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Commissioners approve month-to-month extension for inmate calling and video visitation; staff to run combined RFP
Summary
Bexar County authorized a month-to-month continuation with its current inmate calling and video-visitation vendor while staff finalizes a combined solicitation. Court removed a clerical reference to projected monthly revenue from the agenda caption.
Bexar County Commissioners Court on May 13 approved continuing its contracts for inmate calling and video visitation on a month-to-month basis while staff finalizes a combined request for proposals to replace the current services.
The court voted to correct a clerical error in the item caption that referenced a monthly revenue amount and to proceed with a procurement schedule that staff said would return a formal recommendation to the court in June. The motion to amend the caption and approve the month-to-month continuation was made by Commissioner Rodriguez and seconded by Commissioner Moody and carried without opposition.
The county’s purchasing staff told the court the scope of work for the new solicitation is about “98%” complete and that the recommendation would be presented to the court at the June 10 meeting. Gregory Galloway, representing purchasing staff, said the new procurement will consolidate phone services and video visitation into a single solicitation.
Sheriff’s office leaders and commissioners discussed optional tablet deployments as part of the future solicitation. The sheriff said tablet options should remain available to bidders but expressed caution about potential unintended consequences—damage to devices, use as a weapon, or morale effects on deputies. The sheriff said tablets were acceptable as an optional feature that could be removed later if problems emerged.
Commissioners and staff emphasized that the county should not treat inmate communications as a revenue source and asked that the RFP include safeguards limiting the cost burden on inmates’ families. Commissioners also asked that civilian community representatives be considered for the evaluation committee; staff and the sheriff said they would accommodate that input where appropriate.
Staff said the evaluation committee will include members from the sheriff’s office and other county departments, and that the RFP will use evaluation criteria rather than simple low-bid scoring.
The court did not adopt final pricing or vendor selection; instead it authorized the short-term continuation of services and directed staff to advertise and evaluate a combined solicitation for phones and video visitation.
Looking ahead, staff expects to present solicitation results to the court for award after the RFP evaluation process is complete.
