Pennsylvania State Prison phone rates and kickbacks

Pennsylvania ranks 13rd in the nation for the affordability of a 15 minute call.

Kickbacks paid

$3,470,852.00 paid in 2017.

Percentage of call cost going to kickbacks: 59-60%

Cost of a 15-minute Intrastate Call

	Collect	Prepaid	Debit
Same state	$0.90	$0.90	$0.90
Local	$0.90	$0.90	$0.90

Detailed rates

	Collect	Prepaid	Debit
Same state	0.06/min	0.06/min	0.06/min
Local	0.06/min	0.06/min	0.06/min

Phone service providers

Securus

Notes

Rates current as of May 2017.
Kickbacks from FY2012.

Data current as of 2017-2018

Historical Data for Pennsylvania

Primary source documents

State DOC Rates

State DOC Contracts

State DOC Commission Data

Key Prison Phone Documents

PLN Dec. 2013 cover story on the prison phone industry

PLN April 2011 cover story on the prison phone industry

HRDC comment to FCC re WA phone rates Sept. 2014

HRDC response to PayTel comments Jan. 2014

HRDC comment to FCC on FNPRM Dec. 2013

HRDC comment to FCC on NPRM March 2013

HRDC reply comment to FCC on NPRM April 2013

HRDC response to Global Tel comments Oct. 2012

HRDC initial comment to FCC April 2007

FCC Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Oct. 2014

FCC Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Sept. 2013

FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Dec. 2012

Prison Phone Related News

Washington State: Jail Phone Rates Increase as Video Replaces In-Person Visits

Loaded on Oct. 12, 2018 by Steve Horn, Iris Wagner published in Prison Legal News October, 2018, page 1

Filed under: Telephone Rates, Visiting, Video Visitation. Location: Washington.

by Steve Horn and Iris Wagner

A comprehensive set of public records obtained by Prison Legal News from the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) and most of the state’s county jails indicates that the average cost of local and in-state phone calls made by Washington prisoners has steadily increased in ...

Despite Lack of FCC Action, States Can Still Make Prison and Jail Calls Affordable

Loaded on Sept. 3, 2018 by Dale Chappell published in Prison Legal News September, 2018, page 36

Filed under: Telephone Rates. Location: United States of America.

by Dale Chappell

Although prison phone service providers and law enforcement officials won their lawsuit to block the FCC’s $.11-per-minute cap on intrastate (in-state) prison phone calls [see: PLN, July 2017, p.52], states can still lower the rates – to even below $.11 per minute – and some have ...

Criticism of Commission-based Phone Contract at Pennsylvania County Prison

Loaded on Aug. 8, 2018 by R. Bailey published in Prison Legal News August, 2018, page 58

Filed under: Telephone Rates. Location: Pennsylvania.

by R. Bailey

Prisoners and their families in York County, Pennsylvania are outraged that Global Tel*Link (GTL), one of the nation’s largest prison and jail telephone service providers, has contracted with the York County Prison under a “commission” arrangement that provides kickbacks to the county through inflated phone rates ...

Massachusetts County Faces Lawsuit Over Phone Fee Kickbacks

Loaded on Aug. 8, 2018 by Monte McCoin published in Prison Legal News August, 2018, page 55

Filed under: Telephone Rates. Location: Massachusetts.

by Monte McCoin

On May 2, 2018, attorneys with Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), the Legal Services Center at Harvard Law School and the law firm of Bailey & Glasser LLP filed a lawsuit against Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson and Securus Technologies ...