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.