News

Testimony before the
New York City Council
Committees on Criminal Justice and Contracts
Chair Sandy Nurse
Chair Julie Won
By
James Conroy, Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters/General Counsel
NYC Department of Correction
January 30, 2025

Good morning, Chairs Nurse and Won and members of the Committees on Criminal Justice and Contracts. My name is James Conroy, and I am the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters and General Counsel for the New York City Department of Correction (“Department” or “DOC”). The Department partners with a network of experienced and dedicated providers to deliver goods and services, programmatic support and skill building, and help in the transition back into the community for those in our care. These vendors and the DOC staff who support and enhance their work are a critical part of maintaining a safe and humane jail system, with modern practices and amenities. The Department currently has over 100 registered contracts covering a vast range of needs and services. Today, we would like to highlight three jail-based services in particular: telephone, tablet, and commissary services.

The Department works in close collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (“MOCS”) on all matters related to procurement. DOC follows established citywide procurement protocols and utilizes the City’s PASSPort portal in the same manner as other City agencies. Given the nature of our work and the vulnerable population we serve, we recognize the importance of transparency and accountability when selecting and partnering with vendors. Our goal is to ensure that the goods and services provided to those in our care are fair, valuable, and equitable. When selecting vendors that provide goods and services, the Department carefully considers the associated costs. Unlike many other jurisdictions, DOC does not engage in revenue-sharing with vendors, a common practice that can lead to predatory and exorbitant pricing. When selecting vendors and negotiating prices, DOC works to reduce or eliminate fees where possible, and to ensure that pricing is in line with fair market rates as they exist in the community. Telephone services are provided at no cost to people in custody and those that receive their calls. Following the new admission process, each individual in our care is assigned a tablet at no cost with telephone service capabilities, as well as a wide range of free informational, educational, and entertainment media, including e-books, religious and law library services, and a commissary ordering application. Individuals can order items through commissary – such as food, makeup, and brand name hygiene items – that are delivered directly to their assigned housing area. Items are priced at fair market rates, based on comparisons with prices found in the community, and with no associated fees. Items that are not within market rates are not permitted on the menu. Item prices are set for the duration of the contract and can only be raised with the express consent of the Department.

The Department’s goal is to make sure that our contracting process is thorough, fair and consistent with citywide policies, while at the same time ensuring that the needs of the agency and the people in our care are met. The Department has enhanced its contract review process to include a second level review of all contract submissions, which is conducted by the Agency Chief Contracting Officer and the Senior Deputy Agency Chief Contracting Officer. Additionally, DOC is exploring establishing a contract compliance auditing process to reinforce our existing practices to ensure compliance. The Department’s Procurement Unit participates in training sessions and refresher courses on MOCS’s standard procurement policies and procedures to ensure compliance with established citywide policies.

Of course, the Department is aware that a limited number of vendors that operate in the jails have engaged in problematic practices in the past, and has taken these concerns into account when drafting contracts with those vendors and designing policies related to their services. In 2023, the Department of Investigation released a report related to the telephone services provider’s unintentional recording of privileged phone calls, causing breaches of attorney-client privilege for some persons in custody. Well before the report was released, DOC had placed the provider on a closely monitored corrective action plan to address the unique issues that arose in this incident. As noted in the report, the vendor worked quickly and transparently with the Department to correct the issue and implemented safeguards to prevent future problems. Since the remedial measures were put into place, all privileged telephone communications have been handled legally and appropriately.

Additionally, we are aware of criticisms relating to the vendor providing commissary services in our facilities. However, the Department receives very few complaints related to commissary services – less than one percent of orders are associated with a grievance – and works with people in custody to quickly resolve any issues that may arise. The vast majority of these complaints are related to delivery status or about accessing accounts to place an order. Very few, if any, grievances are related to product prices or quality. Similarly, we have found that we receive very few complaints regarding tablet services, relative to the scale of the operation. Complaints that are received are addressed quickly by a dedicated member of our staff.

Contracting with a vendor to provide commissary services allows for the Department to leverage the vendor’s resources to minimize Department staff directly involved in providing commissary to the population, allowing DOC personnel to remain dedicated to ensuring safety in the facilities. Individuals look forward to these orders each week and any disruption or stop in service would have adverse effects on those in our care, as well as the staff who work in the jails. The vendor is able to provide a broader range of stocked of products than DOC was able to offer when self-servicing commissary orders. Consequently, people in our care consistently receive the items that they order.

Turning to the legislation being heard today, Introduction 825 would require the Department to return all unused commissary funds to individuals prior to them leaving custody. We share the Council’s goal of ensuring that individuals can access and claim their funds when leaving custody so that those funds are not abandoned. However, the policies proposed through this legislation would not achieve that goal and, further, would put people being discharged from custody, as well as City employees, at significant risk of harm. The Department provides several avenues for individuals to collect their institutional funds prior to or during discharge. Individuals can collect up to $200 in cash immediately upon discharge and can request a check for any remaining funds. Individuals can also collect their funds in the same manner for up to 120 days following discharge at any of the Department’s cashier windows. Additionally, individuals can arrange to have their institutional funds transferred to a loved one in the community at any point prior to discharge. The bill proposes that individuals leaving custody, some of whom have several hundred or even thousands of dollars in their institutional account, be provided with those funds, in full, in cash. The resources needed to ensure that this amount of cash could be kept on site at each DOC cashier window 24 hours a day, seven days a week, would be insurmountable from an operational, infrastructure, and security perspective. The cashier windows may become targets for criminal acts, as would every individual being handed large sums of money in cash at these sites. Even if the Department could reasonably and safely operationalize the bill as written, our data shows that the $200 cash cap does not appear to be the barrier for the vast majority of individuals collecting their funds at discharge. Nearly 70 percent of individuals who do not claim their funds when leaving custody have $100 or less remaining in their accounts. We would like to work with Council on an alternate plan to resolve the longstanding issue of unclaimed commissary funds that addresses the root cause of the issue and does not present the noted safety concerns.

Overall, we believe the telephone, tablet, and commissary services offered by these vendors are of immense value to the people in our care and to their loved ones in the community. Free and accessible phone calls mean that people can stay connected with their families and maintain the critical social networks that will support them in successfully reintegrating into their communities. Since 2022, people in custody have had the ability to make free phone calls using their tablets, providing greater access to phone services and, in turn, more opportunities to stay connected. Tablets offer not only entertainment and reduce idleness, but also connect individuals to important services and educational resources without having to leave their housing area or wait for a scheduled program. These serve as critical tools in a holistic approach to violence reduction and behavior management, which supports safer, more humane jails. 

We share the Council’s goal of ensuring that those in the Department’s care have access to high-quality services that are delivered ethically and transparently, and that comply with all contractual, legal, and regulatory obligations. We believe our vendors have been critical in supporting the Department in moving towards more modern and efficient operations, which not only benefit people in custody and DOC staff, but the City as a whole. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. We are happy to take your questions.