Bill Text: NY A10179 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Provides electronic mail services to an incarcerated individual which allows an incarcerated individual to send up to ten electronic mail letters a day at no charge.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-24 - referred to correction [A10179 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10179-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10179

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 24, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Correction

        AN  ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to providing electronic
          mail services to an incarcerated individual

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Section 623 of the correction law, as added by chapter 240
     2  of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 623. [Inmate] Incarcerated individual telephone and electronic  mail
     4  services.  1.  Telephone  and  electronic  mail  services  contracts for
     5  [inmates] incarcerated  individuals  in  state  correctional  facilities
     6  shall  be  subject to the procurement provisions as set forth in article
     7  eleven of the state finance law provided, however, that when determining
     8  the best value of such telephone and electronic mail service, the lowest
     9  possible cost to the telephone and electronic mail user shall be  empha-
    10  sized.
    11    2.  a.  The  department  shall  make  available  either a "prepaid" or
    12  "collect call" system, or a combination thereof, for telephone  service.
    13  Under  the  "prepaid"  system, funds may be deposited into an account in
    14  order to pay for station-to-station calls, provided that nothing in this
    15  subdivision shall require the department  to  provide  or  administer  a
    16  prepaid  system.    Under  a  "collect call" system, call recipients are
    17  billed for the cost of  an  accepted  telephone  call  initiated  by  an
    18  [inmate]  incarcerated individual. Under such "collect call" system, the
    19  provider of [inmate] incarcerated individual telephone  service,  as  an
    20  additional  means  of  payment,  must  permit  the recipient of [inmate]
    21  incarcerated individual calls to establish an account with such provider
    22  in order to deposit funds to pay for such collect calls in advance.
    23    b. The department shall make available a "prepaid"  system  for  elec-
    24  tronic  mail service. Under the "prepaid" system, funds may be deposited
    25  into an account in order to pay for additional electronic mail  pursuant
    26  to  subdivision  three  of  this  section, provided that nothing in this
    27  subdivision shall require the department  to  provide  or  administer  a
    28  prepaid system.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15153-02-0

        A. 10179                            2

     1    3.  The  department  shall  provide secure electronic mail services to
     2  individuals in its custody. An incarcerated individual may  send  up  to
     3  ten  electronic  mail  letters a day at no charge. Additional electronic
     4  mail letters sent by such incarcerated individual may incur a charge  of
     5  no  more  than twenty-five cents per electronic mail letter on a prepaid
     6  account established pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision two  of  this
     7  section.    No  person  shall be charged for sending a secure electronic
     8  mail letter to an incarcerated individual.
     9    4. The department shall not accept or receive revenue in excess of its
    10  reasonable operating cost for establishing and administering such  tele-
    11  phone  and  electronic  mail system services as provided in subdivisions
    12  one, two and [two] three of this section.
    13    [4.] 5. The  department  shall  establish  rules  and  regulations  or
    14  departmental  procedures  to ensure that any [inmate] incarcerated indi-
    15  vidual phone call and electronic mail system established by this section
    16  provides reasonable security measures to preserve the safety and securi-
    17  ty of each correctional facility, all staff and all  persons  outside  a
    18  facility who may receive [inmate] incarcerated individual phone calls or
    19  electronic mail letters.
    20    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    21  it shall have become a law.
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