GOP AGs Back Carr on Jamming State Prison Cellphones

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2025 — State chief law enforcement officials across the country voiced the need for new federal regulations so local and state prisons can combat inmates’ cellphone use to coordinate crime from behind bars.

A coalition of 23 Republican state attorneys general has voiced support for a Federal Communications Commission proposal that would allow prisons to jam contraband cellphones.

In a letter led by Attorney General Tim Griffin R-Ark., the attorneys general urged the FCC to reconsider federal law that currently prohibits jamming technology in correctional facilities. They argued that the blanket restriction prevents states and localities from addressing the security risks posed by smuggled phones.

“This blanket restriction fails to account for the unique security needs of these facilities. Inmates routinely use smuggled phones to coordinate criminal enterprises, intimidate witnesses, and orchestrate violence both inside and outside prison walls,” Griffin wrote in the letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

The coalition described the FCC’s proposed rulemaking as “empowering” correctional administrators to deploy “narrowly tailored” jamming systems. 

According to the letter, such systems could disrupt unauthorized wireless communications inside prisons without affecting service beyond facility boundaries.

The attorneys general called the proposal a “critical opportunity to modernize” correctional security. States signing onto the letter include Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The FCC is scheduled to vote on the rule on September 30, 2025