Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections Phones topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Millard County Signs Zero‑cost Contract for New Inmate Phone System, Vendor to Provide On‑site Support and Tablets
Summary
Millard County approved a new inmate communications contract with ICS Solutions that county staff said will cost the county nothing and will provide a part‑time on‑site technician and educational tablets for inmates.
The Millard County Commission approved a new vendor agreement for inmate phone, tablet and limited internet services with ICS Solutions (marketed as IC Solutions), a contract county staff said requires no payment from the county and provides an assigned part‑time technician to support the system.
Lieutenant Bennett of the Millard County Sheriff’s Office explained the countys previous contract with Securus had expired and that Securus planned to begin billing the county for services that had previously been provided at no cost. Bennett said the county chose ICS because it would not require county funding and because ICS will provide local technical support. “The new vendor doesn’t cost the county any money,” Bennett said during the meeting.
County staff and the sheriffs office described features of the ICS system: inmates will access communications and a provider‑controlled tablet interface, limited to content approved by the vendor; the tablets will provide educational programming, including GED courses, and inmates can earn credits through coursework that generate access to entertainment content if they lack funds. The vendor’s fees for calls and tablet services are billed to inmates or their callers; staff said a federal law, the Martha Wright Reid Act, now prevents counties from retaining revenue from inmate phone systems.
A staff member advised the commission the procurement could proceed under the county procurement code because ICS’s proposal represented the lowest net cost to the county (zero). The commission voted to approve the ICS Solutions contract by voice vote.
County representatives said ICS will supply a local technician to maintain the system and that the company’s tablet offering could be used for education and incentives as part of rehabilitation programming. The commission did not adopt changes to inmate fee schedules in the public discussion.
The motion to approve the new vendor for inmate phone services (ICS Solutions) passed on a recorded voice vote.
