AB 730

This bill provides that any visitor to a state correctional institution or county jail or house of correction must be registered as a visitor of the inmate he or she is visiting and that an inmate may designate up to 25 individuals to be registered as his or her visitors. The bill outlines the process required to remove a visitor from an inmate’s registration list.

The bill requires the Department of Corrections to allow each inmate of a state correctional institution and sheriffs to allow each inmate of a county jail or house of correction at least two in-person visiting periods per week unless the inmate is subject to a lockdown or is in solitary confinement. If the inmate is subject to a lockdown or is in solitary confinement, DOC or the sheriff may deny visits for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive days.

The bill also requires the warden or superintendent of a state correctional institution or the sheriff for a county jail or house of correction to allow an inmate to physically embrace each visitor for at least 20 seconds at the beginning and end of each visiting period.

The bill additionally requires the warden or superintendent of a state correctional institution or the sheriff for a county jail or house of correction to provide each visitor with paper, a pen or pencil, and crayons or markers to use during a visit and requires that inmates be allowed to keep an original note, drawing, or other original work if it was created during a visit using the materials that were provided by the warden, superintendent, or sheriff.