S 7657: Establishes a bill of rights for family members and visitors of incarcerated individuals including the establishment of an independent office for visitation oversight to monitor implementation, receive complaints, and ensure compliance.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7657 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE April 25, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- 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 establishing a bill of rights for family members and visitors of incarcerated individuals The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 138-b 2 to read as follows: 3 § 138-b. Bill of rights for family members and visitors of incarcerat- 4 ed individuals. 1. Family members and visitors of an incarcerated indi- 5 vidual shall be treated with fairness and respect by all staff within 6 the correctional facility. 7 2. Family members and visitors of an incarcerated individual shall not 8 be subjected to any forms of harassment or discrimination solely due to 9 their relation to, or visitation of, an incarcerated individual. This 10 shall be in accordance with state and federal anti-discrimination laws. 11 3. Family members and visitors of an incarcerated individual shall 12 have the right to communicate with such incarcerated individual through 13 phone calls, visitation and letters consistent with existing laws, 14 rules, and regulations. Correctional facilities shall not impose barri- 15 ers to communication beyond those necessary for safety and security. 16 4. Correctional facilities visitation policies shall be consistent, 17 transparent, and accessible to visitors in writing. 18 5. All reasonable, legal requests by family members and visitors of an 19 incarcerated individual shall be granted by staff unless the request is 20 expressly prohibited by law, rule or regulation. 21 6. When a request of a family member or visitor of an incarcerated 22 individual is denied by staff, the exact reason for the denial must be 23 explained with specific reference to law, rule or regulation. Such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11808-01-5 
 S. 7657 2 1 explanation shall be made within twenty-four hours following such denial 2 either in writing or orally with documentation. 3 7. Care packages, including food, brought by family members and visi- 4 tors of an incarcerated individual shall be presumed, de facto, to be 5 permissible and every effort should be made to ensure that such packages 6 are delivered to their intended recipient during the underlying visita- 7 tion period, unless a specific security risk is identified and docu- 8 mented. 9 8. Visitation opportunities shall not be cancelled except due to 10 extreme exigent circumstances. In the event that a scheduled visitation 11 is cancelled by the facility less than forty-eight hours in advance, 12 such facility shall reimburse visitors for necessary expenses. Such 13 expenses shall include, but not be limited to, transportation costs, 14 lodging, and meals. Visitors must submit reimbursement details with 15 appropriate documentation. 16 9. The department shall establish an independent office for visitation 17 oversight to monitor implementation of this section, receive complaints, 18 and ensure compliance. 19 10. Any visitor who believes their rights under this section have been 20 violated may file a complaint through the visitation oversight office 21 established pursuant to subdivision nine of this section, which shall 22 investigate and respond to such complaint within thirty days. 23 11. Facilities found to be in violation of this section shall be 24 required to take corrective action, which may include staff training, 25 disciplinary measures, and/or policy revisions. 26 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 27 have become a law.