Prison Phone Justice

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION
103 CMR 482
TELEPHONE ACCESS AND USE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
482.01
482.02
482.03
482.04
482.05
482.06
482.07

482.09
482.10
482.11
482.12
482.13
482.14

Purpose
Statutory Authorization
Cancellation
Applicability
Access to Regulations
Definitions
Institution Procedures for Inmate Telephone Access and
Use
Inmate telephone use for court, attorney contact, preapproved ordained clergymen, licensed psychologist,
social worker, and/or mental health and human service
professionals
Telephone Access and Use for Special Status Inmates
Telephone Monitoring
Responsible Staff
Annual Review Date
Severability Clause
Effective Date

482.01

Purpose

482.08

The purpose of 103 CMR 482.00 is to establish Department
procedures regarding access to,
use of
and the
monitoring and/or recording of inmate telephones.
103
CMR 482.00 is not intended to confer any procedural or
substantive rights or any private cause of action not
otherwise granted by state or federal law.
482.02

Statutory Authorization
These regulations are issued pursuant to M.G.L. c. 124,
s. 1 (b), (c ) and (q) and c. 2 72, s. 9 9 .

482.03

Cancellation
These regulations cancel all previous Departmental and
institutional policy statements, bulletins, directives,
orders,
notices,
rules
and
regulations
regarding
telephone access and use which are inconsistent with
these regulations.

482.04
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Applicability
103 CMR 482 - 1

These regulations are applicable to all inmates in all
Department institutions and facilities.
482.05

Access to Regulations
These regulations shall be maintained in the central
policy file of the Department and shall be accessible to
all Department employees.
A copy of this policy shall
also be maintained in each Superintendent's central
policy file and at each inmate library.

482.06

482.07

Definitions
(1)

Call DetailInformation concerning a telephone
number called, including, but not limited to, the
PIN of the caller, the number called, the duration
of the call, the detection of three way switching,
the date and time of the call.

(2)

Commissioner - The chief executive officer of the
Department of Correction.

(3)

Department - Department of Correction.

(4)

Inmate Telephones - Telephones designated for the
exclusive use of inmates.

(5)

PIN Number- An authorized personal identification
number assigned to each inmate for use with inmate
telephones.

(6)

Special Status Inmates
Inmates in disciplinary
isolation, administrative segregation, protective
custody,
a
departmental
disciplinary
unit,
department segregation unit or inmates on awaiting
action status.

(7)

Superintendent - The chief administrative officer
of a correctional institution.

(8)

Telephone Monitoring
The monitoring and/or
recording of telephone conversations by an inmate.

Institution Procedures for Inmate Telephone Access and
Use
(1)

4-8-94

General
Each
superintendent
shall
develop
procedures to insure that inmates have access to
telephones.
Access should be regulated in such a
manner as to provide for the orderly and safe use
of telephones by inmates.
103 CMR 482 - 2

(2)

Inmate Telephone Use - Each superintendent shall
make arrangements to have an adequate number of
inmate telephones available for inmate use. Except
for installation charges, the institution shall not
be liable for telephone charges resulting from the
improper use of inmate telephones.
Institution
business telephones should not be used for inmate
telephone contact except in unusual situations and
then only with the permission of the superintendent
or his/her designee. Outgoing telephone calls only
will
be
allowed,
subject
to
the
conditions
authorized by this regulation.

(3)

Inmate Telephone Restrictions
(a)
(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)
4-8-94

All inmate calls shall be one-way collect
calls only, utilizing an automated operator.
Direct dialed calls, three way or conference
calling and calls to 411, 800, 900, 550, 976
or other multiple long distance carriers are
prohibited.
Inmates may be allowed a total of 15 telephone
numbers authorized for use in conjunction with
the inmates PIN. Five of these numbers shall
be reserved for attorney telephone numbers.
All inmate telephone calls, except calls to
pre-authorized attorney telephone numbers,
pre-authorized clergy telephone numbers and
pre-authorized professional telephone numbers
are subject to telephone monitoring.
All inmate telephone calls are subject to
duration limits, or other restrictions
such
as authorized calling hours as determined by
procedures developed by the Superintendent of
each facility.
All inmate telephone calls require posi tive
call acceptance by the called party prior to
the call being connected.
The telephone
system shall use a pre-recorded name to
announce who the call is from.
All inmate telephone calls shall contain a
pre-recorded announcement identifying that the
collect call is originating from an inmate at
a Massachusetts Department of Correction
(insti tution) and indicate that the call is
subject to being recorded and that any attempt
to
access a three party line or conference
call will cause the system to immediately
disconnect the call.
An inmate telephone privileges, except for
attorney telephone calls may be suspended or
103 CMR 482 - 3

curtailed either pending disciplinary action,
administrative
action or as part of
a
disciplinary sanction.

482.08

(4)

Suspension of Inmate Telephone UseInmate
telephone
use
may
be
suspended
by
the
Superintendent or his designee when,
in the
Superintendent's opinion,
inmate telephone use
presents a threat to the institution's security.
Telephone calls to courts and attorneys shall not
be suspended.

