McMaster signs bill banning cellphones in South Carolina prisons
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Henry McMaster held a ceremonial g Tuesday for a bill that bans the possession of telecommunications devices by inmates in the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
The official g of bill H.4002, known as the Capt. Robert Johnson Act, took place back in May, according to State House documents.
“The use of contraband cell phones and other communication devices to orchestrate crime both inside and outside of prison has been a serious threat that has had devastating consequences for innocent people across our state,” McMaster said.
The legislation is named in honor of a former contraband captain at Lee Correctional Institution, who was shot at his home after inmates ordered a hit on him using a contraband cell phone in 2010.
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“I’m overjoyed,” said former Lee Correctional Institution Capt. Johnson. “I think we need to do all we can to stop inmates from having access to contraband phones and to help our correctional staff. I thank them for pushing the legislation through.”
State leaders praised the new bill and the impact they expect it to have.
“These cell phones are very dangerous in an inmate’s hands, as you’ve heard me say thousands of times,” South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said, calling the g a “milestone.”
Stirling said the bill will allow them to stop illegal cell phones in prisons.
“It’s always been against our rules, but now it’s against the law,” he said.
The bill makes it illegal for an inmate in the state’s Department of Corrections to have “a telecommunications device” unless authorized to have one by the director.
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“Law Enforcement knows the danger of these illegal cell phones that they pose within prisons and outside of our prisons having an unmonitored, open line of communication allows inmates to continue orchestrating illegal acts, both inside and outside the prison fence and we’ve seen repeatedly the tragic results,” South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said. “At SLED, we regularly uncover evidence of contraband cell conversations in narcotics investigations scams where inmates prey on innocent citizens, misconduct investigations and gang investigations.”
The law defines that as “a device, an apparatus associated with a device, or a component of a device that enables, or may be used to enable, communication with a person inside or outside of a place of incarceration.”
The text of the bill lists as examples portable two‑way pagers, handheld radios, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants or PDAs, laptop computers, or any components of these devices.
“‘Telecommunication device’ also includes any new technology that is developed or used for similar purposes,” the bill states.
Anyone breaking the law for the first time is guilty of a misdemeanor and faces additional jail time of up to a year. Second or subsequent violations could result in up to five years in prison.
If an inmate has such a device and it is found to have been used to commit a felony, that possession is itself a felony and the inmate would face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Before this law took effect, inmates in possession of a telecommunication device were in violation of SCDC’s Inmate Disciplinary System and faced in-facility penalties, including canteen and visitation restrictions, among others.
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