PRINTER'S NO. 791
No. 732 Session of 1987
INTRODUCED BY RICHARDSON, R. C. WRIGHT, PRESTON, ACOSTA,
KUKOVICH, MICHLOVIC, TIGUE, O'DONNELL, KOSINSKI, ITKIN,
HAGARTY, DeWEESE, REBER, PISTELLA AND HUGHES, MARCH 9, 1987
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 9, 1987
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, Lieutenant Governor,
12 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, justices and
13 judges of the courts of record, the General Counsel, the
14 Attorney General and his deputies, and authorized members of the
15 Pennsylvania Prison Society who have been designated as official
16 visitors, whose names shall be given to the correctional
17 official in charge of the appropriate facility, in writing,
1 together with the terms of their appointment under its corporate
2 seal.
3 Section 3. Visitation.
4 (a) Day and time.--Any official visitor is hereby authorized
5 to enter and visit any local or State correctional facility on
6 any day, including Sundays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5
7 p.m., but shall not be authorized to enter and visit at any
8 other time except with the special permission of the
9 correctional official in charge of the facility.
10 (b) Interviews with inmates.--Official visitors shall have
11 the right to interview privately any prisoner or inmate confined
12 in any State or local correctional facility, and for that
13 purpose to enter the cell, room or apartment wherein any
14 prisoner or inmate is confined. However, if the correctional
15 officer in charge of the facility at the time of the visit is of
16 the opinion that the entry into the cell would be dangerous to
17 the safety of the visitor, then the correctional officer in
18 charge may conduct any inmate, with whom the official visitor
19 may desire a private interview, into another cell or room as he
20 may designate and there permit the private interview between the
21 official visitor and the inmate to take place.
22 (c) Official visitors not exempt from prosecution for
23 certain offenses.--An official visitor shall not be exempt from
24 prosecution for a violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 5121 (relating to
25 escape), 5122 (relating to weapons or implements for escape) or
26 5123 (relating to contraband).
27 (d) Revocation of visitor rights.--If an official visitor
28 violates any provision of this section, any correctional
29 official in charge of a local or State correctional facility may
30 apply to the court of common pleas in the county wherein the
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1 institution is located for a ruling upon the visitor to show
2 cause why he or she should not be deprived of his or her
3 official visitation status, and, upon proof to the satisfaction
4 of the court, it shall enter a decree against the official
5 visitor depriving him or her of all rights, privileges and
6 functions of official visitors.
7 Section 4. Employees of official visitor.
8 Employees of an official visitor may accompany the official
9 visitor when visiting any State or local correctional facility
10 and may be present during an interview conducted by the official
11 visitor.
12 Section 5. Powers and duties of Attorney General.
13 Nothing contained in this act shall be construed in anywise
14 to diminish the power and authority, as otherwise provided by
15 law, of the Attorney General.
16 Section 6. Repeals.
17 The following acts and parts of acts are repealed:
18 Act of April 17, 1867 (P.L.87, No.68), entitled "An act to
19 authorize the Governor to appoint a person to visit prisons and
20 almshouses."
21 Act of March 20, 1903 (P.L.45, No.48), entitled "An act to
22 make active or visiting committees, of societies incorporated
23 for the purpose of visiting and instructing prisoners, official
24 visitors of penal and reformatory institutions."
25 Act of May 14, 1909 (P.L.838, No.656), entitled "An act to
26 define the rights and functions of official visitors of jails,
27 penitentiaries, and other penal or reformatory institutions, and
28 providing for their removal."
29 Section 7. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect immediately.
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