Prison vendor companies typically secure multi-year, single-source contracts with correctional facilities. However, a federal Court of Appeals held that the FCC can only regulate out-of-state and international calls, not calls made within states, which comprise 80% of all calls made from jails and prisons. It also capped financial transaction fees that third-party companies like Western Union can charge inmates or their families to process payments to phone service providers at $6.95. The Federal Communications Commission last year capped the price of interstate and international calls at 12 cents per minute for prisons and 14 cents per minute for jails. “The prices for prison phone calls far outstrip the cost of calls on the regular market,” the agency said in a report in January, adding that the companies offering these services “fueled their market dominance by acquiring other service providers to prisons and jails.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has started taking action against some of the companies for what they call “exploitative actions.” In October 2021 it limited the fees JPay could impose and fined the company $6 million for charging people leaving prisons fees to access money on prepaid debit cards and for requiring consumers to sign up for a JPay debit card as a condition of receiving government benefits. American Securities owns GTL, a telephone and communications provider. HIG Capital owns TKC Holdings, which does commissary, phone and other services. Platinum Equity owns Securus Technologies and JPay, which provide money transfers and phone calls, among other services. Prices are set by a handful of vendor companies owned by three private equity firms: Platinum Equity Partners, American Securities and HIG Capital. “I fear the costs to maintain our family while my husband is still in DOC (Department of Corrections) custody will only increase as time moves on.” Private Equity “I have no wiggle room with money and it’s very hard to save when you’re the only source of income,” Monica said. It adds up given that the average household income for families supporting an incarcerated person is $19,185, according to 2014 data, the most recent available. Having the use of a tablet in prison is yet another charge. The average fee to wire $20 to an incarcerated person in a state-run prison nationwide is 19% ($3.80), ranging from 5% ($1) in some states to 37% ($7.40) in others, according to that study.Īt the Massachusetts prison where Monica’s husband has been incarcerated for the past 13 years, emails are 25 cents apiece, both ways. Phone calls to prisons vary widely but run as high as $5.30 per 15 minutes, according to Prison Phone Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for lowering the cost of calls for incarcerated people and their loved ones.
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Many of the 6.5 million Americans who have an immediate family member in jail or prisonare coping with the same costs, plus steep fees for money transfers-which are largely unregulated but critical for people living inside prison walls to buy basic hygiene products and other necessities. She spoke to Bloomberg Law on condition of anonymity out of fear that prison staff could retaliate against her husband.īut phone calls, video visits and emails were the most important expenses she had as she fought to keep her family together while facing an increasingly common situation: more than 2 million Americans are in prisons and jails across the country. “I couldn’t tell him when I didn’t have enough money for both groceries and calls, so I would put the money on the phone first and figure out food second,” the 36-year-old said. Already juggling child care, student loans and rent on a solo income, Monica never imagined that the cost of staying in touch with her husband while he served a minimum 15 years in prison would be what drove her most agonizing budget decisions.
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