S. 1614: Video Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017
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S. 1614: Video Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017
115th Congress · introduced 2017-07-20 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2017-07-20 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Video Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017
Plain summary
Video Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017 This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate regulations for video visitation services that allow inmates to make video calls to individuals outside a correctional facility, and amend its regulations on inmate calling services as necessary to ensure that all charges and practices are just and reasonable. The regulations must include: video visitation cannot replace in-person visits; caps on rates charged by service providers; a prohibition against charging flat rates; a prohibition against a provider requiring a correctional facility to restrict in-person visitation as a condition to providing a calling or video visitation service; a requirement for a provider to submit an annual report about interstate, intrastate, and international inmate calling services; a prohibition against the provider offering bundled services that include non-communications services; and video quality standards. The federal criminal code is amended to require the Bureau of Prisons to ensure that: video visitation does not supplant in-person visitation; privacy is maximized in the video areas and equipment; no persons other than corrections officers have authority over the terms of a prisoner's imprisonment, including visitation schedules or the ability to move within a correctional facility; and service providers provide a list of each video visitation and each fee charged to visitors and prisoners, offer free visits based on good behavior if authorized by the correctional facility, and submit quarterly compliance reports.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).
What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Video Visitation and Inmate Calling in Prisons Act of 2017
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] · 0 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] reported raising $6.1 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (3)
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
- Rulemaking
- The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s1614.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>
Record fed-us-cong115-s1614 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115