Bill Text: NY S01942 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to providing voice communication services to incarcerated individuals in state correctional facilities at no cost.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-06 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S01942 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01942-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1942

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 17, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  BAILEY, CLEARE, COONEY, GOUNARDES, HOYLMAN-SIGAL,
          JACKSON, KRUEGER, RIVERA, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered  printed,
          and  when  printed  to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims,
          Crime and Correction

        AN ACT to amend the correction  law,  in  relation  to  providing  voice
          communication services to incarcerated individuals  at no cost

          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  amended  by  chapter
     2  322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §   623.   [Incarcerated  individual  telephone]  Voice  communication
     4  services for incarcerated individuals.  1.  [Telephone]  Voice  communi-
     5  cation  services contracts for incarcerated individuals in state correc-
     6  tional facilities shall be subject to the procurement provisions as  set
     7  forth  in  article  eleven  of the state finance law [provided, however,
     8  that when determining the best value  of  such  telephone  service,  the
     9  lowest possible cost to the telephone user shall be emphasized].
    10    2. [The department shall make available either a "prepaid" or "collect
    11  call" system, or a combination thereof, for telephone service. Under the
    12  "prepaid" system, funds may be deposited into an account in order to pay
    13  for  station-to-station calls, provided that nothing in this subdivision
    14  shall require the department to provide or administer a prepaid  system.
    15  Under  a  "collect call" system, call recipients are billed for the cost
    16  of an accepted telephone call initiated by an  incarcerated  individual.
    17  Under  such "collect call" system, the provider of incarcerated individ-
    18  ual telephone service, as an additional means of  payment,  must  permit
    19  the  recipient  of incarcerated individual calls to establish an account
    20  with such provider in order to deposit funds to  pay  for  such  collect
    21  calls  in  advance]  State and local agencies charged with the operation
    22  and management of state and local correctional facilities  and  juvenile
    23  detention facilities shall provide persons in their custody and confined

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05082-01-3
        S. 1942                             2

     1  in a correctional or detention facility with voice communication service
     2  at a minimum of ninety minutes per day and ensure sufficient infrastruc-
     3  ture to meet this baseline. The commissioner may supplement voice commu-
     4  nication  service with other advanced communication services, including,
     5  but not limited to, video communication and electronic mail services. To
     6  the extent that  the  commissioner  provides  such  voice  communication
     7  service  or  any other advanced communication service, each such service
     8  shall be provided free of charge to the person initiating and the person
     9  receiving the communication.
    10    3. [The department shall not accept or receive revenue  in  excess  of
    11  its  reasonable  operating  cost for establishing and administering such
    12  telephone system services as provided in subdivisions  one  and  two  of
    13  this  section]  No  state or local agency shall receive revenue from the
    14  provision of voice communication services  or  any  other  communication
    15  services  to  any  person  confined  in a state or local correctional or
    16  detention facility.
    17    4. Nothing in this section shall be construed  to  limit,  replace  or
    18  prevent  in-person  visitation  between  persons  confined in a state or
    19  local correctional or detention facility and relatives, friends  or  any
    20  other persons approved to visit such person.
    21    5.  The  department  shall  establish rules and regulations or depart-
    22  mental procedures to ensure that any [incarcerated individual phone call
    23  system] voice communication services for incarcerated individuals estab-
    24  lished by this section provides reasonable security measures to preserve
    25  the safety and security of each correctional facility, all staff and all
    26  persons outside a  facility  who  may  receive  incarcerated  individual
    27  [phone calls] voice communication services for incarcerated individuals.
    28    §  2.  This act shall take effect April 1, 2024 and shall apply to any
    29  new or renewal contract for voice communication services for incarcerat-
    30  ed individuals or other advanced communication services entered into  on
    31  or after such date and provided further that any new or renewal contract
    32  for  voice  communication services for incarcerated individuals or other
    33  advanced communication services entered into  prior  to  April  1,  2024
    34  shall not run past March 31, 2024.