Carr Leads Bipartisan Coalition Backing Federal Legislation to Combat Contraband Cell Phones

ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr is leading a bipartisan coalition of 31 attorneys general in urging Congress to pass H.R. 2350 and S. 1137, federal legislation that allows states to deploy cell phone jamming technology in prisons and jails. Introduced by Tennessee Congressman David Kustoff and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, the bills aim to combat the use of contraband cell phones and the violence they cause both inside and outside of prisons. 

“Contraband cell phones are killing people, and this has to stop now,” said Carr. “We have heard from law enforcement throughout the state that our most effective solution is to jam the signal and make contraband cell phones obsolete, yet federal policies continue to block our efforts. We’re committed to combating violent crime wherever it occurs, which is why we’re once again calling on Congress to remove this substantial barrier to public safety.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken the position that federal law prohibits states from using cell phone jamming technology, leaving correctional facilities defenseless against an escalating threat. However, in a letter sent to the FCC in June 2024, Carr notes that the agency’s policy relies on a decades-old statute that was enacted years before prison inmates began using contraband cell phones to plan and engage in deadly and dangerous activity. In that same letter to the FCC, Carr further notes that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has already recognized the potential value of cell phone jammers and permitted several federal penitentiaries, including at least one in Georgia, to use such devices.

Last month, Carr met with the FCC in Washington D.C. to discuss the urgency of this issue, and he has continued to push for new legislation to combat the problem, both in January 2023 and December 2024. Carefully designed to avoid disrupting emergency signals like 9-1-1, H.R. 2350 and S. 1137 explicitly grant states the authority to deploy targeted jamming systems within prisons and jails. 

Just last year, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) seized and processed over 15,500 cell phones and more than 150 drones. 

In Tattnall County, an incarcerated leader of the infamous street gang, “Yves Saint Laurent Squad,” used a contraband cell phone to order a hit, which resulted in the death of an 88-year-old Georgia veteran. A gang leader in North Carolina ordered the kidnapping of a prosecutor’s father using a contraband cell phone in prison. According to the Atlanta Police Department, two 13-year-old boys were killed last year in a drive-by shooting ordered by an incarcerated gang leader in a Georgia state prison. 

Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit has also partnered with GDC to investigate and prosecute currently incarcerated individuals who are alleged to have engaged in criminal gang activity and discussions regarding the packaging and shipping of contraband items into a state correctional facility. 

In their latest letter to Congressional leaders, the attorneys general note: “This is not a partisan issue – it is a matter of public safety.”

Carr is co-leading this effort alongside the attorneys general of Tennessee, North Carolina, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The attorneys general of the following states have also joined in signing the letter: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. 

Find a copy of the letter here .