II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 251 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit targeted interference 

with mobile radio services within prison facilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 15, 2009 

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. DEMINT) 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 permit targeted interference with mobile radio services within prison facilities. 

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 ‘‘Safe Prisons Commu5 nications Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERFERENCE PERMITTED WITHIN PRISONS. 

7 Section 333 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

8 U.S.C. 333) is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

2 ‘‘No person’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR PRISONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) Waiver.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

7 Federal Bureau of Prisons or the chief execu8 tive officer of a State (or his or her designee) 

9 may, by petition, request that the Commission 

10 grant a waiver of subsection (a) to permit the 

11 installation of devices for the sole purpose of 

12 preventing, jamming, or interfering with wire13 less communications within the geographic 

14 boundaries of a specified prison, penitentiary, 

15 or correctional facility under his or her jurisdic16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(B) TERM.—A waiver granted under this 

18 subsection shall be for a term not to exceed 10 

19 years, but shall be renewable by petition. 

20 ‘‘(C) FEE.—The Commission may not 

21 charge a filing fee for a petition under this 

22 paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION; DATABASE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF CARRIERS.—Upon 

25 receipt of a petition under paragraph (1), the 


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1 Commission shall provide a copy of the petition 

2 to each commercial mobile service provider serv3 ing the area that includes the prison, peniten4 tiary, or correctional facility to which the peti5 tion applies. 

6 ‘‘(B) DATABASE.—The Commission shall 

7 maintain an electronic database containing a 

8 copy of each such petition received by it and the 

9 disposition thereof. The Commission shall up10 date the database at least monthly and shall 

11 make the database publicly available on the 

12 Commission’s Internet website and publish a 

13 copy of the database in the Federal Register at 

14 least quarterly. 

15 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF PETITION.—In deter16 mining whether to grant a requested waiver, the 

17 Commission shall consider, among other factors, 

18 whether the grant of the waiver would interfere with 

19 emergency or public safety communications. The 

20 Commission shall act on a request under this sub21 section within 60 calendar days after the date on 

22 which the Commission receives the petition. 

23 ‘‘(4) TRANSFER PROHIBITED.—A prison, peni24 tentiary, or correctional facility that receives a waiv25 er pursuant to this subsection may not transfer the 


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1 ownership or right to use any device authorized pur2 suant to the waiver to any third party for use out3 side the area of the prison, penitentiary, or correc4 tional facility for which the waiver was granted. 

5 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON USE.—Within 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of the Safe Prisons 

7 Communications Act of 2009, the Commission shall 

8 adopt final regulations governing the use of devices 

9 authorized by a waiver under this subsection that, at 

10 a minimum, require that the prison, penitentiary, or 

11 correctional facility— 

12 ‘‘(A) utilize a device— 

13 ‘‘(i) authorized by the Commission; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) specifically approved by the Com16 mission for the purpose described in para17 graph (1); 

18 ‘‘(B) operate the device at the lowest pos19 sible transmission power necessary to prevent, 

20 jam, or interfere with wireless communications 

21 by inmates; and 

22 ‘‘(C) operate the device in a manner that 

23 does not interfere with wireless communications 

24 that originate and terminate outside the area of 

25 the prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility, 


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1 by operating the device on a directionalized 

2 basis, by utilizing all other interference-limiting 

3 capabilities available to the device, or otherwise. 

4 ‘‘(6) SUSPENSION; REVOCATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF

6 WAIVER.— 

7 ‘‘(i) NOTICE FROM PROVIDER.—The 

8 Commission shall suspend a waiver grant9 ed under this subsection with respect to a 

10 prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility 

11 upon receiving written notice from a com12 mercial mobile service provider, supported 

13 by affidavit and such documentation as the 

14 Commission may require, stating that use 

15 of a device by or at such prison, peniten16 tiary, or correctional facility is interfering 

17 with commercial mobile service provided by 

18 that provider or is otherwise preventing or 

19 jamming such communications (other than 

20 within the confines of such prison, peniten21 tiary, or correctional facility). Within 90 

22 days after receiving such a notice and doc23 umentation, the Commission shall conclude 

24 an investigation to determine whether the 

25 device authorized for use at the prison, 


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1 penitentiary, or correctional facility is 

2 causing such interference and shall issue 

3 an order reinstating, modifying, or termi4 nating the waiver based on its findings and 

5 conclusions. 

6 ‘‘(ii) NONCOMPLIANT USAGE.—If the 

7 Commission has reason to believe that a 

8 prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility 

9 for which a waiver has been granted under 

10 this subsection is not in compliance with 

11 the regulations under this subsection, the 

12 Commission shall suspend the waiver until 

13 it can make a determination with respect 

14 to such compliance after notice and an op15 portunity for a hearing. 

16 ‘‘(B) REVOCATION.—The Commission may 

17 revoke a waiver under this section for willful or 

18 repeated violations, or failure to observe the re19 quirements, of the waiver or the regulations 

20 promulgated by the Commission under this sub21 section. 

22 ‘‘(C) INTERIM USAGE.—If the Commission 

23 initiates a suspension or a revocation pro24 ceeding under this paragraph, it may prohibit 

25 use of the device to which the waiver relates at 


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1 the prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility 

2 for which the waiver was granted during the 

3 pendency of any such proceeding.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. DEVICE CERTIFICATION CRITERIA RULEMAKING. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communica7 tions Commission shall adopt a final rule establishing cri8 teria for certification for the manufacture, sale, importa9 tion, and interstate shipment of devices that may be used 

10 pursuant to a waiver under section 333(b) of the Commu11 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 333(b)), notwithstanding 

12 section 302 of such Act (47 U.S.C. 302a). The regulations 

13 shall require, at a minimum, that any such device— 

14 (1) operate at the lowest technically feasible 

15 transmission power that will permit prison, peniten16 tiary, or correctional staff to prevent, jam, or inter17 fere with wireless communications within the geo18 graphic boundaries of a specified prison, peniten19 tiary, or correctional facility; 

20 (2) be capable of directionalized operation; and 

21 (3) comply with any other technical standards 

22 deemed necessary or appropriate by the Commission 

23 to ensure that the device does not create interference 

24 to other than the targeted wireless communications. 


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1 (b) CERTIFICATION PROCESS.—After the date on 

2 which the final rule promulgated under subsection (a) is 

3 published in the Federal Register, the Commission shall 

4 grant or deny an application for certification of a device 

5 described in subsection (a) within 180 calendar days of 

6 receiving an application therefor. 

Æ 


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