II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1614 

To provide for the regulation of video visitation services and inmate calling 

services by the Federal Communications Commission generally, to establish criteria for the provision of video visitation services by the Bureau 

of Prisons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the regulation of video visitation services 

and inmate calling services by the Federal Communications Commission generally, to establish criteria for the 

provision of video visitation services by the Bureau of 

Prisons, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Video Visitation and 

5 Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FCC REGULATION OF VIDEO VISITATION SERVICE 

2 AND INMATE CALLING SERVICE. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ANCILLARY SERVICE CHARGE.—The term 

5 ‘‘ancillary service charge’’ means any charge that a 

6 consumer may be assessed for the use of inmate call7 ing services that is not included in the per-minute 

8 charges assessed for the individual call. 

9 (2) CALL.—The term ‘‘call’’— 

10 (A) means a voice or video call using a cov11 ered service; and 

12 (B) includes any other session of use that 

13 is similar to a telephone call. 

14 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

15 means the Federal Communications Commission. 

16 (4) CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘consumer’’ means 

17 the party paying a provider of inmate calling serv18 ices. 

19 (5) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘cor20 rectional facility’’ means a jail or prison. 

21 (6) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘‘covered 

22 service’’ means an inmate calling service or a video 

23 visitation service. 

24 (7) INMATE.—The term ‘‘inmate’’ means an in25 dividual detained in a correctional facility, regardless 

26 of the duration of the detention. 


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1 (8) INMATE CALLING SERVICE.—The term ‘‘in2 mate calling service’’ means a service that allows in3 mates to make calls to individuals outside the cor4 rectional facility where the inmate is detained, re5 gardless of the technology used to deliver the service. 

6 (9) SITE COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘site com7 mission’’ means any form of monetary payment, in8 kind payment, gift, exchange of services or goods, 

9 fee, technology allowance, or product that a provider 

10 of inmate calling services or affiliate of such a pro11 vider may pay, give, donate, or otherwise provide 

12 to— 

13 (A) an entity that operates a correctional 

14 institution; 

15 (B) an entity with which the provider of 

16 inmate calling services enters into an agreement 

17 to provide such services; 

18 (C) an agency that oversees a correctional 

19 facility; 

20 (D) the city, county, or State in which a 

21 correctional facility is located; or 

22 (E) an agent of any such correctional facil23 ity. 

24 (10) VIDEO VISITATION SERVICE.—The term 

25 ‘‘video visitation service’’ means a service that allows 


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1 inmates to make video calls to individuals outside 

2 the correctional facility where the inmate is being 

3 held, regardless of the technology used to deliver the 

4 service. A video visitation service may be classified 

5 as an inmate calling service, as the Commission con6 siders appropriate. 

7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall— 

9 (1) promulgate regulations with respect to video 

10 visitation service; and 

11 (2) amend the regulations of the Commission 

12 with respect to inmate calling service (as necessary), 

13 to ensure that all charges, practices, classifications, 

14 and regulations for and in connection with video visi15 tation service and inmate calling service are just and 

16 reasonable. 

17 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR REGULATIONS.—The regu18 lations promulgated under subsection (b) shall include the 

19 following: 

20 (1) Video visitation services may be used only 

21 to supplement, not supplant, in-person visitation. 

22 (2) Caps on the rates (and any related fees or 

23 charges) that a provider of a covered service may 

24 charge for such service. 


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1 (3) A prohibition against a provider of a cov2 ered service charging a flat rate for a call, regardless 

3 of the duration of the call. 

4 (4) A prohibition against a provider of a cov5 ered service requiring a correctional facility to re6 strict in-person visitation as a condition of providing 

7 such service in such facility. 

8 (5) A requirement that a provider of a covered 

9 service certify annually to the Commission that such 

10 provider is in compliance with the prohibition under 

11 paragraph (4). 

