HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 822        FILED ON: 1/17/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1796

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Chynah Tyler

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to telephone service for inmates in all correctional and other penal institutions in the Commonwealth.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 822        FILED ON: 1/17/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1796

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1900 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to telephone service for inmates in all correctional and other penal institutions in the Commonwealth.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section [1] Chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 87 the following section:-

Section 87A. (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms “state correctional facilities,” “state prisons” and “county correctional facilities” shall have the same meanings as those terms are defined in section 1 of chapter 125. For purposes of this section, “housing units” are defined as follows: any and all administrative segregation or restrictive housing units, Hospital Service Units, Mental Health Units and General Population housing units in the facility, and any new types of housing units the department of correction or sheriffs may establish in the future.

(b) The department of correction and sheriffs shall provide and shall ensure adequate infrastructure to provide voice communication services to persons committed to state correctional facilities, state prisons and county correctional facilities, including jails and houses of correction.

(c) The provision of such communication services shall be provided free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the communication within 90 days of enactment of this bill.

(d) In all housing units, each incarcerated or detained person shall be able to access voice communication services at all times to the extent that such access does not interfere with rehabilitative, educational or vocational programming or routine facility procedures; and further, access to voice communication services shall not be less than existed during the month prior to enactment of this section; and further, the department shall provide a designated space for this communication to occur.

(e) In all state correctional facilities, state prisons and county correctional facilities, including jails and houses of correction, that currently provide tablets that are capable of becoming calling-enabled, the department of correction and sheriffs shall enable voice communication services via these tablets, and shall ensure adequate infrastructure to provide voice communication services via these tablets. These voice communication services shall be provided free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the communication, within 90 days of enactment of this bill. When tablet calling is unavailable—because Wifi is unavailable, the tablet is damaged or lost, or for any other reason—incarcerated persons shall have access to physical phones at all times in all housing units to the extent that such access does not interfere with rehabilitative, educational or vocational programming or routine facility procedures.

(f) The department of correction and sheriffs may supplement voice communication services with other communication services, including, but not limited to, video and electronic communication services provided, however, that other communication services shall not replace voice communication services; and provided further, that other communication services shall be provided free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the communication within 90 days of enactment of this bill.

(g) Nothing in this section shall authorize or permit the department of correction or sheriffs to limit or prohibit in-person contact visits.

Section [2] Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, not later than 90 days of enactment of this bill, any provision of a contract for communication services to any person confined in a state correctional facility, state prison or county correctional facility that provides for the payment of revenue, financial incentives or commissions to a state or local law enforcement agency shall be void and the department of correction and sheriffs shall renegotiate any such contract to remove any such provision. A renegotiated contract shall reduce the cost of communication services to reflect the removal of any provision that provide for the payment of revenue, financial incentives or commissions to a state or local enforcement agency; provided, however, that no other terms of the contract shall be affected by this section; provided further, that the department of corrections and the sheriffs shall seek to maximize purchasing power and consolidate contracts to the extent feasible after such renegotiated contracts expire; provided further, that not later than 90 days after the enactment of this bill, the department of correction and the sheriffs shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on the judiciary on the status of any communication services contracts and plans to consolidate contracts to maximize purchasing power for voice communication services.