Phone Bill Passes Legislature

(Contact Summer 2007)

Senate Bill 1580, written by Leticia Van de Putte and sponsored by Haggerty, Madden, and Hodge, has passed the Senate and the House and was sent to the Governor on May 3, 2007. The bill is similar to Terri Hodge’s House Bill 43 and identical to Haggerty’s House Bill 1888. The governor took no action on the bill and it became law on May 15, 2007. It will go into effect immediately. Phone systems must be operational by January 1, 2009. Bidding for the contract will occur in the upcoming year.

The bill relates to the provision of pay telephone service to inmates in TDCJ. The TDCJ Board will be requesting proposals from private vendors to enter into a contract to provide telephone service. The vendor must provide for the installation, operation, and maintenance of the service without cost to the state, and pay the department a commission of not less that 40 percent of the gross revenue from the service provided. The vendor must provide a system that will compile approved inmate call lists, verify numbers to be called by inmates, oversee entry of personal identification numbers, generate reports to department personnel on calling patterns, network systems at all units, and provide a fully automated system. The vendor must ensure that a ratio of not greater than 30 eligible inmates per communication device is maintained at each unit, and ensure that an eligible inmate or a person acting on behalf of the inmate may prepay for the service. The contract will be awarded to a single vendor for a period of no less than 7 years. TDCJ will transfer 50 percent of all commissions paid to the department to the compensation to victims of crime fund. TDCJ will develop policies for phone usage which must allow for an average monthly call usage rate of eight calls, with each call having an average duration of not less than 10 minutes, per eligible inmate. Except for attorney-client communication, calls will be recorded and preserved for a reasonable length of time for law enforcement and security purposes.

TIFA has supported this legislation for at least two prior legislative sessions. It is hoped that implementation of this bill will improve communication between inmates and family members. Specific details about how the system will operate will not be known until policies are developed by TDCJ.