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JAIL PHONE SYSTEMS

The eTc Campaign does not focus on problems associated with jail telephone systems
for several reasons:

  • There are far too many jails in this country for us to be able to gather meaningful data.
  • Individuals typically remain in a jail for a far shorter period of time than those in state prisons.  That makes it very difficult to organize and sustain a campaign.

Nonetheless, the problems with jail systems are just as serious – and, in some ways, more troubling, because:

  • Persons in jails often do not understand the high rates of these calls.  They may run up very high charges that are not apparent until loved ones receive the bill.
  • The high cost of calls may mean that the attorney will refuse calls.  This scenario can have a negative impact on access to courts.

For those who do wish to work on improving jail phone systems, we recommend that you work with the commissioners or councilpersons who oversee the workings of the jurisdiction.  So, for example, you may want to contact a county commissioner or a city councilperson – depending upon whether the jail is a county or city facility.  Natural allies in the effort are the friends and family members of other incarcerated persons and individuals who work in the jail ministry.

While we are not able to address the jail situation, we do occasionally receive information on jail phone systems.  We have included the highlights of that information below. 

CALIFORNIA: On December 3, 2006, Ryan Sabalow of the Record Searchlight in Redding, CA reported on jail phone systems in California.  Among the data reported were the following:

  • The Shasta County jail collected $133,000 from phone calls in 2005.
  • The Associated Press (AP) reported that in 2004 the average inmate in a county jail in California was charged about 7 times the value of a normal 50-cent pay phone call.
  • In that same report, the AP reported that, over a five-year period, California’s jails collected more that $303 million in revenue from phone systems.
  • “Charles Carbone, a prisoners’ rights attorney with California Prison Focus in San Francisco, said excessive charges are the norm in all of California’s 57 jails, and it’s families, not inmates, who usually end up footing the bill.”

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: To our knowledge the DC Jail is the only facility in the country that allows inmates to call 800 numbers.

MARYLAND:  In November 2006, we were informed that the Montgomery County Jail had issued a request for proposal (RFP) with a statement of intent that read, in part, “The intent of the RFP is to … award a contract to the offeror who can provide the lowest possible cost of telephone services….  To facilitate this in part, the County … will accept no commission payment….”

WISCONSIN:  In July 2007, Dane County (Madison area) Board Supervisor Ashok Kumar introduced and ordinance with two provisions:
Dane County shall not enter into any contract for jail inmate services including telephone service, that is intended to generate revenue for the county.
The procurement of services for jail inmates, including telephone service, shall be subject to competitive bidding under this section and shall be designed to achieve the lowest possible cost for inmates consistent with public safety.

The ordinance is supported by the Madison-area Urban Ministry, Voices Beyond Bars, and the Prison Ministry Program.  Mr. Kumar was quoted, “If we pass this, we’ll be the first county to do something like this.  We could create a model to replicate across the country.”

The ordinance was adopted.