By: Collin Cook

Collin Cook — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:33:35 +0000

You are correct about the price of making calls from jail or prison in NC. It is extremely expensive, and I have no idea why it costs so much more to make a call using Paytell than it does to make a normal collect call. I’ve heard rumors that the sheriff’s office or DOC gets a percentage of the money but I’ve never seen anything to confirm that. Cell phones are definitely not unheard of in DOC. I’ve always wondered how the inmates get them. One would hope that if the costs of using the phones were more reasonable, cell phone use would decline among inmates.

By: Bryan Gates

Bryan Gates — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:26:43 +0000

A client in an NC jail recently told me that some inmates had obtained a cell phone and used the batteries from it to light cigarettes (which are banned at the facility). I had always assumed that inmates wanted phones to make calls.
I can understand the rationale for monitoring inmate calls (most are recorded, not actively monitored) to detect escape attempts or prevent criminal acts from jail. However, it is hard for me to believe that prison security is seriously threatened by inmates being able to use cell phones.

Comments on: News Roundup

By: Collin Cook

By: Bryan Gates