MALONE — The State Senate last week passed the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term, or “HALT” solitary confinement act, legislation designed to limit the use of the conditions for all incarcerated inmates to 15 days.

The legislation was passed in order to implement “alternative rehabilitative measures, including the creation of Residential Rehabilitation Units,” while expanding the state’s definition of solitary confinement and eliminating its use on “vulnerable incarcerated populations.”

The bill is also designed to establish “guidelines for humane conditions in segregated confinement,” while outlining reporting requirements, and adding “due process protections by prohibiting placement in segregated confinement prior to a disciplinary hearing and by allowing access to counsel.”

HALT was sponsored by Sen. Julia Salazar and is believed by state officials to bring the state “in compliance with this international standard” and “save the state tens of millions of dollars over the next several years.”

Out of Malone’s three correctional facilities, Upstate Correctional is its sole high maximum security prison.

District 115 Assemblyman Billy Jones voted against the bill when it passed the Assembly earlier.

“There needs to be some semblance of order in a correctional facility … There is no such thing as solitary confinement,” Jones claimed Friday, calling institutions such as Upstate Correctional “special housing.”

“There is still a need for special housing in New York,” Jones said of facilities such as Upstate.

“I voted no for the HALT Act like I have in the past because this legislation jeopardizes the working order of these facilities and puts corrections officers and staff along with incarcerated individuals at risk,” Jones said last week in a prepared statement. “There is due process in place where incarcerated individuals have hearings before they are directed to spend time in the separate housing unit, so that this cannot be abused as a punishment. I believe that separate housing units are valuable as a disciplinary option to help keep these facilities safe and secure.”

Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said following the Senate’s ruling that the bill is designed to bring about reform that is “morally right, fiscally responsible, and will improve outcomes at jails and prisons.”

“Prolonged segregated confinement can cause permanent harms and does not properly address the root causes that lead to the punishment,” she said.

Salazar, who is chair of the Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, called the use of solitary confinement “inhumane, unethical, and constitutes torture under international law if it extends more than fifteen days. It must be discontinued immediately.”

The bill now goes to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo who has previously vetoed similar bills.

Under the new act, the definition of segregated confinement will include “any form of cell confinement where an individual is held for more than 17 hours a day.”

Out-of-cell time through the bill would be mandated and inmates would be “diverted to rehabilitative units after the 15-day limit has been reached.”

Solitary confinement through HALT would be prohibited for special populations for any period of time. This includes inmates age 21 or younger, age 55 and over, and inmates with a disability. It also includes inmates who are pregnant, “up to eight weeks postpartum, or caring for children in a facility.”

Under HALT, the “denial of services, treatment, or basic needs such as clothing, food, and bedding while an individual is held in segregated confinement” is prohibited.

Staff will be mandated under the legislation to undergo 37 hours and 30 minutes of initial training prior to being assigned to work solitary units and 21 additional hours, annually, after their assignment.

The act will also require the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to publish monthly reports online with semi-annual and annual cumulative reports of the total number of people in segregated confinement.

“There should be no place in civilized society for the legalized torture of solitary confinement, which serves no useful purpose,” Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris said. “I’m glad the Senate is joining with the Assembly to put this inhumane practice behind us once and for all.”