HB 2638 Summary

• Establishes an office within the Department of Corrections to determine prisoner placement, prioritizing placement near children's locations when applicable.

• Requires adoption of visitation rules for primary caretaker parents allowing visits at least six days per week, eight-hour daily facility access, up to five adult visitors per visit, and physical contact unless prisoner poses immediate danger.

• Mandates provision of parenting classes, trauma-informed care, employee training on trauma identification, and free videoconferencing to all prisoners, plus access to gynecologists for female prisoners.

• Provides female prisoners free access to tampons, sanitary napkins, and health care products including soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, and over-the-counter medications in appropriate quantities.

• Establishes an overnight visitation pilot program for primary caretaker parents with good behavior records (excluding violent crime convictions) that terminates July 1, 2028; designates an ombudsman to monitor prisoner transportation, segregated housing use, strip searches, and civil rights violations.