SENATE AMENDED
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 1946, 3048 PRINTER'S NO. 3446
No. 1557 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY RICHARDSON, HAGARTY, DEAL, LINTON, FATTAH,
WAMBACH, WOZNIAK, PRESTON, DAWIDA, MURPHY, MICHLOVIC,
VAN HORNE, NAHILL, CORNELL, REBER, PICCOLA AND LASHINGER,
JUNE 26, 1985
SENATOR GREENLEAF, JUDICIARY, IN SENATE, AS AMENDED, MAY 6, 1986
AN ACT
1 Providing for official visitation of prisons.
2 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
3 hereby enacts as follows:
4 Section 1. Short title.
5 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Official
6 Visitation of Prisons Act.
7 Section 2. Definitions.
8 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
9 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
10 context clearly indicates otherwise:
11 "Official visitor." The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor,
12 the President pro tempore and members of the Senate, the Speaker
13 and members of the House of Representatives, the justices and
14 judges of courts of record, the General Counsel, the Attorney
15 General and his deputies, and authorized members of the
16 Pennsylvania Prison Society who have been designated as official
1 visitors and whose names shall be given to the correctional
2 official in charge of the appropriate facility, in writing,
3 together with the terms of their appointment, under its
4 corporate seal.
5 "Secretary." The Secretary of Corrections of the
6 Commonwealth.
7 Section 3. Visitation.
8 (a) Time.--An official visitor is hereby authorized and
9 empowered to enter and visit any local or State correctional
10 facility on any and every day, including Sundays, between the
11 hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Visits at any other time shall
12 be made only with the special permission of the correctional
13 official in charge of the facility.
14 (b) Denial of entry.--If the correctional official in charge
15 of the A STATE CORRECTIONAL facility shall be of the opinion <--
16 that the visit would be dangerous to the discipline or welfare
17 of the facility, or the safety of the visitor, the correctional
18 official in charge of the facility may temporarily deny entry to
19 any official visitor, if the commissioner SECRETARY has <--
20 previously declared that an emergency situation exists within
21 the facility. If this temporary exclusion exceeds 72 hours, the
22 official visitor may apply to Commonwealth Court for a ruling
23 upon the secretary to show cause why the official visitor should
24 not be permitted entry into the correctional facility.
25 (c) Temporary denial of visitation for local facilities.--If
26 the correctional official in charge of a local correctional
27 facility has previously determined that an emergency exists at
28 the facility, the correctional official may, with the approval
29 of the president judge of the court of common pleas for the
30 district where the facility is located, temporarily deny entry
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1 to an official visitor. If this temporary exclusion exceeds 72
2 hours, the official visitor may apply to Commonwealth Court for
3 a ruling upon the president judge to show cause why the official
4 visitor should not be permitted entry into the correctional
5 facility.
6 (d) Interviews.--Official visitors shall have the right to
7 interview privately any prisoner or inmate confined in any State
8 or local correctional facility, and for that purpose to enter
9 the cell, room or apartment wherein any such person or inmate
10 shall be confined. However, if the superintendent or person in
11 charge of such facility at the time of such visit shall be of
12 the opinion that the entry into the cell would be dangerous to
13 the discipline of the facility, then the superintendent or
14 person in charge may conduct any inmate with whom such official
15 visitor may desire a private interview into such other cell or
16 room as he may designate and there permit the private interview
17 between the official visitor and such inmate to take place.
18 (e) Visitor subject to certain penal provisions.--An
19 official visitor shall be subject to the provisions of 18
20 Pa.C.S. §§ 5121 (relating to escape), 5122 (relating to weapons
21 or implements for escape) and 5123 (relating to contraband).
22 (f) Decree of court.--If an official visitor violates any of
23 the provisions of this section, any superintendent, warden or
24 official in charge of a local or State correctional facility may
25 apply to any court of common pleas in the county wherein the
26 institution may be situated for a ruling upon the visitor to
27 show cause why he should not be deprived of his official
28 visiting status, and upon proof to the satisfaction of the
29 court, the court shall enter a decree against such official
30 visitor depriving him of all rights, privileges and functions of
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1 official visitor.
2 Section 4. Employees of official visitor.
3 One employee of an official visitor may accompany the
4 official visitor when visiting any prison, jail, State or
5 regional correctional institution and may be present during an
6 interview conducted by the official visitor.
7 Section 5. Repeals.
8 All acts and parts of acts are repealed insofar as they are
9 inconsistent with this act.
10 Section 6. Effective date.
11 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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