FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5041

                              C 31 L 89

BYSenate Committee on Health Care & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Hayner, Madsen, McCaslin, Thorsness, Smith, Rasmussen, von Reichbauer and Amondson; by request of Department of Corrections)

Permitting department of corrections to monitor inmate telephone calls.

Senate Committee on Health Care & Corrections

House Committe on Health Care

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

Intercepting and recording or divulging any private communication or conversation without the consent of all parties to the communication is prohibited except in certain circumstances.  Inmates in correctional facilities may have private telephone conversations with any party willing to accept a collect call.

Inmates can and do conduct, plan, and actively participate in illegal activities, such as:  planning escape, arranging for delivery of illegal contraband (drugs, weapons, etc.), and arranging for others to commit violent offenses (against witnesses) through the use of the telephone.

The federal courts have upheld most constitutional challenges to the use of electronic monitoring of inmate telephone calls in federal prisons when adequate notice of the monitoring is given to the inmate.  The Federal Bureau of Prisons monitors calls at 25 of its prisons and intends to monitor calls at 15 other facilities.  As a result of the first two years of federal prison telephone monitoring, 901 cases have been referred for prosecution including 365 major narcotic cases and 32 murders.

SUMMARY:

The employees of the Department of Corrections may intercept and record or divulge calls from any inmate of a Washington State correctional facility.

The department must notify the inmates that their calls may be monitored and divulged.  Personal calls made by an inmate must be "operator-assisted" collect calls.  The operator must tell the receiver of the call that it is coming from a prison inmate, being recorded, and may be monitored.

Only the superintendent and/or his or her designee may have access to the recording.  The recording may be divulged to safeguard the orderly operation of the institution, in response to a court order, or in the prosecution or investigation of any crime.  Finally, the recordings must be destroyed one year after the interception unless they are being used in an investigation, prosecution, and/or to assure orderly operation of the institution.

To safeguard the attorney-client privilege, no legal calls may be monitored.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

     Senate   45    0

     House 83 13

EFFECTIVE:July 23, 1989