Washington State Prison phone rates and kickbacks

Washington ranks 26th in the nation for the affordability of a 15 minute call.

Kickbacks paid

$3,856,229.00 paid in 2017.

Percentage of call cost going to kickbacks: 56%

Cost of a 15-minute Intrastate Call

	Collect	Prepaid	Debit
Same state	$1.65	$1.65	$1.65
Local	$1.65	$1.65	$1.65

Detailed rates

	Collect	Prepaid	Debit
Same state	0.11/min	0.11/min	0.11/min
Local	0.11/min	0.11/min	0.11/min

Phone service providers

VAC (GTL)

Notes

Data current as of Jan 2019

Data current as of 2017-2018

Historical Data for Washington

Primary source documents

State DOC Rates

State DOC Contracts

State DOC Commission Data

County Rates

County Contracts

Court Rulings

Legislation

Kittitas County, WA Resolution Governing Distribution of Telephone Revenues

Administrative Rulings

Prison Phone Justice Articles and Documents

2019

October: HRDC joins application to file amicus brief in re county inmate telephone services case in CA, HRDC files joint amicus brief

April: HRDC press release on Securus/ICSolutions merger

2017

August: HRDC accuses FCC chairman of having conflict of interest

2016

April: PLN criticizes non-disclosure of Securus employee at FCC hearing on cell phones

January: HRDC's FCC comment mentioned regarding price gouging prisoners' families, Comment regarding prison reforms, HRDC's letter to the FCC mentioned regarding VA DOC's phone rate reduction

2015

October: FCC reforms applauded by HRDC's Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, HRDC's FCC comment on corruption in prison phone industry profiled

January: HRDC's FCC comments mentioned in article on video visitation

2014

November: PLN mentioned in article about FCC action on prison phone rates

October: FCC Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

September: HRDC comment to FCC regarding WA phone rates, FCC Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

January: HRDC response to PayTel comments, HRDC response to FCC caps on prison phone calls

2013:

December: Prison Legal News cover story on the prison phone industry, HRDC comment to FCC on Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

September: PLN/HRDC mentioned in article on FCC prison phone order

April: HRDC reply comment to FCC on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

March: HRDC comment to FCC on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

January: PLN's research on prison phone rates cited in article on FCC hearing

2012

December: FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

October: HRDC response to Global Tel comments

2011

April: Prison Legal News cover story on the prison phone industry

2007

ApriL: HRDC initial comment to FCC

PLN Coverage of Prison Phone Justice

The Ongoing Push to End Outrageous Prison Phone Charges

Loaded on April 1, 2020 by Anthony Accurso published in Prison Legal News April, 2020, page 40

Filed under: Telephone Rates, State Legislation. Location: Oregon.

by Anthony W. Accurso

Groups in several states are drawing increased attention to the high cost of jail and prison phone rates, and pushing to reduce or eliminate such charges. HRDC, the publisher of PLN, has been a leader in this movement since 1992 and founded the Prison Phone ...

Long-running Maricopa County, Arizona Jail Lawsuit Ends

Loaded on March 4, 2020 by Edward Lyon published in Prison Legal News March, 2020, page 39

Filed under: Medical, Overcrowding, Telephones, Mental Health. Location: Arizona.

by Ed Lyon

With all of the negative publicity concerning the Maricopa County, Arizona, jails associated with former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the unconstitutional conditions there began under Sheriff-elect Jerry Hill. It was during Hill’s tenure in 1977 that the lawsuit Graves v. Hill ...

Oregon Lawmakers Prohibit Prison and Jail Telephone Kickbacks

Loaded on March 3, 2020 by Mark Wilson published in Prison Legal News March, 2020, page 20

Filed under: Telephones, Telephone Rates. Location: Oregon.

by Mark Wilson

This isn’t just an issue of economics,” said Oregon Senator Sara Gelser, the chief sponsor of a bill prohibiting jail and prison telephone contract kickbacks that passed nearly unanimously. “This is really about the humanity of the people that are in our prisons and the ability of ...

Securus Technologies Rebrands as Aventiv

Loaded on Jan. 9, 2020 by Kevin Bliss published in Prison Legal News January, 2020, page 48

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

by Kevin Bliss

On October 8, 2019, a corporate reorganization listed Aventiv Technologies as the parent company of Securus Technologies, Inc., JPay and AllPaid (formerly known as GovPayNet). Securus has a long history of providing prison and jail phone services, and price gouging prisoners and their families with high rates. ...