SF666

Senate Bill SF No 666 aims to enhance public safety and human services by ensuring that individuals confined in Minnesota's state-controlled juvenile and adult facilities have access to free communication services. This includes voice communication and may also feature video communication, email, or electronic messaging services. These services should not incur charges for either the sender or receiver.

The bill emphasizes that the introduction of these communication services should not replace in-person visitation rights at these facilities, except under specific emergency conditions like a declared emergency or a natural disaster.

Additionally, restrictions will be maintained on communication services to abide by any existing legal orders such as protection or no-contact orders.

The bill also mandates that the facilities cannot generate revenue from these communication services, although they can continue to collect previous contract-based commissions until these contracts are renegotiated or expire.

Furthermore, the Minnesota Department of Corrections is required to annually report on the usage, expenses, and contract statuses of these communication services to help monitor and optimize their implementation.

The definitions section clarifies what constitutes voice and other forms of communication, ensuring all terms are clearly understood and applied appropriately across various settings governed by the commissioner of corrections and the commissioner of human services.