II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3780 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for additional prohibitions and enhanced penalties for providing or possessing wireless communications devices in detention facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 7), 2024 

Mrs. HYDE-SMITH (for herself, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

additional prohibitions and enhanced penalties for providing or possessing wireless communications devices in 

detention facilities, 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 ‘‘Eliminate Non-ap5 proved Devices and Contraband Electronics Limiting 

6 Links to Society Act’’ or the ‘‘END CELLS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934. 

2 Title V of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

3 U.S.C. 501 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 512. PROVIDING OR POSSESSING WIRELESS COMMU6 NICATIONS DEVICES IN DETENTION FACILI7 TIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITED ACTS.—It shall be unlawful for any 

9 person— 

10 ‘‘(1) in violation of any Federal or State statute 

11 or rule, or order issued under such statute or rule, 

12 to provide or attempt to provide to a person held in 

13 a detention facility a wireless communications de14 vice; 

15 ‘‘(2) to willfully and knowingly facilitate the in16 troduction, in violation of any Federal or State stat17 ute or rule, or order issued under such statute or 

18 rule, of a wireless communications device into a de19 tention facility; or 

20 ‘‘(3) being a person held in a detention facility, 

21 to possess or obtain, or attempt to obtain, a wireless 

22 communications device in violation of a Federal or 

23 State statute or rule, or order issued under such 

24 statute or rule. 

25 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.— 

26 ‘‘(1) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding para2 graph (2) of section 503(b), the amount of any 

3 forfeiture penalty determined or imposed under 

4 such section for a violation of subsection (a) 

5 shall not exceed $50,000 for each violation or 

6 each day of a continuing violation, except that 

7 the amount assessed for any continuing viola8 tion shall not exceed a total of $1,000,000 for 

9 any single act or failure to act. 

10 ‘‘(B) NO CITATION REQUIRED.—Para11 graph (5) of section 503(b) shall not apply in 

12 the case of a violation of subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(C) 2-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 

14 Notwithstanding paragraph (6) of section 

15 503(b), no forfeiture penalty for violation of 

16 subsection (a) shall be determined or imposed 

17 against any person if the violation charged oc18 curred more than 2 years prior to the date of 

19 issuance of the notice required by paragraph 

20 (3) of section 503(b) or the notice of apparent 

21 liability required by paragraph (4) of section 

22 503(b) (as the case may be). 

23 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL FINE.—Any person who willfully 

24 and knowingly violates subsection (a) shall upon 

25 conviction thereof be fined not more than $50,000 


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1 for each violation, in lieu of the fine provided by sec2 tion 501 for such a violation. Nothing in this section 

3 shall be construed to supersede the provisions of sec4 tion 501 relating to imprisonment or the imposition 

5 of a penalty of both fine and imprisonment. 

6 ‘‘(c) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec7 tion shall be construed to— 

8 ‘‘(1) prohibit any lawfully authorized investiga9 tive, protective, or intelligence activity of a law en10 forcement agency of the United States, a State, or 

11 a political subdivision of a State, or of an intel12 ligence agency of the United States; or 

13 ‘‘(2) prevent the chief legal officer, or any other 

14 officer, of a State from exercising the powers con15 ferred on such officer by the laws of such State to 

16 enforce State law, including punishing those found 

17 guilty of violating State law. 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) DETENTION FACILITY.—The term ‘deten20 tion facility’ means a correctional, detention, or 

21 penal facility located within the United States. 

22 ‘‘(2) WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.— 

23 The term ‘wireless communications device’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) a device that enables the user to send 

25 or receive a radio communication, regardless of 


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1 whether a license from the Commission is re2 quired for the use or operation of such device; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(B) a component that provides identifica5 tion or authentication to enable a device de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) to connect to a 

7 communications network.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 The amendment made by this Act shall apply with 

10 respect to conduct that occurs after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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