N.M. PRC Gets Support for Inmate Call Rule Changes
New Mexico should lower inmate calling rate caps, the state attorney general’s office commented Friday at the Public Regulation Commission. As part of proposed changes to inmate calling service (ICS) rules, the PRC is considering a proposal to reduce an…
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existing cap of 15 cents per minute on intrastate rates to 12 cents for state prisons and 14 cents for large local jails. Proposed new rates “could provide substantial cost savings to the inmates and their families,” said the AG office in docket 20-00170-UT. ICS providers might seem “niche” but “can be essential lifelines for the incarcerated inmates, their families, and others seeking to maintain a connection to them during their confinement,” said the office: Yet there is "a long history of abusive rate practices" nationally. The existing 15-cent cap "at the time of implementation was one of the most progressive and proactive [ICS] calling rate structures in the country,” New Mexico PRC staff commented: Now the PRC is updating those rules to "keep pace with changes to ICS calling at the FCC." ICS Provider ViaPath said its rates are already below the existing cap. Simplify rate caps by eliminating distinctions between local, intraLATA and interLATA calls, it suggested. A proposal to cap per-call charges on collect calls at $1 is inconsistent with another proposed rule banning per-connection charges, noted Viapath: Delete the allowance for $1 charges. Securus urged the PRC "to ensure that the roles, responsibilities, and authorities of those involved in the provision of [ICS] services to incarcerated populations are clear and accurate and that any” rule changes “provide predictability, consistency, and finality” for providers. Leonard Law’s Stephen Raher, formerly general counsel of the Prison Policy Initiative, supported the PRC plan. It "would protect consumer prepaid accounts from forfeiture based on arbitrary ‘inactivity’ policies that many [companies] impose,” said Raher. "ICS carriers routinely seize consumer funds -- a practice that provides a substantial revenue stream for the provider, but without a corresponding benefit for the consumer.” Also, the proposed rule’s ban on charging duplicative ancillary service fees "addresses a problem that arises from imprecise language in existing FCC rules,” he said. Affordable rates will help keep incarcerated persons in touch with their attorneys, said the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. The lawyers supported allowing correctional institutions to switch off recording devices for inmate-attorney calls. A new California law will make many inmate calls there free (see 2209300063).