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2025 Regular Session Introduced by Rachel May

Eliminate no-cost inmate phone calls for inmates convicted of listed violent crimes, ending free 87A calls; affects families and prison telecoms.

REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Bill Summary — S.1689 (2025)

Title (as filed): An Act eliminating no cost calls for violent incarcerated individuals
Bill Number: S 1689
Introduced: 05/08/2025
Current status (as provided): Referred to Investigations and Government Operations; hearing scheduled 06/26/2025 (A-2)
Primary filing / docket dates in text: Filed 01/17/2025; presented in the Senate for the 194th General Court (2025–2026)

Note: the bill text and docket clearly address in-prison telephone privileges. Some metadata (title at the top of your prompt and sponsor listings) appear inconsistent with the state-level docket; this summary is based on the bill text itself.

Purpose / Intent

To remove the statutory right to “no cost” phone calls (i.e., free telephone communications) provided by section 87A of chapter 127 for certain incarcerated individuals convicted of specified violent offenses. The stated aim is to exclude violent offenders from the free-call benefit enacted in Chapter 64 of the Acts of 2023.

Key Provisions

Amends Chapter 64 of the Acts of 2023 by adding subsection (d) to section 2.

Subsection (d) provides that, notwithstanding any other law, section 87A of chapter 127 shall not apply to any individual committed to a state correctional facility, state prison, or county correctional facility who has been found guilty of any of the following crimes:

Rape
Rape of a child
First-degree murder
Second-degree murder
Attempted murder
Sexual assault
Assault and battery on second offense
Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
Arson
Stalking
Armed robbery

Who Would Be Affected

Individuals incarcerated in Massachusetts state or county facilities who have been convicted of any of the listed offenses — they would no longer be entitled to benefits under section 87A (as that section currently provides no-cost calls).

Families, victims’ advocates, and other contacts who communicate with such incarcerated individuals (potential increased costs).

Correctional institutions and vendors (telephone service providers) — would need to operationalize eligibility checks and billing/pricing changes.

State and local agencies administering correctional communications policy.

Procedural & Timeline Notes

Introduced in the Senate 05/08/2025; read twice and referred to committee.

Hearing scheduled for 06/26/2025 (1:00 PM–5:00 PM) in room A-2.

Multiple committee referrals are noted in the docket entries (including Public Safety and Homeland Security; Investigations and Government Operations).

Related/companion measures and prior-session bills are listed (e.g., HR 3316 as companion; SD 2576 replaces).

Potential Implications (practical considerations)

Administrative work to determine which inmates are covered and to implement billing changes.

Financial impact on incarcerated persons and their families (costs that were previously waived may be resumed).

Possible policy and legal debate over access to telephone communication for incarcerated persons, public safety rationale vs. rehabilitative and family-contact considerations.

Impact on vendor contracts and revenues for prison communications providers.

If you want, I can:
- Locate and quote the current text of section 87A of chapter 127 to show precisely what benefit would be removed; or
- Draft a side-by-side comparison showing current law vs. proposed revised text.