Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens federal authority to deter and punish introduction and use of contraband cellphones in detention—improving facility safety and clarifying forfeiture limits—but it increases criminal and financial risk for detained people and third parties, and shifts costs and legal uncertainty onto state and local systems.
Staff and the public in detention settings (correctional and jail facilities) face reduced risks from coordinated contraband activity because the bill deters illicit cellphone communications that enable smuggling and organized crime inside facilities.
State and federal authorities receive a clear, consistent federal tool to deter and penalize introducing contraband cellphones across jurisdictions, improving coordination and enforcement.
The bill caps civil forfeiture exposure and imposes a two-year statute of limitations, reducing potentially unlimited financial liability for alleged violators and providing clearer bounds for enforcement actions.
People detained in correctional settings face higher criminal fines and greater risk of forfeiture of devices for possession, increasing legal and financial penalties for incarcerated individuals.
Friends, vendors, visitors, and service providers could face greater criminal and forfeiture risk if accused of supplying devices, which may chill legitimate deliveries, visitation, and services.
Expanded federal penalties and enforcement obligations may shift compliance, prosecution, and operational costs onto state and local prison systems and increase burdens on courts.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Makes it a federal crime to provide, smuggle, or possess wireless devices in detention facilities and raises fines and civil forfeiture limits.
Makes it a federal offense to provide, smuggle, or possess wireless communications devices inside U.S. detention facilities and raises the civil and criminal penalties for those violations. The bill sets civil forfeiture caps, increases criminal fines, preserves imprisonment options, exempts lawful investigative/intelligence activities and certain state enforcement, defines key terms, and applies only to conduct after enactment.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by Gus Bilirakis · Last progress May 23, 2025