Incarcerated persons: communications.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not explicitly mention expanding duties for probation officers to include managing the costs of providing hygiene products, only that it imposes a state-mandated local program. This claim was removed as it is not fully supported by the official source material.

Inmates' Communication and Hygiene Rights

This law requires prisons to provide free electronic messaging services, limits staff from disconnecting calls based on duration, ensures indigent inmates receive basic hygiene products for free, and prevents debt accrual due to these provisions.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to offer free electronic messaging services to inmates in addition to existing voice communication services.
• Prohibits staff from disconnecting calls made by inmates on authorized devices based solely on call duration.
• Ensures indigent inmates receive basic hygiene products for free upon request, without accruing debt or facing disciplinary action due to lack of funds.
• Requires that any pre-existing debts related to the provision of hygiene products be discharged as of January 1, 2026.

Who It Names or Affects

• Inmates in state prisons and county jails
• Probation officers managing juvenile facilities

Terms To Know

Indigent

A person who is very poor and cannot afford basic necessities.

Hygiene products

Items like soap, toothpaste, and toilet paper that help maintain personal cleanliness.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact types of electronic messaging services to be provided.
• It is unclear how the costs associated with providing hygiene products will be managed by local agencies.

Official Summary Text

SB 498, as amended, Becker.
County detention: juvenile facilities: commissary.
Incarcerated persons: communications.
Under existing law, a person sentenced to imprisonment in state prison or in a county jail for a felony offense, as specified, may, during that period of confinement, be deprived only of those rights as are reasonably related to legitimate penological interests. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide inmates with accessible, functional voice communication services free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the communication.
This bill would additionally require the department to provide inmates electronic messaging services as described above. The bill would prohibit staff at a department facility, if an incarcerated individual is authorized to possess and use a tablet or other device for voice
communications, from disconnecting any communications conducted by the individual on the device based solely on the duration of the call.
Existing law requires that an inmate in a state prison who has maintained an inmate trust account with $25 or less for 30 consecutive days be deemed indigent and requires that an inmate who is indigent receive, among other things, basic supplies necessary for maintaining personal hygiene.
Existing law allows the sheriff of each county to operate a store in connection with the county jail, and authorizes the chief probation officer of each county to operate a store in connection with the juvenile hall or other county juvenile facilities, to sell confectionary, postage and writing materials, and toilet articles and supplies to wards and
juvenile detainees. Existing law also provides that all youth confined in juvenile facilities have specified rights, including, among others, the right to receive adequate personal hygiene items.
This bill would require that indigent wards or detainees be provided basic hygiene products free of charge and require that those individuals have guaranteed access to hygiene products, upon their request. The bill would prohibit an indigent ward or detainee from being denied access to hygiene products as a disciplinary measure. The bill would prohibit debt from being accrued as a result of the provision of hygiene products to indigent
wards or detainees and would require any debt accrued for the provision of hygiene products prior to January 1, 2026, to be discharged. By expanding the duties of probation officers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF