OKLAHOMA CITY (March 26, 2025) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling on the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that will allow Oklahoma to deploy cell phone jamming systems in prisons. Federal law currently bans the use of this technology.
H.R. 2350 and S. 1137 aims to disrupt inmates’ ability to orchestrate crimes from behind bars using smuggled cell phones. Drummond and a bipartisan coalition of 31 attorneys general recently penned a letter to federal legislation in support of the measure.
"The proliferation of illegal cell phones in our prison systems represents a serious public safety threat to Oklahomans," Drummond said. "These devices are not just communication tools for inmates, but dangerous instruments that enable criminal activities that extend far beyond prison walls and directly impact our communities."
The coalition’s letter to Congress highlights how inmates exploit contraband phones to:
- Direct drug trafficking operations;
- Orchestrate violence inside and outside prison walls;
- Run sophisticated fraud schemes preying on vulnerable citizens;
- Intimidate witnesses and terrorize victims’ families; and
- Plot escape attempts endangering law enforcement and the public.
Because states are banned from using cell phone jamming technology, correctional facilities are rendered defenseless against these escalating threats. Carefully designed to avoid disrupting emergency signals like 9-1-1, H.R. 2350 and S. 1137 would grant states the authority to deploy targeted jamming systems within prisons.
Led by the attorneys general of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the attorneys general of 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, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia are a part of the coalition.
