The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote Nov. 19 on rules that would let state and local prisons and jails jam contraband cellphones, Chairman Brendan Carr said Oct. 28 in Little Rock, Arkansas^1,6,8.

The draft would allow, not require, facilities to apply for permission to operate jammers inside a commission-authorized containment area after testing that the signal does not cause harmful interference outside it^1,5,7.

Carr said thousands of illicit phones have entered prisons and that inmates have used them to order violence and run criminal enterprises^1,8. In an Oct. 28 social media post quoted by al.com, he wrote that almost 500,000 inmates now have access to phones and that 25,000 are seized in jails each year¹.

Jammers are generally illegal for non-federal users under the Communications Act, outlets reported, which is why state systems have been barred while some federal prisons tested micro-jamming^5,7. Carr told reporters the longstanding reading of that ban was mistaken and that facilities would apply, describe their plan, and wait for FCC approval⁸.

South Carolina corrections leaders have pressed for the change for more than a decade, SC Daily Gazette reported⁶. Department of Corrections Director Joel Anderson said he plans to seek permission for the state’s 21 prisons⁶. The department said tests at Broad River Correctional Institution in 2019 and again in summer 2026 blocked interior signals without interfering outside; Carr said targeted use in living quarters could be fully effective⁹.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who appeared with Carr, cited prison-based trafficking and sextortion cases in other states and urged Congress to pass his Cellphone Jamming Reform Act^8,7. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said inmates have used phones to commit violent crimes from inside^6,8.

When the FCC advanced a draft last year, Commissioner Anna Gomez said she worried about “unintended consequences of permitting jamming by non-federal actors”⁷. Engadget noted earlier FCC materials had flagged risks to emergency communications and to putting jammer hardware into wider circulation⁵.

The Verge reported that some incarcerated journalists say phones have been used to send uncensored accounts of prison conditions to news outlets, including material later cited in a Justice Department inquiry into Georgia prisons⁷. Kaleem Nazeem, a decARcerate co-director formerly held in Arkansas, said most users want contact with family, not crime⁸.

John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas, said cheaper official prison calls — not a sweeping jammer authorization — would better reduce contraband phones, pointing to a 2025 FCC rollback of rate caps⁸. Engadget likewise noted the agency delayed enforcing prison-call rate caps in July 2025⁵.

Carr said challenges in court are possible if the order is adopted, and that the FCC is not considering jamming outside prisons and jails⁸. The three-member commission is two Republicans and one Democrat¹. A draft decision is expected to be released before the Nov. 19 open meeting⁹.