12 (6) A requirement that the provider of a cov13 ered service submit an annual report to the Commis14 sion regarding interstate, intrastate, and inter15 national inmate calling services for the prior cal16 endar year, which shall— 

17 (A) be categorized both by facility type and 

18 size; and 

19 (B) contain— 

20 (i) current interstate, intrastate, and 

21 international rates for inmate calling serv22 ices; 

23 (ii) current ancillary service charge 

24 amounts and the instances of use of each; 


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1 (iii) the monthly amount of each site 

2 commission paid; 

3 (iv) minutes of use, per-minute rates, 

4 and ancillary service charges for video visi5 tation services; 

6 (v) the number of TTY-based inmate 

7 calling services calls provided per facility 

8 during the reporting period; 

9 (vi) the number of dropped calls the 

10 reporting provider experienced with TTY11 based calls; and 

12 (vii) the number of complaints that 

13 the reporting provider received relating to 

14 issues such as dropped calls, poor call 

15 quality, and the number of incidences of 

16 each by TTY and telecommunications relay 

17 service (TRS) users. 

18 (7) A prohibition against a provider of a cov19 ered service offering or entering into an agreement 

20 to provide a covered service as part of a bundle of 

21 services that includes any service that is not a com22 munications service. 

23 (8) Requirements for the offering or entering 

24 into an agreement to provide a covered service as 

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1 tional facilities are able to review each service sepa2 rately during the request for proposals process. 

3 (9) With respect to video visitation service, 

4 quality standards that are the best commercially 

5 available for effective human communication by 

6 video, which shall be developed by the Commission 

7 after seeking comments that review the academic lit8 erature regarding the appropriate thresholds for ef9 fective human communication by video. 

10 (d) APPLICABILITY.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The regulations promulgated 

12 under subsection (b) shall apply to interstate service, 

13 intrastate service, and international service. 

14 (2) DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS.—In promul15 gating regulations under subsection (b), the Com16 mission may provide for different requirements for 

17 interstate service, intrastate service, and inter18 national service. 

19 SEC. 3. BUREAU OF PRISONS OVERSIGHT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 301 of title 18, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘§ 4015. Video visitation 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of 

25 Prisons shall take such actions as may be necessary to 


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1 ensure that, in the case of any prisoner in the custody 

2 of the Bureau of Prisons, video visitation services are 

3 available subject to the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) Video visitation services may be used only 

5 to supplement, not supplant, in-person visitation. 

6 ‘‘(2) Any equipment or area made available for 

7 purposes of video visitation shall maximize privacy 

8 to the extent practicable, and shall include measures 

9 to ensure the operability of the equipment by visi10 tors, including children. 

11 ‘‘(3) In entering into any agreement to provide 

12 covered services, the Director— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall give priority to bids submitted 

14 that require the purchase of equipment for 

15 video visitation; 

16 ‘‘(B) may not enter into any agreement in17 cluding a term providing for— 

18 ‘‘(i) any services other than those that 

19 are minimally required by the Director; 

20 ‘‘(ii) any authority to a person other 

21 than a corrections officer to make a deter22 mination that affects the terms of a pris23 oner’s imprisonment, including visitation 

24 schedules or ability of a person to move 

25 about within a correctional facility; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a covered service as part of a 

2 bundle of services that includes any service 

3 that is not a covered service; and 

4 ‘‘(C) may not enter into any agreement 

5 that does not include terms requiring— 

6 ‘‘(i) that the service provider provide 

7 a list of each video visitation and each in8 dividual fee charged to the visitor and the 

9 prisoner; 

10 ‘‘(ii) that the service provider offer a 

11 minimum number of free visits each month 

12 based on good behavior (as determined by 

13 the head of the correctional facility where14 in the service is provided); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) that the service provider submit 

16 quarterly reports including such informa17 tion as the Director may require to ensure 

18 compliance with the terms of this section. 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, terms used have 

20 the meanings given such terms in section 2 of the Video 

21 Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017, ex22 cept that, for purposes of this section, the term ‘video visi23 tation service’ includes a service that allows the use of 

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1 tems and software to allow inmates and visitors to visit 

2 at a distance with an inmate in a correctional facility.’’. 

3 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

4 chapter 301 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

5 by inserting after the item relating to section 4014 the 

6 following: 

‘‘4015. Video visitation.’’. 

Æ 


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