2023 New York Laws › COR - Correction › Article 6 - Management of Correctional Facilities › 146 - Persons Authorized to Visit Correctional Facilities.

§  146.  Persons  authorized  to visit correctional facilities. 1. The
  following  persons  shall  be  authorized  to  visit  at  pleasure   all
  correctional   facilities:   The   governor   and   lieutenant-governor,
  commissioner of general services, secretary of  state,  comptroller  and
  attorney-general,  members  of  the commission of correction, members of
  the legislature and their accompanying staff and  any  employee  of  the
  department  as  requested by the member of the legislature if the member
  requests to be so accompanied,  provided  that  such  request  does  not
  impact  upon  the  department's ability to supervise, manage and control
  its facilities as determined by the commissioner, judges of the court of
  appeals, supreme court and county judges, district attorneys  and  every
  clergyman  or  minister, as such terms are defined in section two of the
  religious corporations law, having  charge  of  a  congregation  in  the
  county  wherein  any  such  facility  is  situated.  No other person not
  otherwise authorized by law shall be permitted to enter  a  correctional
  facility  except  by  authority  of the commissioner of correction under
  such regulations as the commissioner shall prescribe.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, on each
  September  thirteenth  anniversary  date   of   the   nineteen   hundred
  seventy-one  retaking of Attica correctional facility, in the absence of
  an emergency situation or other exigent circumstance,  the  commissioner
  shall  ensure  that  any  surviving  state  employees  who  were held as
  hostages and any immediate family members, as that term  is  defined  in
  subdivision four of section 120.40 of the penal law, of any of the state
  employees  who  were held hostage for any period by rioting incarcerated
  individuals during the period from  September  ninth  through  September
  thirteenth,  nineteen  hundred  seventy-one, shall be afforded access to
  the outside grounds of Attica correctional facility to conduct a private
  commemorative ceremony in front of the Attica monument  upon  which  are
  inscribed  the  names  of employees who died as a result of the uprising
  and subsequent retaking.
3. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  the
  correctional  association  shall be permitted to access, visit, inspect,
  and examine all state correctional  facilities  with  seventy-two  hours
  advance  notice  to the department. Up to twelve people may comprise the
  visiting party; provided, however, that only four people from the  party
  may  enter a special housing facility or unit at the same time. Prior to
  the visitation authorized pursuant to this subdivision, the correctional
  association shall provide to the department  on,  at  least,  an  annual
  basis  a list of people who will be visiting the facility or facilities,
  including names, dates of birth,  driver's  license  numbers  and  their
  designation  as  an employee, board member, or designee in order for the
  department to perform prompt background checks. The department may place
  restrictions on such visits and inspections when a  facility  is  locked
  down  or  experiencing  a  facility  wide  emergency.  In  addition, the
  department may restrict  access  to  a  portion  of  a  facility  in  an
  emergency  situation  for the duration of the emergency. For the purpose
  of  this  subdivision,  an  emergency  shall  be   determined   by   the
  commissioner or his or her designee and defined as a significant risk to
  the  safety  or  security  of  the  facility,  or  the health, safety or
  security  of  staff  or  incarcerated  individuals,  or  an  event  that
  significantly compromises the operations of the facility.
b.  Upon  twenty-four hours advance notice, at the commencement of any
  visits to,  or  inspections  and  examinations  of,  state  correctional
  facilities,  the  superintendent  and  executive  team,  to  the  extent
  practicable,  shall  meet  with  the  correctional   association.   Upon
  twenty-four  hours advance notice, the correctional association may meet
  privately  with  the  incarcerated  individual  liaison  committee   and

  representatives  of  the  incarcerated  individual  grievance resolution
  committee  or  any  other  organization  of   incarcerated   individuals
  recognized by the department.
c.  During  the  course  of any such visit, inspection or examination,
  upon  consent  of  the  person  being  interviewed,   the   correctional
  association  shall  have the power to interview and converse publicly or
  confidentially  with  any  correctional  employee  or  any  incarcerated
  individual. Such interviews shall not be restricted by the department or
  attended  by  anyone  on behalf of the department nor shall there be any
  retaliation or adverse action taken by the  department  or  other  state
  agency  against any incarcerated individual who agrees to speak with the
  correctional association. The department may not  limit  the  number  of
  individuals  the  correctional association may interview or the duration
  of the interviews, in any manner unreasonable under  the  circumstances.
  The  correctional  association  shall have the power to conduct private,
  confidential meetings reasonable in number under the circumstances  with
  incarcerated  people  in housing units and in attorney visiting rooms or
  other rooms in the facility in which  their  conversations  will  remain
  confidential.  No  department  employee may attend or listen to any such
  meeting without the consent of the correctional association.
d. The correctional association shall periodically, but not less  than
  every  five  years,  conduct  inspections  of  each  state  correctional
  facility and shall issue reports and recommendations  to  the  governor,
  the  legislature  and the public about the conditions and issues at each
  such facility. When preparing such formal reports  and  recommendations,
  the  correctional  association  shall  submit  a  tentative copy of such
  report and recommendations to the  commissioner.  The  commissioner  may
  submit  a written response to such tentative report within sixty days of
  the  receipt  thereof.  When  the  correctional  association  thereafter
  submits  its  final  report  and  recommendations,  it  shall  contain a
  complete copy of the response, if any, submitted to the tentative report
  and recommendations.
e. The correctional association may send surveys or questionnaires  to
  people in custody concerning conditions of confinement or other subjects
  within  the  scope  of  their  mission  without  prior  approval  of the
  department. The correctional association may also  receive  phone  calls
  from incarcerated individuals and/or set up a hotline for individuals to
  use if they choose to contact them.
f. The inspection of state correctional facilities by the correctional
  association  pursuant  to this subdivision shall be undertaken solely in
  furtherance of the correctional association's lawful powers, duties  and
  obligations,  and information obtained pursuant to these powers shall be
  used solely in furtherance of the  correctional  association's  mission.
  Employees,  board  members  and  designees  shall  be required to sign a
  waiver as a condition of entry into a correctional facility pursuant  to
  this subdivision.