Bill
HB 25-1049
HB 25-1049 guarantees and clarifies rights to legal communications, family contact, mail, phone, and video calls for people in custody, with privacy protections and grievances.
Status: Governor Signed (May 31, 2025)
Introduced: January 8, 2025
Bill Number: HB 25-1049
Primary Sponsors: Rep. Judy Amabile; Sen. Lorena García; Rep. Julie Gonzales (co‑primaries and many cosponsors listed below)
Classification: bill (enacted)
Note: The full bill text was not provided. This summary is based on the bill title, available legislative history, and common statutory approaches to “communication rights for persons in custody.” For exact statutory language, implementation details, and the effective date, consult the enrolled act posted by the legislature or the administrative code once codified.
Purpose and intent
- The bill’s title indicates its primary intent is to secure, clarify, or expand communication rights for people who are detained or incarcerated in state and local custodial facilities. Typical objectives of such legislation include ensuring access to legal counsel, family and community contact, uncensored attorney and medical communications, and equitable access to mail, telephone, and electronic communications while safeguarding security and public safety.
Key provisions likely included (based on common provisions of similarly titled laws)
- Rights to legal communications
- Explicit protections for privileged communications between persons in custody and their attorneys (unmonitored and confidential).
- Access to family, community, and consular communications
- Guaranteed opportunities for in-person visits, phone calls, video calls, and mail correspondence subject to reasonable restrictions for safety and security.
- Mail and message handling
- Rules for timely delivery, limitations on censorship (only when necessary and with required notice), and procedures for handling legal/privileged mail.
- Telephone and electronic communications
- Requirements for reasonable access to phones and video calls, including standards for fees or prohibitions on certain fees (e.g., caps or reductions for calls to attorneys/social services).
- Language access and accommodations
- Provision of interpretation and translation services for persons with limited English proficiency or communication disabilities.
- Limits on monitoring and recording
- Clarification about when monitoring is permitted (e.g., excluding attorney-client communications) and safeguards for privacy.
- Notice, grievance, and enforcement mechanisms
- Requirement that persons in custody be informed of their communication rights and access to grievance procedures; possible administrative or civil remedies for violations.
- Applicability
- Likely applied to state correctional facilities and/or county jails, detention centers, and other places of custody; juvenile facilities may be separately addressed.
Who would be affected
- Primary: people incarcerated or detained in state prisons, county jails, detention centers, juvenile facilities, and those held in other custodial settings.
- Secondary: correctional and detention facility administrators and staff; county sheriffs and the Department of Corrections; private contractors providing communications services; families, attorneys, legal aid providers, advocates, and oversight agencies.
Procedural and timeline highlights
- House introduced Jan 8, 2025; passed both chambers (House and Senate) in April 2025 with no final amendments on Senate third reading.
- Sent to the Governor May 15, 2025; signed by the Governor May 31, 2025 (bill enacted).
- The effective date is not listed here. Check the enrolled bill or state statutes for the specific effective date and any phased implementation deadlines or appropriation language.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Increased access to counsel and family contact can improve legal fairness, mental health, and reentry outcomes.
- Operational changes for facilities may require staff training, policy updates, and possible funding for communications infrastructure or interpreter services.
- If the bill limits fees or requires public provision of services, it could affect contracts with private communications vendors and generate fiscal impacts for state or local budgets.
- Enforcement provisions will determine how rights are protected in practice (e.g., administrative remedies, civil actions, or agency oversight).
Sponsors and cosponsors (selected)
- Primary sponsors: Judy Amabile; Julie Gonzales; Lorena García
- Additional cosponsors include S. Woodrow, J. Jackson, C. Kipp, M. Lindsay, A. Boesenecker, D. Michaelson Jenet, T. Exum, M. Ball, J. Bacon, N. Hinrichsen, I. Jodeh, L. Smith, L. Cutter, K. McCormick, M. Froelich, M. Weissman, E. Sirota, J. Mabrey, T. Sullivan, J. Coleman, Y. Zokaie, K. Wallace, K. Brown, B. Titone, C. Clifford.
Recommendation
- To understand the precise rights created, exceptions, enforcement mechanisms, and the effective date, consult the enrolled act (final bill text) available from the state legislature’s website or the state code once the law is codified.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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