Sheriffs Are Raking In Millions In Prison Phone Fees And Some Really Don't Want To Talk About It
from the cashing-in-on-people-with-nowhere-else-to-go dept
MuckRock is currently conducting a public records survey of prison telephone contracts. What it has secured so far will shock you, but only if you haven't been paying attention. There's nothing like a captive audience, and prisoners are the most captive of all. There's one way out via telephone and its routed through mercenary companies and the law enforcement agencies that love them.
Why so much law enforcement love for telcos specializing in prison phones? Because money buys a lot of love.
A recently-released contract for prison phone services in Bartow County, Georgia shows that the County receives a commission of 77% from its current provider of inmate communications, ICSolutions.
And it's not 77% of some small amount. In this agreement, phones calls are $0.16/minute and billing for calls involves fees of $3-6 for payment processing. The contract is so profitable for both ICS and the sheriff's department that ICS installs the system for free and provides the county with $225,000 in grants in exchange for an auto-renewing contract that helps lock out competitors. In addition, the county collects 50% of video visitation and "inmate tablet usage" fees.
This may be at the low end of prison phone contracts, as far as commissions go. Other records obtained by MuckRock show government agencies angling for higher percentages and larger payouts. The Bristol County Sheriff's Office sent out a handful of proposals with demands for anywhere from 58-72% of call revenue. Depending on contractor, the department would make $2-4 per call, along with a cut of other communications services provided by contractors. The end result is more than $2 million a year flowing directly from prisoners (and their families) into county coffers. Unsurprisingly, this sheriff's department is being sued for its high-cost prison phone system.
Also unsurprising is the fact those profiting from these agreements are reluctant to talk about them. Beryl Lipton reports one sheriff's department is seeking to withhold documents by deploying a dubious public records exemption.
According to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department in Wyoming, a request for its contract with inmate phone service provider Inmate Calling Solutions (ICSolutions) cannot be made public because the agreement itself is consider a “trade secret.”
The letter from the county attorney's office claims the agreement between the sheriff and ICS prevents the documents from being released. Supposedly, the wording says the entire agreement is "confidential" or a "trade secret" (the attorney's letter doesn't specify which). Even if true, private companies can't do business with government entities and expect all of their documentation to remain out of the public eye. If the wording is similar in other ICS contracts, it hasn't stopped multiple government agencies from turning over copies of their contracts with the company to records requesters. This appears to be a case of someone at the county level finding a loophole to keep requesters from finding out just how much the local sheriff is making on prison phone calls.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: fees, prison phones, sheriffs
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Because many LEO's have a morose viewpoint that inmates are animals who are to be treated as horribly and sub-humanly as possible.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Such a weak argument. Sounds like this attorney is just phoning it in.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Now if it was Trump doing it you can bet he'd be going the whole hog about it...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
"Whole hog" - I get it. Because they're bringing home the bacon.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Who does this hurt?
Indirectly: all of us. Recidivism. In my opinion, one of the first lines of defense against recidivism is family support on release.
This is very stupid policy & one that could be easily fixed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Who does this hurt?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The rate listed in this case is $0.16/minute, which seems like an exceptionally cheap rate for a prison. The $50/15min call seems like the more traditional prison price that people often complain about. There were also other limitations as well, such as the call being made to a (land line) telephone that could accept collect calls.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Prison or Jail?
In my state, most Prisons are run by the state, but county jails are run by the local Sheriff Department.
What makes this even more heinous than some of the commenters realize is that many people held in a jail are still awaiting trial, so they are supposed to be assumed to be innocent.
How we justify denying physical visits, and charging rediculous amounts for communications for those who are supposed to be assumed innocent is sickening.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Prison or Jail?
Denying physical visits allows them to cut back on staff & keep them more isolated so they act out more. They like to talk how it keeps everyone safer, but much like the cop who bought a $750K house using the food budget its to line pockets.
There is also the company that was illegally recording & providing call recordings of discussions with their lawyers & leaked that out once or twice. (They recently got hacked, my heart (if I had one) would bleed for them).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I hope they take the route the FBI prefers for questions about the Stingrays & drops the program to avoid talking about the program.
The really funny thing is we keep hearing about how budgets are tight & they need civil asset forfeiture to keep the department running... yet many of them have these sick contracts that should be helping defray costs... funny how it never is enough.
We are not happy with prison sentences, we demand they be made to suffer above & beyond... then we are shocked just shocked that when they get out we won't hire them, won't offer training, won't assist them, try to pretend we have rights to keep inflicting demands upon them and then they just give up & break the law again costing all of us much money to house them because no matter what we claim redemption is not possible & they deserve to be punished until they die.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Prison or Jail?
As I understand it, telephone calls made by an arrestee after being booked into a jail are free as well as private, unlike a convicted prison(jail) inmate.
Anyway, as 'prison' and 'jail' are basically synonyms, I'd like to know why adding the "-er" suffix turns them into antonyms.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
They are coming for us
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
where do you live?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Once in the 'system' always in the system.
Push them down to the point where all hope is lost and force their humanity from them, turn them into animals suitable to only live in the system.
New laws are passed every day, the rich get richer the poor get pushed into the system.
They are coming for you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Prisoners have limited constitutional rights
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Prisoners have limited constitutional rights
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Prisoners have limited constitutional rights
Rise UP US citizens and protect you rights.
https://conventionofstates.com/
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I don't understand...
And, if you can't get enough prisoners, your only recourse would be to pay a politician a whole lot of money to adopt a "tough on crime" position to create more criminals, and...
Oh, wait, I see why certain people would think it's a good idea now. Never mind.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
Surely they get an e-mail.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prison or Jail?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Prisoners have limited constitutional rights
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Easy fix
'Any contract between a government and private company that involves members of the public, indirectly or not, shall be available to the public so that it can be checked and read. Refusal to do so will instantly nullify any such contract and acting as though it was still in force will be treated as a criminal offense.'
Might need some fine-tuning, but at this point I have zero patience for government agencies claiming they can screw people over and hide the paperwork via some 'trade secret' or 'NDA' crap. If it impacts the public then they damn well should be required to present the paperwork involved.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Don't worry
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
However, talking with her, she convinced me to pay for a training in a field that she claimed would get her a job on the outside. I paid, she did the training, after release it took a while, but she got a job.
She has excelled in the field, has had additional training, & has had a number of promotions. She bought a house, got her kids with her now, & is doing extremely well. She even paid me back some of the money (not that I wanted it).
External family support worked very well for her. All together I likely spent more than $500 on phone calls.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]