Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens penalties and state/local tools to reduce contraband wireless devices in detention facilities and improve safety, but it raises substantial financial, rights, and procedural risks for individuals (especially detainees and inadvertent handlers) and alters enforcement notice/timeline protections.
Local jails and prisons (and the law enforcement that serves them) will have fewer illicit wireless devices, reducing inmates' ability to coordinate criminal activity, contraband networks, or escapes.
State governments retain authority to enforce and punish violations under their own laws, preserving local control over prosecutions and allowing states to tailor enforcement to local circumstances.
Stronger civil and criminal penalties create a greater deterrent against smuggling and distributing contraband phones into detention facilities, supporting public safety and institutional order.
People who unknowingly handle, transport, or come into possession of prohibited devices risk steep civil forfeiture (up to $50,000) or criminal fines if convicted, imposing large financial exposure on ordinary individuals.
People held in detention face criminal liability and potential loss of property for possessing devices, which — if enforced broadly — could limit detainees' access to communication or evidence needed for legal defense and raise rights concerns.
Changing FCC-related procedures by removing the §503(b)(5) citation requirement and imposing a 2-year forfeiture statute of limitations could reduce notice protections or alter enforcement timelines, creating administrative and due-process concerns for government and regulated parties.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits supplying, introducing, or possessing wireless communications devices in U.S. detention facilities in violation of law and imposes civil forfeiture and criminal fines.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by Gus Bilirakis · Last progress May 23, 2025
Makes it illegal to provide, bring into, or possess wireless communications devices in U.S. detention facilities in ways that violate Federal or State law or orders, and creates civil forfeiture and criminal fine penalties for those violations. The measure defines key terms (detention facility; wireless communications device, including device components used to connect to networks), preserves law enforcement and state legal officer authorities, and limits forfeiture actions to conduct after enactment.