New federal limits on inmate phone/video charges shrink county share; commissioners seek contract details

The Hall County correction director briefed the board that a national regulation effective April 1 limits what vendors may charge for inmate phone and video visitation and sharply reduces the county's share of that revenue.

"For a jail our size ... the most they can charge is 21¢ a minute for video and 13¢ a minute for phone," the correction director said, adding that the county's portion under the new calculation would be about 2¢ per minute for regulated services. Staff said other unregulated tablet services (messaging, games, movies) would remain under a separate contract and could still generate revenue but that the bundled revenue the county previously received will be materially reduced.

Commissioners questioned whether the county is effectively allowing vendors to profit from a captive population and asked whether the county could instead negotiate a fee for allowing tablets on site. One commissioner urged staff to bring the vendor contract to the board for review before any final decisions: "We gotta see the contract," a commissioner said.

Staff said they had received proposed contract adjustments from the vendor and that a second, separate contract is proposed to cover non-regulated services; staff asked for time to review and bring contract terms back to the board. Several commissioners urged renegotiation and additional scrutiny, noting education and re-entry programming had been part of the tablets' original justification.

Why it matters: Changes to how inmate communications are regulated can lower a jail's non-tax revenue and affect budgets and inmate access to services. Commissioners signaled they want the vendor contract and more modeling of revenue impacts before any changes are finalized.

Next steps: County staff to provide the vendor contract, revenue projections under the new regulation and options for negotiating a site-fee or different revenue-sharing terms at a future meeting.