The Louisiana Public Service Commission reformed the state’s prison phone...
The Louisiana Public Service Commission reformed the state’s prison phone call rules. In an order decided Dec. 12 and released Monday (http://xrl.us/boddxf), it ordered that charges for any prisoner calls made to immediate family, legal aid services and groups, religious…
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figures, government authorities, including schools, and attorneys should be capped at a $1.69 initial charge and five cents a minute. Calls made to people under these five categories shouldn’t experience different rates based on inter-LATA, intra-LATA, mileage bands or time of day, the PSC said. These caps and rates must be effective within 24 months and are to take effect in any new contracts once current contracts expire, it said. The commission had been investigating these calls, which many allege to be overly expensive, since April 2011. The cost of calls to prisoners will, under the new system, drop by about 25 percent, the PSC said. Commissioner Eric Skrmetta directed PSC staff to open this January a new docket specifically to regulate prison calls and to handle all prison phone company business in that docket, according to the order.