:2-1 shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this act, convert the hotel's telephone system to a dial tone first system, which shall allow a person making a call from a hotel telephone to dial the digits "9-1-1," without first having to dial any other digit in order to reach an outside telephone line. Instructions on how to access 9-1-1 shall be prominently displayed on each telephone provided in a hotel guest room.
The provisions of this section shall be operable to the extent that the provisions are not inconsistent with or preempted by federal law.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each hotel telephone system in the State to be converted to a dial tone first system, which would allow a person making a call from a telephone in a hotel guest room to dial 9-1-1 without first dialing any other digit. The bill requires hotels to convert their telephones to a dial tone first system within 90 days of the bill's effective date.
The bill also requires instructions on how to access 9-1-1 to be prominently displayed on each telephone in the guest room of a hotel.
Under the bill, a "hotel" is defined as any hotel, inn, boarding house, motel, or other establishment whose proprietor offers and accepts payment for rooms, sleeping accommodations, or board and lodging, and retains the right of access to, and control of, the premises which are let.
The bill clarifies that its provisions are operable to the extent that they are not inconsistent with or preempted by federal law.
This bill is in response to a tragic incident in Texas where Kari Rene Hunt was stabbed to death in her motel room by her estranged husband. Ms. Hunt's nine-year old daughter attempted to dial 9-1-1 from the motel room, but was unaware that she had to first dial "9" to reach an outside line. The incident has brought national awareness of the need for hotels to have updated phone systems so that hotel guests can easily access 9-1-1 during an emergency.
