N.Y. Correct. Law § 623

§ 623. Inmate telephone services. 1. Telephone services contracts for\ninmates in state correctional facilities shall be subject to the\nprocurement provisions as set forth in article eleven of the state\nfinance law provided, however, that when determining the best value of\nsuch telephone service, the lowest possible cost to the telephone user\nshall be emphasized.\n 2. The department shall make available either a "prepaid" or "collect\ncall" system, or a combination thereof, for telephone service. Under the\n"prepaid" system, funds may be deposited into an account in order to pay\nfor station-to-station calls, provided that nothing in this subdivision\nshall require the department to provide or administer a prepaid system.\nUnder a "collect call" system, call recipients are billed for the cost\nof an accepted telephone call initiated by an inmate. Under such\n"collect call" system, the provider of inmate telephone service, as an\nadditional means of payment, must permit the recipient of inmate calls\nto establish an account with such provider in order to deposit funds to\npay for such collect calls in advance.\n 3. The department shall not accept or receive revenue in excess of its\nreasonable operating cost for establishing and administering such\ntelephone system services as provided in subdivisions one and two of\nthis section.\n 4. The department shall establish rules and regulations or\ndepartmental procedures to ensure that any inmate phone call system\nestablished by this section provides reasonable security measures to\npreserve the safety and security of each correctional facility, all\nstaff and all persons outside a facility who may receive inmate phone\ncalls.\n