Section 18-81gg - Visitation policies for inmate who is a parent to a child under the age of eighteen(a)(1) The Commissioner of Correction shall establish visitation policies for incarcerated persons. Such policies shall: (A) Permit at least one sixty-minute contact social visit per week, except prior to July 1, 2022, if such incarcerated person resides in a facility with infrastructure that cannot physically accommodate contact visits, and the commissioner has included such facility in a report to the General Assembly pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section;(B) Permit visitation by members of an incarcerated person's immediate family, extended family, unmarried coparents, unmarried romantic partners and close personal friends. No person's past criminal conviction shall be the sole or primary basis for denying a person's application to visit;(C) Provide that no incarcerated person may be restrained during a contact social visit; and(D) Provide that no incarcerated person, except one who has a history of contraband violations, may be deprived of a contact social visit under this subsection without first having a hearing at which the Department of Correction shall bear the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence that the denial of contact social visits is necessary (i) to protect against a substantiated threat of imminent physical harm to department employees, the visitor or another person; or (ii) to prevent the introduction of contraband. If the department fails to make such showing, the incarcerated person shall have such contact social visits reinstated. Any such incarcerated person who has a history of contraband violations may be deprived of contact social visits without first having a hearing, provided such person may request a hearing to have such contact social visits reinstated. Hearings conducted pursuant to this subparagraph shall be guided by written procedures developed under section 5 of public act 21-110. Any incarcerated person who has a social contact visit denied pursuant to this section shall have an opportunity for a social visit not involving contact in the place of such social contact visit.(2) The department may not deprive an incarcerated person of contact social visits provided for in this subsection for a period in excess of ninety days.(3) Any policies developed pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection for any incarcerated person who is a parent to a child under the age of eighteen shall include, but need not be limited to, rules regarding: (B) convenience and frequency of visits, and(C) access to child-friendly visiting areas.(4) For purposes of this subsection, "contact social visit" means an inperson meeting between an incarcerated person and an approved visitor who are not separated from each other by any physical divider, including, but not limited to, a screen or partition.(5) The provisions of this subsection do not apply to any incarcerated person described in subsection (a) of section 18-10b.(b)(1) The commissioner shall establish policies concerning mail to and from incarcerated persons. Such policies shall: (A) Provide that each incarcerated person may write, send and receive letters, without limitation on the number of any such letters such incarcerated person receives, or writes and sends at his or her own personal expense, and(B) Prohibit unnecessary delays in the processing of incoming and outgoing mail to or from an incarcerated person.(2) Each correctional facility commissary shall sell: (A) Stationery, envelopes, postcards, greeting cards and postage; and (B) aerogramme folding letters for foreign air mail letters.(3) The department may not deprive an incarcerated person the ability to write, send or receive letters provided for in this subsection as a matter of discipline, retaliation or convenience.(c) Not later than January 1, 2022, the commissioner shall report, pursuant to the provisions of section 11-4a, to the Governor and to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the Department of Correction concerning (1) which facilities have infrastructure that cannot physically accommodate contact visits, and (2) what barriers prevent such facilities from physically accommodating contact visits.(d) Not later than March 14, 2022, the commissioner shall report, pursuant to the provisions of section 11-4a, to the Governor and to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the Department of Correction and to appropriations regarding a plan for implementing this section no later than July 1, 2022.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 18-81gg
Amended by P.A. 21-0002,S. 287 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Special Session, eff. 1/1/2022.Amended by P.A. 21-0110,S. 3 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2021.Added by P.A. 18-0004, S. 4 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2018 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2018.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.