SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1441        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1494

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Cynthia Stone Creem

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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 to keep families connected.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1441        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1494

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1559 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 to keep families connected.

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

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. 

(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.

(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. 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 landline 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.

(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.

SECTION 3. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding after section 2QQQQQ the following new section:-

Section 2RRRRR. There shall be a Communications Access Trust Fund to be administered by the secretary of administration and finance, in consultation with the secretary of public safety and security. The fund shall consist of: (i) money transferred to the fund by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; (ii) funds from public and private sources, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants and donations; and (iii) interest earned on such money. Amounts credited to the fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. (b) Amounts credited to the fund may be expended, without further appropriation, by the secretary of administration and finance for the purposes of making payments to the department of correction and the sheriffs for providing voice communication services, including phone calls, and other communication services free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the communication pursuant to section 87A of chapter 127. The secretary of administration and finance shall make said payments to the department of correction and the sheriffs on a quarterly basis; provided, that sufficient documentation shall be received by the secretary of administration and finance consistent with subsection (c); provided, however, that no payment from the fund shall be for any financial incentive received in connection with a communication services contract, including, but not limited to a commission. (d) The department of correction and the sheriffs shall submit quarterly to the secretary of administration and finance documentation of communication services provided free of charge in order to receive payments from the fund pursuant to subsection (b); provided, that documentation shall include, but not be limited to, the following information for each facility: (i) the number of voice calls; (ii) the total number of minutes for voice calls; (iii) the number of video calls; (iv) the total number of minutes for video calls; (v) the number of electronic mail messages sent and received; ; and provided further, that the secretary of administration and finance may require additional documentation as deemed necessary by the secretary. (d) Quarterly, the secretary of administration and finance, in consultation with 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 matters related to telecommunication contracts entered into by the department of correction and the sheriffs, including, but not limited to: (i) records of all payments for telecommunications services for incarcerated persons; (ii)  contracts for all telecommunication services, including the compensation structure; (iii) a rate sheet itemizing all charges to consumers for services or programs embedded in the telecommunications contract, including  charges for tablet services and transfers to commissary accounts via tablet; (iv) revenue derived from products or services embedded in the telecommunications contract; (v) any policy governing access to voice, video or electronic mail communications, if such policy exists, and; (vi) any changes in contracts for voice communication services, including any progress in maximizing purchasing power and consolidating contracts between the sheriffs and the department of correction.

SECTION 4. The provisions of paragraphs (c), (e), and (f) of Section 1 of this act shall go into effect no later than ninety days after the enactment.