(5)

International Debit Calling
Inmates will be
allowed to call five international numbers in
addition to the ten personal numbers that can be
called collect. To make an international telephone
call to an area where collect calls cannot be
completed, the inmate can place a debit call in
which (s) he shall be responsible to pay for the
call prior to having the ability to complete the
call.
Prior to placing any international calls,
the inmate must complete an Inmate International
Debit Request Form to transfer money from their
account to a debit account for the purpose of
placing an international telephone call.

(6)

All commissions received that are derived from
inmate "collect" calling shall be returned to the
General Fund of the Commonwealth.
This shall be
done on a monthly basis by the Director of
Administrative Services.

(7)

All commissions received that are derived from
inmate "debit" calling are to be deposited into a
"z" account under the supervision of the Director
of Administrative Services.
Expenditures of such
funds are to be approved by the Commissioner in
accordance with 103 DOC 476, Section 476.12 (2).

(8)

Reports detailing all receipts and expenditures of
inmate telephone commissions shall be kept on file
by the Director of Administrative Services.

INMATE TELEPHONE USE FOR COURT, ATTORNEY CONTACT, PREAPPROVED ORDAINED CLERGYMEN, LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST,
SOCIAL WORKER, AND/OR MENTAL HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE
PROFESSIONALS
(1)

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Telephone calls to pre-authorized attorney numbers
shall not be suspended or curtailed except in an
institutional emergency.
Telephone calls to preauthorized attorney numbers shall not be subject to
103 CMR 482 - 4

telephone monitoring or recording.
(2)

Inmate will be allowed to make unmonitored and
unrecorded
collect
telephone
calls
to
their
designated and pre-approved ordained clergymen,
pre-approved and licensed psychologists, social
worker, and/or mental health and human service
professional.
No
clergymen employed by the Department
of
Correction and no professional employed by the
department or contracting to provide services on
behalf of the department may be designated by an
inmate, nor will such individuals be pre-approved.
In order to complete the pre-approval process, the
inmate must provide a designation of the clergyman
or professional and a letter from the clergyman or
professional
attesting
to
the
professional
relationship that exists with the inmate.
The
superintendent may require additional documentation
as necessary.

482.09

4-8-94

Telephone Access and Use for Special Status Inmates
(1)

Disciplinary Isolation
Inmates confined in
disciplinary isolation or placed in disciplinary
awaiting action status shall not have access to a
telephone, except to directly contact a court or an
attorney, unless authorized by the superintendent
or his/her designee.

(2)

Administrative
Seqreqation
and
Administrative
Segregation Awaiting Action Status
Institution
policy shall provide for the manner and extent of
telephone
access
for
inmates
confined
in
administrative
segregation
and
administrative
segregation awaiting action status.

(3)

Protective Custody and Protective Custody Awaiting
Action Status
Institution policy shall provide
for the manner and extent of telephone access for
inmates
confined
in
protective
custody
or
protective custody awaiting action status.

(4)

Special Status
Special status inmates may be
permitted to make emergency telephone calls (calls
not covered by 103 CMR 482.08) upon the approval of
the superintendent.

(5)

Department
Disciplinary
Unit
or
Departmental
Segregation Unit- Inmates housed in these special
103 CMR 482 - 5

housing units shall have telephone privileges as
authorized by the Superintendent.
482.10

482.11

Telephone Monitoring
(1)

Inmate acceptance of a PIN and use of inmate
telephones shall be deemed as consent to the
conditions and restrictions placed upon inmate
telephone
calls,
including
call
monitoring,
recording and call detail.

(2)

Procedures for the authorization and changing of
inmate pre-authorized telephone numbers shall be
developed to occur no less that on a quarterly
basis during the first full week of the months of
January, April, July, and October and as outlined
in institutional procedures authorized by the
Superintendent of the facility.

(3)

Access to a particular telephone number, including
pre-authorized numbers may be blocked at the
discretion of the Superintendent.

Responsible Staff
The
Superintendent
of
each
institution shall be
responsible for developing institutional procedures, in
addition
to
implementing
and
monitoring
these
regulations.

482.12

Annual Review Date
These regulations shall be reviewed at least annually
from the effective date by the Commissioner or his
designee.
The party or parties conducting the review
shall develop a memorandum to the Commissioner with a
copy to the central policy file indicating revisions,
additions, or deletions which shall be included for the
Commissioner's written approval.

482.13

Severability Clause
If any article, section, subsection, sentence, clause or
phrase of these regulations is for any reason held to be
unconstitutional, contrary to statute, in excess of the
authority of the Commissioner or otherwise inoperative,
such decision shall not affect the validity of any other
article, section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase
of these regulations.

482.14
4-8-94

Effective Date
103 CMR 482 - 6

These regulations are effective upon publication in the
Massachusetts Register.

4-8-94

103 CMR 482 - 7