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House corrections panel presses DOC on phone, tablet access and call costs
Summary
The House Corrections and Institutions Committee questioned Department of Corrections staff about phone and tablet access, monitoring, vendor pricing and a proposal in H.294 to expand free calls. DOC staff described a vendor-provided, closed tablet system, two free weekly calls, standard rates for paid services and said attorney calls are not录ed.
The House Corrections and Institutions Committee on May 7 examined Department of Corrections practices and the provisions of H.294 related to telephone and tablet access for people in custody, focusing on who pays for calls and what communications are monitored.
Committee members said the questions grew out of last week’s review of bill H.294 and a request for DOC to clarify operational details. The committee sought specifics on whether tablets are issued to every person, how approved call lists are cleared, whether attorney calls are charged, and which calls are recorded.
Al Cormier, chief of operations with the Department of Corrections, told the committee, “All the incarcerated population has access to to telecommunications. There are phones mounted both on the walls in the living units, and they have the access to the tablet for video calls as well.” He said tablets are issued to…
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