Jail Contract

NEWS

ALLEGHENY COUNTY WILL MAKE $4.3 MILLION PROFIT IN NEW CONTRACT TO PROVIDE PHONE CALLS FOR COUNTY JAIL INMATES

Allegheny County will be getting a $4.3 million windfall over the next three years thanks to a new contract awarded to Global Tel*Link, a Virginia-based telecom company.

The problem is that Global TL will be providing inmate phone and communication service at the Allegheny County Jail and the money they’ll be using to fatten the county’s coffers is coming directly out of the pockets of incarcerated people and their families.

Allegheny County officials were unable to comment by deadline.

Telecom services are ex- tremely important to incarcer- ated individuals, especially in the time of COVID-19 when normal visitation has been suspended. It’s a necessary inmate-service and instead of making the services as inexpensive as possible, the county set out in the process to make as much cash off the deal as possible. In a summary sent to Allegheny County Rich Fitzgerald for final review and signature, the agreement is officially called a “revenue-generating contract.”

At first blush, when looking strictly at the benefits of the contract for incarcerated people, the deal will bring a

BY CHARLIE DEITCH - PITTSBURGH CURRENT EDITOR CHARLIE@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM

whole suite of communication options to inmates. Aside from phone service, there will also be a video-visita- tion component and access to tablets for those visits and to access other educational and entertainment apps. They’d also be able to send texts and receive photos from friends and family

However, in order to access these services, inmates will need to pay a steep price

According to the contract, there is the Inmate Tele- phone System (ITS) and the Video Visitation Solution (VVS). So, if you want to see a picture from your kid’s soccer game, it will cost you a quarter. If you want to see a 30-second video clip, it’ll be $1. A half-hour video visit will cost you $7.50. Wanna watch a movie, listen to mu- sic or play Candy Crush? The cost is $3 an hour.

And there are other fees as well, all of which are problematic and have some members of the Jail Oversight Board concerned. Under the contract, Allegheny County is set to receive a Monthly Minimum Guarantee (MMG) that will net at least $100,000 a month (it could be more if more revenue is brought in. Additionally, the county re-