BILL NUMBER: S9467
SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law and the correction law, in
relation to body scanner procedures for employees and visitors at state
and local correctional facilities
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to require all those who enter state and
local correctional facilities to pass security screenings, and to estab-
lish protocols for utilizing the body scanners on employees and visi-
tors.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Subdivision 6 of Section 3502 of the Public Health Law:
Subdivision 6-a establishes definitions.
Subdivision 6-b establishes that all individuals - employees and visi-
tors - who seek to enter a state or local correctional facility shall be
subject to using body scanners within radiation regulations and that the
department must establish procedures regarding the daily use of avail-
able screening methods, which shall include an equal, randomized rota-
tion of body scanners, metal detectors, pat frisks, and canine searches.
Subdivision 6-d establishes that an employee operating a body scanner
for the first six months cannot deny a visit to a visitor without
receiving a second opinion from a supervisor and requires DOCCS to hire
two full-time radiologists for consultations and trainings. Pregnant
individuals and children under the age of eighteen shall not be subject
to body scans due to radiation exposure.
Section 2 creates a new section 138-c of the Correction Law to establish
procedures for operating body scanners in state and local correctional
facilities.
Subdivision 1 establishes definitions.
Subdivision 2 establishes that body scanner and pat frisk searches of
visitors and employees shall be conducted by a staff member of the same
gender, and if that is not possible due to staffing, alternative search
methods shall be used.
Subdivision 3 requires state facilities to record visitor and employee
processing with stationary and body-worn cameras.
Subdivision 4 establishes that visiting may not be cancelled or
restricted to non-contact visits if body scanners are malfunctioning,
and that alternative search methods may be used and contact-visits shall
be allowed.
Subdivision 5 establishes that if a visitor or employee reaches the
radiation limit, the department shall use alternative search methods and
visitors shall be permitted a contact-visit, and they shall be notified
at least two scans prior to reaching the limit.
Subdivision 6 establishes protocols to follow when an employee accuses a
visitor of contraband on their body scan image.
Subdivision 7 establishes procedures to ensure medical exemptions to
utilizing the body scanners are recognized for visitors and employees.
Subdivision 8 establishes when an employee shall be subject to reassign-
ment or discipline for wrongfully or unfairly denying visits to a visi-
tor or entry to an employee
Subdivision 9 establishes reporting requirements.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The NYS 2024-2025 Executive Budget allocated $13 Million to deploy body
scanners in all NYS Correctional Facilities operated by DOCCS. The use
of the body scanners, however, was only required for those visiting
their incarcerated loved ones and is optional for staff to enter the
facility. The DOCCS Commissioner confirmed that as of February 2026, 90%
of employees do not go through body scanners.
Incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals often report that
employees frequently bring contraband into the facilities. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, all visits were suspended for months and packages
underwent security screening, yet contraband remained rampant. To
address this issue, this bill requires all employees at state correc-
tional facilities, as well as local correctional facilities that have
body scanners, to utilize body scanners and other security measures upon
entering the facility. Recognizing that radiation safety is of the
utmost importance, this bill requires the department and local facili-
ties to establish protocols to randomly rotate the search methods
between body scanning, metal detectors, K9 searches, and pat frisks, and
that body scanning must be utilized in that rotation.
In February 2025, 13,000 correction officers engaged in an unlawful work
stoppage, where thousands of incarcerated individuals were left in their
cells for weeks with no out-of-cell time, visits, programs, and limited
access to medications, food and water. DOCCS gradually started permit-
ting visits at certain facilities on the weekends only, and as of March
2026, over a year later, visits are still only occurring on the week-
ends, with a few facilities allowing visits on Wednesdays. The limited
visits are causing significantly long lines and wait times outside of
the facility, sometimes in extreme weather conditions.
After weekend visits re-opened, New York State prisons began repeatedly
turning away visitors and suspending their visitation rights for reasons
like detecting tampons, surgical scars, body piercings, benign tumors,
and more in their body scans and claiming these items are contraband,
even when contraband is not found nor are charges pressed.
This is particularly troubling, not only because visitors do not have
any mechanism to prove their innocence in the moment of the denial, but
also because many visitors are traveling for hours and waiting outside
for hours to see their loved one. If DOCCS accuses them of bringing in
contraband, but they are not, it is common that visitors will then get
their visits suspended for the next few months or indefinitely, even if
they appeal it. Some of these suspensions, including indefinite ones,
have been overturned on appeal, signaling the importance of having
trained radiologists available to review alleged anomalies.
This bill establishes protocols and protections for visitors and employ-
ees who, under this bill, will also be required to use the body scan-
ners, to ensure that visits for visitors and entry for employees are not
arbitrarily denied.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Sixty days.