# 104

II-5.1000 November 19, 1993

DJ 202-PL-438

Ms. Camille Jones

Culver City Human Services Department
4153 Overland Avenue
Culver City, California 90230

Dear Ms. Jones:

This letter is in response to your inquiry regarding the

City's responsibilities under the ADA for providing accessible
telephones. We apologize for the delay in responding.

The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide

technical assistance to individuals and entities having rights
and obligations under the Act. This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA's requirements.
However, it does not constitute a legal opinion or legal advice
and it is not binding on the Department.

You inquire whether the ADA requires the City of Culver to

replace payphones on City property with amplified models, whether
coin-operated TDD's are also required, and finally, whether the
City or the phone company bears the financial burden of altering
or replacing equipment. You indicate that the payphones in
question are either leased from the phone company by the City or
placed on City property at the request of the telephone company
(we presume there is no cost to the City for the latter).

Where pay phones are installed on City property, this

constitutes a service provided by the City that is subject to the
accessibility obligations of the ADA. In our view, it is of no
significance whether the phones are placed at the City's request
or the telephone company's. The City is thus responsible for any
required accessibility changes. The telephone company does not
have any legal obligations under title II. However, the City
could require the company to install accessible phones as the
condition for granting permission to locate the phones on public
property and negotiate with the company as to which party shall
bear this cost.

You indicate that the City has selected UFAS for purposes of
its transition plan. You are correct that UFAS does not require
the installation of coin-operated TDD's. However, as noted in
regard to the amplification equipment, the City could, in its
negotiations with the telephone company, require TDD
installations.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Sincerely,

John L. Wodatch
Chief
Public Access Section