By Taylor Six
Lexington Herald-Leader
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted last week to end what it called exorbitant phone and video call rates that have hindered incarcerated people from communicating with their families for decades.
The new rules cap the costs of phone calls and video calls in prisons, allowing easier access for people in custody to contact people on the outside.
For the first time, the new rules address the high cost of video visitation calls, dropping those prices to less than a quarter of current prices and requiring per-minute rate options based on consumers’ actual usage.The rules also prohibit “site commission” payments and bar added fees to incarcerated people’s communications services services.
A 15-minute phone call will drop to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and, in small jails, to $1.35 from $12.10, according to the FCC.
The Fayette County Detention Center took the opportunity to improve inmate phone systems earlier this year, prior to the FCC ruling, according to Colonel Scott Colvin .
The FCDC, which is categorized as a “large jail,” has even lower costs to inmates with their new prices. Matt LeMonds , the jail’s public information officer, said the prices are:
- Tablets are free to all inmates
- Phone calls are $0.06 per minute
- Voicemails are $1
- Video visits are $2 (two free per month for indigent detainees)
- Electronic messages, similar to email or text messaging, are $0.50 (eight free per month for indigent detainees)
“The new system provides better access and better services for inmates and their families,” Colvin said. “I remain highly appreciative of the support and resources Mayor (Linda) Gorton and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Council provided to make this service transition a reality.”
In 2021, Kentucky jails had an average cost of around $0.20 for both in and out-of-state phone calls per minute, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
The service providers listed in the data report included Securus, CPC, and ViaPath . Rates were previously ordered by the FCC to be lowered in 2021, but only applied to out-of-state calls.
After the announcement to cap call prices was made on Thursday, the Prison Policy Initiative praised the decision and said the move lowers the existing caps by more than half, a “tremendous step forward” that will save the families of incarcerated people many millions of dollars every year.
The group said the FCC’s new rule on ancillary fees also effectively blocks a practice that they have been campaigning against for years: companies charging fees to consumers who choose to make single calls rather than fund a calling account, and deliberately steering new consumers to this higher-cost option in order to increase fee revenue.
You can learn a lot from phone calls, such as plans for contraband being introduced to your facility or planned assaults on staff or other inmates. In the video below, Gordon Graham discusses the importance of checking inmate’s phone records.
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