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Sheriff proposes steep cuts to jail phone rates; Board committee forwards contract amendment with Global Tel Link
Summary
Sheriff presented a plan to reduce inmate telephone rates (examples: inter-LATA 15-minute call from $13.35 to $4.05, local 15-minute call from $4.45 to $2.75) and to renegotiate the county's Global Tel Link contract; Public Defender Jeff Adachi and advocates supported the moves. The committee forwarded the amendment with a positive recommendation to the full board.
Sheriff Merkiremi told the Government Audit and Oversight Committee that the Sheriff’s Department is proposing a series of changes to the county’s contract with Global Tel Link designed to reduce what he called predatory telephone rates for incarcerated people and lessen the financial burden on their families.
The sheriff presented a slide showing proposed rate reductions across call tiers. As the presentation put it, an inter-LATA 15‑minute call priced at about $13.35 under the current contract could be reduced to roughly $4.05 —…
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