Harris County jail inmate phone calls could cost less after vote

View of the Harris County Jail from the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Tuesday, May 10, 2022, in Houston.

*Update: Harris County on Tuesday awarded the contract to Securus but is attempting to negotiate for a $.011 jail phone call rate.

Original story:

Jail calls are expected to become a lot cheaper in Harris County, although local activist groups are still calling for the county to provide free phone calls for inmates after years of delay.

Harris County is expected to vote on awarding a contract on Tuesday that would lower the rate of jail phone calls from the current rate of $0.18 per minute to at most $0.022 per minute, and provide video visitation and tablets to inmates to communicate with friends and loved ones. Compared to other Texas county jails that use the same communications vendor, a $.18 per minute phone call is a lower rate than other nearby jails are commonly at $.21 per minute.

In addition to activist groups calling for free jail phone calls, they are raising concerns about Securus Technologies, the vendor providing the communication tools.

According to the county, the contract would provide telephone services at the jail at no cost to the county and lower the cost of the phone calls. Restoring Justice founder Drew Willey said the rate is an improvement but Harris County should still either choose a vendor who can provide free calls or cover any fee charged by a vendor.

"Talking to people outside, whether it be your family or your attorney, is the very thing that can lead to your release from jail," Willey said. "Our jail is full of people who have mental health issues and have experienced homelessness, according to jail stats. Their ability to pay takes certain financial infrastructure, such as credit cards or having somebody set it up for you."

"There are mundane tasks on being able to call that is prevented for someone who's inside the jail who doesn't have the mental capacity or they are experiencing chronic poverty, or they've just never had the financial resources to even be able to pay. There is a large jail population who will not be able to make calls unless they are free," Willey said.

A spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff's Office said that "the Sheriff's Office is interested in providing people in the jail with a reliable phone and video conferencing system so they can maintain regular and frequent contact with family and friends." The HCSO also said that the digital tablets the inmates can use for communication will include some free basic services, plus the option for people in the jail to purchase premium tablet content.

Securus Technologies has already partnered with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to provide tablets to inmates across the state, including those on death row. The inmates are able to make calls from the tablets for 6 cents per minute, according to a Securus Technologies spokesperson.

Willey says that Harris County is one of Securus Technologies' largest and most profitable contracts and should work to lead the effort in providing free calls to inmates. Last year, Dallas County commissioners voted to reduce the cost of jail phone calls to 1 cent per minute, making it one of the lowest rates in the country, according to the Fines & Fees Justice Center. New York City was the first major city to make phone calls free from jail in 2019, and starting at the beginning of this year, people serving time in California are also able to make free phone calls.

According to provided by the Harris County Purchasing Agent, in 2018, inmates made over 18 million minutes of calls to and from the Harris County jail which resulted in over $2.5 million in commission for the County.

Gabriela Barahona from the Texas Jail Project said jail phone calls rates impact not only the mental health of inmates but on case outcomes and family connectivity.

Making jail phone calls free is, "one of the easiest and lowest hanging fruit that the Harris County Commissioner's Court could take to drastically improve inmate quality of life and provide economic justice for the families on the outside who of course have done nothing wrong, have not been charged with any alleged crime, and are simply being charged a 'love tax' for wanting to be able to communicate with their loved ones," Barahona said.

According to the report 'Who Pays?', the families of incarcerated people often pay the brunt of the costs of their incarceration, with one in three families going into debt to pay for phone calls and visits alone. Family members who cannot talk with or visit their loved ones regularly were also more likely to report negative health impacts, according to the report.

On top of the ethical justifications for advocating for free phone calls to and from Harris County jail, both the Texas Jail Project and Restoring Justice have raised concerns over potentially extending a contract with Securus Technologies because of their previous lawsuits and alleged questionable business practices with the county.

Oklahoma Watch reported in 2020 that Securus Technologies has paid out millions to settle claims that it illegally recorded phone conversations between inmates and attorneys. The company also faced multiple class-action lawsuits from family and friends of inmates who allege they were excessively charged for phone calls.

Aventiv Technologies, the parent company to Secureus Technologies, said in a statement that since 2020 they have, "led an aggressive multi-year transformation," to hold themselves accountable and push the industry to answer to both consumers and communities.

"We succeeded in achieving a nationwide 25% reduction in call rates, providing 439.7 million free minutes of connections over the last years including nearly $1.5 million in free phone call communications in Harris County," the company wrote in a statement to the Chronicle. "We know that incarcerated individuals who maintain consistent connection with their families have a lower recidivism rate. Governments can't afford to do this alone. It takes a public-private partnership. That's why we invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year on infrastructure to eliminate technology deserts, so incarcerated individuals are in a better position to successfully reenter society. In every county and state, Aventiv offers a range of funding options, from public-funded choices to traditional models, so that customers can choose what works best for them."

Still, Secureus' history has advocates and attorneys worried. Houston attorney Doug Murphy says that Secureus is "the only player in the market and they can charge whatever they want."

"It's really important that our government do everything in their power to protect us from overreach from companies like Secureus," Barahona said. "We are still very hopeful that the commissioners will use this opportunity to push for the rights of families."

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