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VietnameseGriffin: ‘I applaud the FCC for moving forward with rulemaking that would allow correctional facilities to use jamming solutions to combat contraband cellphones’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement after he led a coalition of 23 state attorneys general in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) supporting a proposed rulemaking that would allow correctional facilities to use cellphone jamming technologies to disrupt cellular transmissions coming from contraband devices.
“I applaud the FCC for moving forward with rulemaking that would allow correctional facilities to use jamming solutions to combat contraband cellphones. Thousands of contraband cellphones have poured into prisons across the country, and inmates have been using them to plan further criminal activity, including assault, murder, and aiding criminal enterprises. I appreciate the leadership of U.S. Senator Tom Cotton and Congressman David Kustoff (R-Tennessee) on this critical public safety issue. They have been instrumental in getting us to this point.”
Current FCC interpretation of federal rules prohibits the use of jamming equipment, even in highly controlled environments like correctional institutions. 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. These activities compromise the safety of correctional staff, other inmates, and the public.
The proposed rule would empower correctional administrators to implement jamming systems that disrupt unauthorized wireless communications within prisons, without affecting legitimate service outside the facility. This targeted approach balances the need for security with the preservation of lawful communications.
Joining the Arkansas-led letter are the attorneys general of 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.
To read a copy of the letter, click here.
To download a PDF version of this release, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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