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Legislation introducing a crackdown on contraband in prisons but allowing communion wine inside has been tabled in Parliament.
The Government foreshadowed the Corrections Amendment Bill (No 2) in June and intends to get it before a select committee before Christmas.
The bill combats contraband smuggling giving prison staff stronger search powers.
It allows priests to bring in communion wine to be consumed by prisoners.
It also creates a new criminal offence for non-prisoners possessing drugs, mobile communication devices, or weapons in prisons without permission.
It makes it an offence for an inmate to possess or use an unauthorised electronic device in a prison, punishable by up to three months in prison and a $5000 fine.
And it extends existing provisions so that Corrections Department staff who pass contraband to prisoners outside the prison are also punishable by up to a year's prison and a $5000 fine.
Cellphones are already banned in prisons, but their prevalence has been rising in recent years - confiscations of phones and components rose from 250 in 2003 to 1047 in 2005.
The issue came to light again in June when it was revealed a Rimutaka Prison inmate used his cellphone to organise the importation of methamphetamine with a street value of $1 million from Thailand.
The Corrections Department is moving towards blocking cellphone calls. It is also working towards stricter security at prison gates, and having a single point of entry in all prison sites.
The bill gives the department the power to detect, monitor and disable unauthorised electronic communications.
- NZPA
