N.Y. Correction Law § 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 twenty-four hours

advance notice to the department. For any visit that will include units

or areas staffed by the office of mental health, such notice shall also

be provided to the office of mental health. 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 the commissioner's 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 or

conclusion 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, and with the consent of the party, the

correctional association may meet privately, without representatives of

the central office present, with representatives of the office of mental

health and any other entities or agencies that are providing services in

a facility, 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, and

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 administrator, any

incarcerated individual, and any other person providing, supervising, or

monitoring services in a correctional facility, whether or not employed

by such facility. Such interviews shall not be restricted by the

department or the office of mental health or any other agency or

attended by anyone on behalf of the department or the office of mental

health or any other agency, nor shall there be any retaliation or

adverse action taken by the department or other state agency against

anyone who speaks 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. During the course of any visit, inspection or

examination, the correctional association shall have the power to

conduct private, confidential meetings reasonable in number under the

circumstances with incarcerated individuals 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, on a quarterly basis, may request

and, to the extent practicable, receive from the department in a form

and manner prescribed by the department the following information and

records:

(i) individual-level records for all individuals admitted into custody

during the previous quarter, under custody at the end of the previous

quarter, released from custody during the previous quarter, and on

parole at the end of the previous quarter;

(ii) departmental staffing levels at each facility at the end of the

previous quarter;

(iii) under custody deaths at each facility during the previous

quarter;

(iv) report-level unusual incidents during the previous quarter;

(v) the number and type of disciplinary hearings held at each facility

during the previous quarter, including charges and sanctions imposed;

(vi) the number and type of grievances filed at each facility during

the previous quarter; and

(vii) incarcerated individuals at each facility enrolled in

programming and academic and vocational education during the previous

quarter.

e. The correctional association shall periodically, but not less than

every five years, conduct inspections of each state correctional

facility and issue reports and recommendations to the governor, the

legislature and the public about the conditions and issues at

correctional facilities. 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.

f. The correctional association may send surveys or questionnaires to

people in custody or employees concerning conditions of confinement,

working conditions, or other subjects within the scope of their mission

without prior approval of the department. People incarcerated shall be

permitted to confidentially complete and return to the correctional

association such surveys. The correctional association may also receive

free phone calls from incarcerated individuals through a hotline set up

by the correctional association for individuals to use if they choose to

contact them, and the department shall not track or monitor such calls.

Physical mail received and sent to the correctional association is

defined as privileged correspondence, and any and all processing

controls, allowances for limited free postage, and advances of

incarcerated individual funds for postage shall apply to privileged

correspondence received and sent to the correctional association. For

the purposes of this section, identical incoming blank surveys and

questionnaires shall not be defined as privileged correspondence.

g. The access, visits, and 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 an acknowledgement of the foregoing as a condition of

entry into a correctional facility pursuant to this subdivision.