NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3780
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to allowing a telephone
call prior to an incarcerated individual's transfer
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To provide that state incarcerated individuals transferred to a new
correctional facility are able to call their families prior to being
transferred and the department will send an electronic notice to the
next of kin or personal representative.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 23 of the correction law.
Section 2 provides an effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Incarcerated individuals are routinely transferred from one facility to
another for a variety of reasons. Immediately before transfer they are
locked down for a few days, then are sent by bus to their new facility.
The bus may take several days to arrive at the new facility, since it
usually makes other stops along the way. Once an incarcerated individual
reaches a new facility, they are initially placed in special housing and
then eventually, transferred to general population.
Unfortunately, many family members and loved ones take trips and spend
money in order visit the incarcerated individual, just to be turned away
upon arrival because their loved one has been transferred to a new
facility. DOCCS does not tell family members when an incarcerated indi-
vidual is being transferred and since the incarcerated individuals are
locked down, they cannot phone home. Allowing an incarcerated individual
to call home prior to being transferred can help relieve the stress that
incarcerated individuals and their families feel around the time of
transfer and can make the transition to a new prison easier. Family
members can avoid the financial burden of visiting the wrong facility
and/or sending packages that may become lost in the mail. 'The electron-
ic notice ensures that the next of kin or personal representative is
notified in case they missed the call.
This bill follows current DOCCS practice of allowing an incarcerated
individual to phone home once the transfer is completed but expands that
practice by permitting incarcerated individuals to call their loved ones
immediately prior to being transferred too.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2020-2021: A.8190, referred to correction
2019-2020: S3100, died on third reading; A6867, died in correction, died
on third reading
2018: S8966A, died in rules; A10829B, died on third reading
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3780
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN, GIBBS, ANDERSON, COOK, SIMONE, SAYEGH,
ALVAREZ, ZACCARO, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, RAGA, SIMON -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Correction
AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to allowing a telephone
call prior to an incarcerated individual's transfer
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 23 of the correction law, as
2 amended by chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. The commissioner shall have the power to transfer incarcerated
5 individuals from one correctional facility to another. Whenever the
6 transfer of incarcerated individuals from one correctional facility to
7 another shall be ordered by the commissioner, the superintendent of the
8 facility from which the incarcerated individuals are transferred shall
9 take immediate steps to make the transfer. The transfer shall be in
10 accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department for
11 the safe delivery of such incarcerated individuals to the designated
12 facility. [Within] Immediately prior to the transfer, the department
13 shall electronically notify the incarcerated individual's next of kin or
14 personal representative of the transfer and the incarcerated individual
15 shall be allowed to make at least one personal phone call, free of
16 charge, except under exceptional circumstances when to do so would
17 create an unacceptable risk to the safety and security of incarcerated
18 individuals or staff. When a call is not permitted due to exceptional
19 circumstances, the department shall so indicate in a contemporaneous
20 written document. Additionally, within twenty-four hours of arriving at
21 the facility to which an incarcerated individual is transferred, [he or
22 she] such individual shall be allowed to make at least one personal
23 phone call, except when to do so would create an unacceptable risk to
24 the safety and security of incarcerated individuals or staff. If securi-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03032-01-5
A. 3780 2
1 ty precautions prevent the incarcerated individual from making such
2 call, a staff member designated by the superintendent of the facility
3 shall make a call to a person of the incarcerated individual's choice
4 unless the incarcerated individual declines to have such a call made.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
6 have become a law.
